What is the context of this example? How is the ‘Ud performance in “‘Ud Taqasim in Maqam Rast” similar to the Call to Prayer: Azan? (Call to Prayer). According to Worlds of Music, how can the structure of improvisation be thought of as similar to language structure? What are some of the characteristics of Arab music that stand out in this example? (Answers the last question may vary.)

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• "‘Ud Taqasim in Maqam Rast" is an excerpt of a ten-minute-long improvisation (taqasim) by Mr. Al Asadi performed on ‘ud, recorded July 2000 in Nazareth, Israel. "In Arab music, a solo taqasim can occur as a prelude to a composition, in a space between composed passages of a performance, with an ensemble providing a rhythmic-melodic ostinato in the background [as in "Al-Shagal,"] . . . or as a performance in and of itself"
• As in the Call to Prayer: Azan "initial musical statements are separated by pauses and they get longer, higher in range, and more decorous as the improvisation continues."
• "Musical ideas are grouped together like words into phrases and phrases into sentences. Phrases and sentences are organized into paragraphs. Phrases, sentences and paragraphs all feature ‘concluding remarks' or cadential statements called qaflat (s. qafla) a technique that is absolutely essential to instrumental improvisation in Arab music."
• Significant musical features: non-metric taqasim; initial phrases separated by pauses and elaborated upon as the music proceeds; the intonation of the Arab maqam; and the significance of the qafla (cadential statement—see above)