How Islam Survived in Sound: Musical Continuities in Central Asia

Ringvorlesung Turkologie Sommersemester 2026

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Campus of the University of Vienna, Institute’s Auditorium
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 4.1
1090 Wien

Mittwoch, 18. März 2026, 17:00 - 18:30

This lecture series explores musical cultures across the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia, examining these regions as interconnected soundscapes shaped by mobility, devotional practices, and political transformations. Drawing on current work in ethnomusicology, sound studies, and historical musicology, the series highlights diverse traditions, ranging from Islamic recitation and liturgy to Armenian liturgical and choral music, shared Turkish-Armenia folk repertoires, and the courtly, urban, and Sufi musical cultures of the Turko-Iranian world. Further contributions address the historical and contemporary study of Ottoman music (including recent advances in the Corpus Musicae Ottomanicae), the musical traditions of Badakhshan and northern Afghanistan, Central Asian art music such as Shashmaqam, and modern genres from popular music to heavy metal in Turkey. The program also includes perspectives on musical life in Qajar and Pahlavi Iran.

Complementing the lectures, the series will feature a concert offering direct engagement with selected repertoires.

For further information see: https://orientalistik.univie.ac.­at/fachric­htungen/tu­rkologie/v­eranstaltu­ngen/ringv­orlesung-t­urkologie/


Antrittsvorlesung, Public Lecture

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0100