Product Description

"The Hundred Thousand Fools of God" assembles a living musical and ethnographic map by highlighting the fate of traditions, beliefs, and social relationships in Muslim and Jewish Central Asian cultures during and after seventy years of Soviet rule. Theodore Levin evokes the spectacular physical and human geography of the area and weaves a rich ethnography of the life styles, values, and art of the musical performers. Photographs, maps, and an accompanying CD (featuring 24 on-site recordings) make "The Hundred Thousand Fools of God" a unique reading and listening experience. Theodore Levin is Associate Professor of Music at Dartmouth College. He began conducting musical and ethnographic research in Uzbekistan in 1978. His recordings of music from Central Asia and other parts of the former Soviet Union appear on Smithsonian Folkways, Nonesuch, Ocora, and other labels.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1329854 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.14 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Amazon.com
When a Princeton-trained ethnomusicologist returns to follow up his studies in the Central Asian nations east of China and north of Afghanistan, he stumbles into a cornucopia of music, history, and religion. With a trusty guide called OM, Theodore Levin travels back and forth through the newly liberated cities and countryside of an ancient land that is home to such exotic names as Tashkent and Samarkand. Levin writes not only about his successes in identifying and recording the musical traditions of the area but also of the experiences of the people under Soviet rule, the myths that are kept alive through music, and the healers that use music as therapy. Levin finds a complex and colorful mix of ethnic and religious traditions where music unites Jew, Muslim, and shaman. The Hundred Thousand Fools of God is more than just a travel diary: it is a snapshot of an evolving culture. And the accompanying CD is divine. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly
Dartmouth professor Levin ventures in search of "the 100,000 fools of god," those enlightened Central Asian musicians whose art conveys both moral and spiritual power. He's interested in how musical life "reflects the... fluid boundaries and identities" of people in the rich cultural domain sometimes known as "Transoxania" now that Soviet domination of the region has ended. From Uzbekistan to Tvarkist, and through parts of Kyrghyzstan and Kazakhstan, Levin travels in an old Russian auto with a fellow ethnomusicologist and Sufi chauffeur as companions. The subject is music, but Levin uses it to cast a wider light, revealing places of considerable sorrow long hidden in the shadows of Soviet power, and to create a travelogue with wide potential appeal. Along the way he encounters men who entertain him lavishly without asking his name, brilliant forgotten composers, baxshis (healers) and a thoughtful Uzbeki pop star. Gracefully responsive to craft, Levin takes in architecture, food and cultural mores. He cannily appraises cultural issues in polyglot cultures where nationalism threatens indigenous musics?many practiced by both Muslims and Jews?as much as Soviet policy ever did. Candor about his own uncertainties and personal struggles helps make this a personal as well as a scholarly adventure. A superb accompanying 24-track CD with location recordings proves integral to Levin's commentary.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Those who think that ethnomusicology is a sedate pursuit should read this book. Levin (music, Dartmouth) recounts his travel and research experiences in exotic locations such as Tashkent, Bukhara, and Shahristan. Years after journeying to Central Asia to study Uzbek music at Tashkent State Conservatory, he joined forces with a native colleague to uncover the true musical life of the region?rich and complex, with underlying historical, geographical, political (particularly Soviet), religious, and philosophical influences. Levin clearly relished his interviews with musicians like Tohfaxan, a female wedding entertainer or sazanda, and the Babakhanov brothers, whose colorful forebears include a personal musician to the emir. In this engrossing travelog, Levin includes detailed musical/historical analyses and scores of adventuresome anecdotes, then considers the lives and musical pursuits of individuals who who have emigrated to the New York City borough of Queens. Not to be missed by thoses interested in music and world culture; for circulating libraries with scholarly collections in the arts and humanities.?Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.