Kuwait: Sea Songs from the Arabian Gulf

• Published in: Asian Music Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 140 - 149
• Main Author: Sonneborn, D A
• Format: Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press) 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Arabic language; Bands; Bible; Cultural heritage; Cultural identity; Ethnomusicology; Literary translation; Musical recordings; Musicians & conductors; Nonfiction; Religious literature; Rhythm; Singers; Saudi Arabia; Persian Gulf states; United States > US; Qatar; Japan; Denmark; Italy; Persian Gulf; Arabian Sea; Kuwait; Bahrain; Jutland
• ISSN: 0044-9202; 1553-5630
• DOI: 10.1353/amu.2018.0010

When the Kuwaiti maritime industry was active, all-night entertainments were held in a seafarers' community hall (dlwâniyah) after a ship's safe return to port, but these days the performances are held as cultural heritage celebrations ranging from dlwaniyahs to weddings to concert halls.Recreation Songs (1) Imjailisī (often performed at weddings, unique to Kuwait and without meter) (2) 'Adsānī (characteristically prayer-like lyrics, in a slow 16/4) (3) Haddādī (12/4) (4) Imkhālif/Imkhālfī (8/4) (5) Hasāwī (6/4) Work Songs (6) Sanginī, a blessing in three movements that followed work; respectively, a 64-beat pattern, a uniquely Kuwaiti 16-beat khammārī rhythm, and a short 16-beat closing (7) Dawwārī, lit. "capstan," a song for heaving the main anchor cable or hauling a boat ashore, in a 12-beat pattern (8) Khatfah, after an opening invocation, a song to hoist the mainsail, in a 16/4 pattern (9) Khrāb sidra, sung without rhythm over a choral drone, a song to pull cable (10) Yāmmāl/Mīdāf, rowing song (11) Rāstabl (Yāmli), work song in 12/4, used for a variety of tasks at sea or onshore The fijirī tradition in contemporary cultural heritage performance emerged in a moment of historical identity crisis for the Gulf's maritime trades, a somewhat nostalgic response to a sudden decline and ultimately the demise of the natural pearl industry.The origin of pearling in the Gulf is ancient, predating the Qur'anic promise that in heaven believers will be "decked in bracelets of gold and of pearls" (ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) The Pilgrimage 22:23, Ahmed Ali translation), the biblical admonition not to "cast pearls before swine" (Matthew 7:6, King James Version), or even Job's comparison of pearls to the pricelessness of wisdom (Job 28:18, King James Version) in the Old Testament.