Habib Hassan Touma ( ar, حبيب حسن توما) (12 December 1934 – 10 August 1998) was a Palestinian composer and

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

, born in Nazareth, who lived and worked for many years in Berlin, Germany. Touma authored a number of books, essays and musicological studies on

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;

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, among them ''The Music of the Arabs'', first published in 1975 in German and translated into several languages. He was also a

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editor for the ethnomusicological journal ''The World of Music'', published by the ''International Institute for Traditional Music'' in Berlin. Among other studies based on his field work in Arabic countries, he published a description and photographs of the ''Work Songs of the Gulf Pearl Divers'' of Bahrain. Another of his studies treated the Arabic musical influence on the

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during the period of

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Select bibliography

* ''The Music of the Arabs'', trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. (1996). * ''The Maqam Phenomenon: An Improvisational Technique in the Music of the Middle East'' (1971)

Compositions

* ''Maqam Bayati'', Palestinian Music Publications. * ''Rhapsodie Orientale'', Palestinian Music Publications. * ''Study #1'' (For Flute), Palestinian Music Publications. * ''Study #2 Combinations'' (For Flute), Palestinian Music Publications. * ''Taqsim for solo piano'', Palestinian Music Publications * ''Suite Arabe'' for solo piano, Palestinian Music Publications

References

;Work cited * Hemetek, Ursula et al. (2014).
Music and Minorities from Around the World: Research, Documentation and Interdisciplinary Study.
' Cambridge Scholars Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Touma, Habib Hassan 1934 births 1998 deaths Ethnomusicologists People from Nazareth 20th-century composers 20th-century musicologists