The Music of Islam Sampler (13159). In seiner aufwendigen Forschungsarbeit folgt David Parsons den vielfältigen Spuren der heutigen islamischen Musik zurück bis zu den Wurzeln. Das Ergebnis ist eine Produktion, die international Aufsehen erregte und 1998 den Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik erhielt: Auf insgesamt 17 CDs spielen und singen Gnawas und Derwische, Muezzins und Volksmusiker. Von Indonesien und Pakistan bis Tunesien und Südspanien reicht das geografische Spektrum, über 12 Jahrhunderte das historische. Zu jeder CD gibt es ein sehr informatives, etwa 50-seitiges Begleitheft (in englisch). Man kann die CDs einzeln oder als Gesamtpaket in einer Holzbox erwerben. Hier die Zusammenfassung der ganzen Serie. Ausgezeichneter Einstieg.

the project

Ten years in the making, The Music of Islam series recorded in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Qatar represents the most comprehensive sound documentation available to Westerners today, of a world religion dating back to 1/622. Although governed by strict rules for fourteen centuries, contact with other cultures has radically affected Islamic music throughout history. As the world enters the XV/21st century the timing of this collection serves an even larger purpose, documenting the traditions that have survived and will continue to survive for centuries to come. Today, one fifth of the world's population, one billion people, are Muslims, occupying a large territory stretching from the Atlantic shore of north and west Africa, through west, central, and south Asia to island southeast Asia, and attracting an increasing following in India, western Europe, north America, east Asia, and southern Africa. This is a global presence which cannot be ignored.
This final volume introduces the world to the Muslim Music of Indonesia. A land of about two hundred million inhabitants, Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim nation in the world. It is extraordinarily rich in musical genres which derived originally from the Arab–Persian world but were transformed by local genius into unique musical styles and genres, generally practiced by all–male or all–female groups.
The great majority of Indonesian Muslims adhere to Sunni beliefs, but a few Shi'a outposts still remain, especially in west–coastal Sumatra. Disk one features many of these rich genres, such as: Sunni prayers; samples of the Shi'a ritual (tabut or tabuik) characterized by passionate vocal music and group drumming; religious or secular songs with body movement accompanied by frame drums (indang); and a musical genre performed by a pair of male singers accompaning themselves with rhythmic beating on round brass trays (salawat).
One of the first provinces to develop Muslim art forms was Aceh, the northernmost province of Sumatra. Aceh has a wealth of Muslim musical genres and body movement or dance forms among its ethnic groups. Disk two features many of the rich genres, such as: music and dance associated with syncretic animist and Hindu–Buddhist beliefs with added Muslim components or prayers (daboih ceremony); the well–known male martial dance called seudati; the female dance–vocal form pho, based on the expression of grief at the death of a child, and very sad songs (ratap or ratep meuseukat); and a form of worship and courage raising via male group vocal and frame drum performance (rapai daboih).
the artists

Produced and recorded by Prof. Margaret J. Kartomi of the Department of Music at Monash University located in Melbourne, Australia, this final volume, in The Music of Islam series, is the first extensive sound documentation of its kind. Over the past thirty years, as Prof. Kartomi and her fieldwork team travelled throughout most of the provinces of Indonesia to record traditional music, it became painfully apparent to her that one of the least known and most neglected categories of music in Indonesia were the Muslim-associated genres.

The music on this double CD are pieces selected from her extensive travels and work during 1392/1972-1406/1985, and feature numerous artists and ensembles, and were recorded in a variety of locations and acoustical environments.
The instruments heard in this volume are both traditional Muslim instruments such as double-headed drums, frame drums, brass trays and the lute, as well as non-Muslim instruments such as bamboo flutes, oboes and bronze ensembles.
tracklist

| Disk 1: |
1 | DENDANG MANANGKOK/MARINDU HARIMAU 1 | 5'17"
| (Muslim prayer preceding a tiger-capturing song.) |
2 | DENDANG MANANGKOK/MARINDU HARIMAU 2 | 6'26"
| (A tiger-capturing song.) |
3 | BASOSOH (Warring Rhythm played by tasa and dol drummers | 6'51"
| at a Takbuik [BM] [Tabut BI] ceremony.) |
4 | MATAM | 4'42"
| (Matam [Ali Mahatam] Rhythm played by tasa and dol drummers processing |
| down the street at a Tabuik ceremony.) |
5 | MARATAPI JARI-JARI (Mourning the Hands.) | 6'27"
6 | DOL-TASA 1 (Drumming competition) | 8'06"
7 | DOL-TASA 2 (Drumming competition) | 4'33"
8 | DOL-TASA 3 (Drumming competition) | 0'28"
9 | DOL-TASA 4 (Drumming competition) | 0'43"
10 | RAPAI 1 (Improvised texts) | 1'00"
11 | RAPAI 2 (Improvised texts) | 0'53"
12 | RAPAI 3 (Improvised texts) | 0'32"
13 | RAPAI 4 (Improvised texts) | 0'46"
14 | INDANG MAIN TALI (Playing the Rope indang.) | 3'04"
15 | DABUIH (BM), DABUD (BI) (excerpt from ceremony) | 0'28"
16 | DABUIH (excerpt from ceremony) | 2'42"
17 | SALAWEK DULANG: LAGU MERIAM PENANGKIS | 12'53"
| (Song of the Canon Interceptor) |
18 | SALAWEK DULANG: LAGU BOLANDO BERANGKEK | 8'48"
| (The Dutch Leave) |
| Total Time: | 76'12"
| Disk 2: |
1 | RATEP MASEUKAT | 4'52"
2 | PHO | 1'51"
3 | SEUDATI INONG 1 (Female Seudati) | 6'15"
4 | SEUDATI INONG 2 | 9'19"
5 | SEUDATI INONG 3 | 8'33"
6 | RAPAI DABOIH 1 | 29'21"
7 | RAPAI DABOIH 2 | 3'04"
8 | SEUDATI 1 | 8'06"
9 | SEUDATI 2 | 3'23"
| Total Time: | 75'28"

Celestial Harmonies' catalogue of Indonesian recordings include:

Tembang Sunda: Classical Music from West Java | 13134
The Music of Bali, Vol. 1: Jegog | 13136
The Music of Bali, Vol. 2: Legong Gamelan | 13137
The Music of Bali, Vol. 3: Kecak & Tektekan | 13138
The Music of Islam, Vol. 15, Muslim Music of Indonesia, Aceh and West Sumatra | 14155
Yogyakarta: Gamelan of the Kraton | 13161
Music of Indonesia: Flores | 13175
Music of Timor | 13182
The Music of Bali, 3 CD Boxed Set | 19905