Sacred Knowledge

The articles in this book, written by
outstanding scholars, together build a theory, concept and
practical model of a significant training system of the oral
musical tradition of the Turkic speaking world. The culture
under discussion, spreading from south Siberia to the
Mediterranean, comprises the art and music of numerous
different ethnicities. Much music within this vast area is
based on the phenomenon of oral transmission and the
distinctive settings of the master-apprentice relationship.
Today, at a time of globalisation and the concomitant loss
of cultural identity for many countries, research and
documentation on performance in oral learning traditions can
help to identify key issues of performance phenomena and
allow a better understanding of the vast and increasingly
important Turkic speaking world to emerge. It was the main
subject of the International Workshop and the Conference
held in 2006 under the auspices of the School of Oriental
and African studies, University of London, initiated and
organised by Dr Razia Sultanova during her time there.