By Marina Akhavein
Dwight Reynolds, a professor of Arabic language and literature in the Department of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara, has a new book coming out in early January. The Musical Heritage of Al-Andalus is an account of the history of Andalusian music in Iberia, forged when Arab, Jewish and Catalan cultures met in what is now Spain.
Dwight Reynolds is a professor of Arabic language and literature in the Department of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara.
The purpose of the book is to “explore the context of musical life in medieval Iberia,” says Reynolds, and to show the complexity of musical interactions that were present in medieval Iberia as well as the adaptations that evolved in regional areas.
The Musical Heritage of Al-Andalus is separated into three sections: Music in Iberia and the Mashriq up to 711, Andalusi Music to the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate 711-1031, and Music in the Medieval Mediterranean. The book includes the detailed analysis of Arabic, Old Catalan, Castilian, Hebrew, and Latin texts as well as research on modern Andalusian musical traditions that Reynolds conducted while travelling in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. The Andalusian musical tradition is still very much alive today and has spread all across the Middle East.
In this audio talk, professor Reynolds previews his book and discusses the inspiration behind it:
Marina Akhavein is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student, majoring in Biopsychology. She wrote this article and produces this audio talk for her class Journalism for Web and Social Media.
Dwight Reynolds’ new book The Musical Heritage of Al-Andalus is set to be released in early January.