Contemporary Egyptian art music for the viola through the ethnographic biographies and compositions of Yusif Gris, Gamal ‘Abd al-Rahim, ‘Atiyya Sharara, and Sherif Mohi al-Din for Western programs

For the purpose of this dissertation, contemporary Egyptian art music refers to compositions for soloists and ensembles that prominently feature Western instruments such as percussion, brass, and strings while also integrating Egyptian instrumentation (including the qanun, nāy, etc.) as well as folk-inspired elements. This category is distinct from Egyptian folk and popular musics which follow different stylistic and structural conventions. Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, four generations of Egyptian composers have crafted a narrative of musical innovation in which the past and present converge, and where the melodies of their homeland resonate within the frameworks of so-called Western art music. This journey was not just a transcultural merging of styles per se, but a critical and ongoing reclamation and redefinition of national identity and musical heritage. Contemporary Egyptian art music is largely misunderstood and suffers from a significant lack of engagement by non-Arab scholars and musicians alike. This gap in interaction has arguably led to a regional isolation whereby the contemporary Egyptian art music community has and continues to be precluded from deserved global reception. This is due in large part to an absence of biographical writings on Egyptian musicians and composers in languages other than Arabic, as well as the wider inaccessibility of their music in the form of scores and recordings. This dissertation addresses this lacuna by linking four “ethnographic biographies” that connect the first-, second-, and third-generation Egyptian composers Yūsif Grīs (يوسف جريس),1899–1961, Gamāl ‘Abd al-Rahīm(جمال عبد الرحيم) , 1924–1988, ‘Aṭiyya Sharāra(عطية شرارة) , 1922–2014, and Sherīf Moḥī al-Dīn (شريف محي الدين), b. 1964, respectively. The disparate nature of their life stories is reflected in the methodology of this project which necessarily combines archival work with ethnography and oral history. In doing so, this dissertation bridges the past century of Egyptian art music through the lens of these composers’ approaches to string composition, particularly for the viola, and with a focus on how contemporary Egyptian art music composers write idiomatically for the instrument as well as how we might rethink the legacy of these compositions for the viola today. The outcome of this research is to provide new historical and compositional contexts and resources for a wider community of musicians and to expand the viola’s established repertoire to better reflect its global forces at work.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Ebersohl-Van Scyoc, Christina

Contributors dc:contributor

• Harris Takao, Makoto
• Freivogel, Elizabeth
• Haken, Rudolf
• Hassan, Wail

• viola
• Egypt
• Egyptian music
• composers
• biography
• ethnography
• ethnographic biography
• composition
• Western music
• Egyptian history

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Christina Ebersohl-Van Scyoc

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129433

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129433