Selected Examples of Music from Around the World
for use with courses taught by Dr. Janet Sturman
University of Arizona

  1. Pakistani Qawwali Music- performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party Judaian De Dukhre, devotional music of the Sufis, the mystical branch of Islam. The Qawwal is the instrument or mouthpiece of Divine Power: "We do not sing, we are made to sing." [Talking Book Vol. 1: An Introduction. Womad 002]
  2. Cuban Santeria chant: Rezos a Chango y Ochun sung by Mercedes Valdez, Eugenio de la Rosa and Chorus.
  3. Ritual music from Laos, Pheng Phi Fa , played by Phu Thao (1st khéne) Thaos Seng (2nd khéne) and Thaos Bunkeud (cymbals). During the magic ceremonies of Southern Laos, two khénes and small cymbals are used to send the shamans into a state of trance, in the course of which the spirits enter their bodies. The instruments play without interruption throughout the period of trance. The two three-foot long khénes heard on this recording are tuned in unison. The khéne technique used in this ritual music is believed to be the oldest that can be heard at this date. The title of this piece, like many others, cannot be translated. It consists of words that have been handed down orally over many years and their meaning has been forgotten. [Ritual Chant and Music - UNESCO Collection, Audivis D 8103 (1996)]
  4. Tibetan Buddhist Chant of the Guhyasamaja Tantra, chapter 11," Segment as chanted by the Gyuto Monks of Tibet. [The Gyuto Monks: Tibetan Tantric Choir, Windham Hill (1986) WD2001]
  5. Bulgarian choral song Polegnala e Todora, sung by the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir, under the direction of Philip Koutev and Krasimir Kyurkchiyski. [Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares-Explorer Series, Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records, CD 9-79165-2]
  6. Gagaku piece Entenraku - . Version one: the opening phrases of the hyoyo version of Entenraku.
  7. Entenraku, version two: phrases in a different style of the same piece. Gagaku is ancient court music, fl. 710-1185; the term literally means "elegant music." [examples taken from Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia - cassettes to accompany the Prentice hall book]
  8. Thai dance music: Liké, segment performed by a Piphat Orchestra from Thailand [Thailand: The Music of Chieng Mai. Musical Atlas - Unesco Collection -EMI-Odeon C 064 18080]
  9. "Capoeira Quilombo" Passaro Preto (solo vocals and birimbau - a music bow) Angola (vocals, pandeiro - tambourine) Edison (vocals, atabaque ­ drum). Capoeira is originally a martial art developed by African slave - mostly Bantus from Angola - as a means of defense in their struggle for freedom in Brazil. Emerging in the sixteenth-century, capoeira was practice in Brazil mainly in the area of Salvador de Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Recife (Pernambuco). The art of capoeira, which was often disguised as a dance so that it could be practiced openly, has survived until the present day among the Afro-Brazilian communities of the Nordeste. Its defensive effectiveness has been demonstrated on many occasions,in particular when slaves escaped and formed armed bands in the hills and forest, inflicting defeat upon defeat on the Dutch and the Portuguese.
  10. Gisalo song, sung by men of the Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea. [tape to accompany - William Malm's Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East and Asia Prentice Hall (1996)]
  11. Wood Cutting Sounds, Kaluli, Papua New Guinea. [from tape to accompany - William Malm's Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East and , Prentice Hall (1996)]
  12. Oli hula chant from Hawaii. [from tape to accompany - William Malm's Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East and Asia , Prentice Hall (1996)]
  13. Mele hula chant from Hawaii [from tape to accompany - William Malm's Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East and Asia , Prentice Hall (1996)]
  14. Music for Chinese qin. Guanshanyue" (The moon shines on the channel) performed on the qin by Georges Goormaghtigh [Musique à la Croisée des Cultures - AIMP XXXIX-VDE CD - 828]
  15. The ensemble Ariana - music from Afghanistan. Music of the Earth CD Collection (Globe Trot) - Multicultural Media - MCM 3000).