Music and Musicians in the Medieval Islamicate World: A Social History

Lisa Nielson's book explores the social history of music, musicianship, and musicians in the early Islamicate era, focusing on Damascus, Baghdad, and Jerusalem. It draws on textual sources and disciplinary approaches to offer insights into musical performances and the lives of musicians, shedding light on the dynamics of medieval Islamicate courts and the intersection of slavery, gender, status, and religion with music in courtly life.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 17 November 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

During the early medieval Islamicate period (800–1400 CE), discourses concerned with music and musicians were wide-ranging and contentious, and expressed in works on music theory and philosophy as well as literature and poetry. However, despite attempts by influential scholars and political leaders to limit or control musical expression, music and sound permeated all layers of the social structure. Lisa Nielson presents a rich social history of music, musicianship, and the role of musicians in the early Islamicate era, focusing primarily on Damascus, Baghdad, and Jerusalem. She draws on a wide variety of textual sources written for and about musicians and their professional/private environments, including chronicles, literary sources, memoirs, and musical treatises, as well as the disciplinary approaches of musicology to offer insights into musical performances and the lives of musicians. In the process, the book sheds light onto the dynamics of medieval Islamicate courts, as well as how slavery, gender, status, and religion intersected with music in courtly life. It will appeal to scholars of the Islamicate world and historical musicologists.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780755641819