Songs of the Arabian Red Sea: A Cultural History

Song and music have always played an important part in the cultural identity of the mariners and coastal peoples of the Red Sea.While previous studies on the maritime culture of this region have focused on the sailing vessel, the dhow, and seafaring communities, this is the first book to examine its rich musical repertoire.
Using fieldwork conducted along the Hijaz and Upper Tihama coasts, The Songs of the Arabian Red Sea documents examples of different musical forms and styles as well as the stories of older mariners who describe the contexts in which songs were sung, from sea shanties during the working day to soulful ballads about home and loved ones at night. Presenting the songs and their lyrics in the context of the geography, culture, oral history and musicology of the region, the book reveals the complex and connected network that influenced their development and the vital place of song and music for diverse communities of the region.

Dionisius A. Agius, Fellow of the British Academy, Professor Emeritus of Arabic Studies and Islamic Material Culture and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter has pioneered Dhow Studies, researching the maritime landscapes and the material culture of Islamicate Indian Ocean through the medieval Arabic geographies, histories and travel works. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Arabian Gulf and Oman, and the African and Arabian coasts of the Red Sea.

Muhammad Z. Alhazmi of the Islamic University in Madinah, has spent time out in the field in the Hijaz and Northern Tihama regions, documenting the material cultural terminology there and examining its relationship with the people and their coastal landscape.

Hasan Hujairi is a Bahraini artist, composer, and researcher whose work explores folk music of the Arabian Peninsula and the Western Indian Ocean, the notion of ’maverick’ composers operating outside of Classical Western Art Music, and maritime historiography of the Gulf region and Western Indian Ocean. His research approach to the Gulf region is through Braudelian and post-Braudelian perspectives. He also has other involvements in the cultural field such as managing the Music Department at Sharjah Art Foundation, translating music-related texts into Arabic, music journalism, and running an independent record label.