Full Description
Sounds of Al
Shihuh is an
attempt to bring together the many voices that have shaped the musical and oral
heritage of the Shihuh, who inhabit the mountainous region stretching between
the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman.
The book tells
the story of this rich legacy in a creative way, beginning with the story of
planet Earth, which comes to life through a man who climbs to the mountaintops
with his wife and decides to call out. From there, the journey unfolds through
the musical traditions of the Shihuh, beginning with the nadba (call),
from which everything else emerges, and continuing through the rhythms and
different timings of the rawah drums.
We then sit
with the women in the daan circle, celebrate poetic chants through
the razeef, pound coffee with Umm Rashid, spin in the mahoubi dance
with Bumaid, and finally fall asleep to the melody of the tahwida (lullaby).
Through every
note, word and image, we imagine ourselves alongside our grandparents, fathers
and mothers: calling out from a mountaintop, making a drum, or humming poetry
to pass the time as we grind coffee beans.
