Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophischen Fakultät der Freien Universität Berlin.

Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophischen Fakultät der Freien Universität Berlin.

Originally presented as the author's thesis, Freie Universität, Berlin. / Bibliography: p. [133]-136.

This dissertation consists of two parts: (1) a portfolio of recent works composed during my fellowship at Columbia University, including Aruah (2022) for mixed octet, String Quartet No. 2 (2021), and Clarinet Concerto (2019) for solo clarinet, orchestra, and electronics, and (2) this subsidiary essay. This written discussion centers around three pillars that form the foundation of how I presently conceive of music that incorporates both Arab and Western musical aesthetics. These pillars are organized into three chapters (1) Recontextualizing maqām, (2) “Ṭarab-ic” Harmony, and (3) Organological Transethnicism. At the end of each of chapter, I relate the discussed principles to specific moments in my own music, taken from excerpts from this dissertation’s musical portfolio. My analysis of these works through the lens of these three pillars highlights the amorphous qualities of perception across disparate cultures, and how authenticity as a spectrum, rather than as a fixture, can result in new aural experiences.

Die Studie widmet sich dem heutigen Musikleben in Ägypten und legt den Schwerpunkt auf die Stadt Alexandria. Obwohl alle großen Einzelereignisse, die im 20. Jahrhundert zur Entwicklung der ägyptischen Musik beigetragen haben, in Kairo stattfanden, besteht auch in Alexandria ein breitgefächertes Musikleben, das alle musikalischen Entwicklungen dieses Jahrhunderts aufgesogen und trotzdem eine individuelle Prägung entfaltet hat. Auf einen historischen Abriss zur Geschichte der ägyptischen Musik im 20. Jahrhundert folgt eine Bestandsaufnahme der Musikszenen in Alexandria, wie die Verfasserin sie ihm Jahre 2013 selbst erlebt hat. / The study deals with music in Egypt today with particular emphasis on the city of Alexandria. Even if the major events that contributed to the development of Egyptian music in the 20th century took place in Cairo, there is a wide range of musical life in Alexandria that has absorbed all the musical developments of the last century while retaining its individual character. A historical overview of Egyptian music in the 20th century is followed by a survey of the music scene in Alexandria as experienced by the author in 2013.