The USC Music Library has a large collection of monographs and sound recordings relating to the music of the Middle East. The collection covers both indigenous and popular music. To learn more on the Middle East and its music, click on the Grove link under each country's bibliography.

1. Afghanistan
2. Armenia
3. Azerbaijan
4. Bahrain
5. Cyprus
6. Georgia
7. Iran
8. Iraq
9. Israel
10. Jordan
11. Kazakhstan
12. Kuwait
13. Kyrgyzstan
14. Lebanon
15. Oman
16. Pakistan
17. Qatar
18. Saudi Arabia
19. Syria
20. Tajikistan
21. Turkey
22. Turkmenistan
23. United Arab Emirates
24. Uzbekistan
25. Yemen

(Red): 1 to 3 Items - (Yellow): 4 to 6 Items - (Green): 7 or More Items

Afghanistan

Anthology of World Music: The Music of Afghanistan. Rounder Select 82161-5121-2. CD. 2003.
Compact Disc 6118
Listen

Afghanistan: Music from the Crossroads of Asia, performed by members of the Radio Afghanistan Orchestra, recorded in Kabul by Peter Ten Hoopen. Nonesuch Explorer Series H-72053. LP. 1973.
LP 3088
Listen

Clark, Mitchell. Sounds of the Silk Road: Musical Instruments of Asia. Boston, MA: MFA Publications, 2005.
ML 525 .C53 2005.

The Music of Afghanistan. 82161-5121-2 Rounder. CD. 2003.
Compact Disc 6118

Sakata, Hiromi Lorraine. Music in the Mind: The Concepts of Music and Musician in Afghanistan. Kent, OH: The Kent University Press, 1983.
ML 345 .A35 S24 1983

The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan. SFW CD 40438 Smithsonian Folkways. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991.

Slobin, Mark. Music in the Culture of Northern Afghanistan. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 1976.
ML 3758 .A3 S6

Sufi Music. RGNET 1064 CD World Music Network. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 9440

Read about the music of Afghanistan at Grove Music Online.
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Armenia

Armenian Songs. W9612 Westminster. LP. 1964.
LP 7810

Balasanian, Sergei Artem'evich. Armenian Music (Armianskaia Muzyka). S10-06043--S10-06044 Melodiia. LP. [n.d.].
LP 18582

Nercessian, Andy. The Duduk and National Identity in Armenia. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2001.
ML 990 .D76 N47 2001

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 4. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4507. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4730
Listen

Armenian music through the ages, performed by Richard Hagopian. Smithsonian Folkways SF 40414. CD. 1993.
Compact Disc 5725
Listen

Komitas. Armenian Sacred and Folk Music. Translated by Edward Gulbekian. England: Curzon Press, 1998.
ML 3758 .A75 K66 1998

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Read about the music of Armenia at Grove Music Online.
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Azerbaijan

Music of Azerbaijan. Anthology of World Music. Rounder 82161-5142-2. CD. 2003.
Compact Disc 5744

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 2. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4505. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4728
Listen

Musics of the Soviet Union. Smithsonian Folkways SF 40002. CD. 1989.
Compact Disc 5717
Listen

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Read about the music of Azerbaijan at Grove Music Online.
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Bahrain

Fanshawe, David. Salaams and the Pearl Divers of Bahrain. Philips Stereo 6558 003. LP. 1977.
LP 16568
Listen

Read about the music of Bahrain at Grove Music Online.
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Cyprus

Folk Music of Cyprus: Traditional Songs and Dances of the Greek, Turkish, and Maronite Communities. LLST 7329 Lyrichord. LP. 197-.
LP 8860

Read about the music of Cyprus at Grove Music Online.
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Georgia

Georgian Voices, performed by the Rustavi Choir. Elektra Nonesuch Explorer Series 79224-2. CD. 1989.
Compact Disc 1165
Listen

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 1. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4504. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4631
Listen

Musics of the Soviet Union. Smithsonian Folkways SF 40002. CD. 1989.
Compact Disc 5717
Listen

Read about the music of Georgia at Grove Music Online.
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Iran

Anthology of Persian Music: 1930-1990. Mage Publishers CD 22-1. CD. 1991.
Compact Disc 1179
Listen

Clark, Mitchell. Sounds of the Silk Road: Musical Instruments of Asia. Boston, MA: MFA Publications, 2005.
ML 525 .C53 2005.

Classical Music of Iran: The Dastgah Systems, compiled, edited, and annotated by Ella Zonis Mahler. Smithsonian Folkways 40039. CD. 1991.
Compact Disc 5572
Listen

During, Jean, and Zia Mirabdolbaghi, including a lesson from Dariush Safvat. The Art of Persian Music. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers, 1991.
ML 344 .D86 1991

Farhat, Hormoz. The Dastgah Concept in Persian Music. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
ML 344 .F32 1990

Iran. RGNET1165CD World Music Network. CD. 2005.
Compact Disc 9452

Massoudieh, Mohammad Taghi. Manuscrits Persans Concernant la Musique. Répertoire International des Sources Musicales. München: G. Henle Verlag, 1996.
Ref ML 113 .R432 ser. B t.12

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 2. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4505. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4728
Listen

National Anthems of the World, performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, conducted by Major F. J. Harris, MBE. London Records PS 120. LP. 1959.
LP 7455
Listen

Nettl, Bruno, ed. Eight Urban Musical Cultures: Tradition and Change. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1978.
ML 3547.1 .E4

Nettl, Bruno, and Bela Foltin, Jr. Daramad of Chahargah: A Study in the Performance Practice of Persian Music. Detroit, MI: Information Coordinators, Inc., 1972.
ML 344 .N48

Persian Santur: Music of Iran, performed Nasser Rastegar-Nejad, Fariba, Manuchehr Hashemi, and Ali-Asghar Mirzadeh. Nonesuch Explorer Series H-72039. LP. [n.d.].
LP 17011
Listen

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

World Music Sampler, vol. 2. Nimbus Records 7014. CD. 1994.
Compact Disc 2014
Listen

Wright, O. The Modal System of Arab and Persian Music, A.D. 1250-1300. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1978.
ML 189 .W74

Read about the music of Iran at Grove Music Online.
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Iraq

Afif Bulos Sings Songs of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-8816. CD. 1961.
Compact Disc 6389
Listen

Read about the music of Iraq at Grove Music Online.
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Israel

Adler, Israel. Hebrew Notated Manuscript Sources up to Circa 1840: A Descriptive and Thematic Catalogue with a Checklist of Printed Sources, vols. 1 and 2. Répertoire International des Sources Musicales. München: G. Henle Verlag, 1989.
Ref ML 113 .R432 ser. B t.9 pt. 1 v.1-2

Adler, Israel. Hebrew Writing Concerning Music: In Manuscripts and Printed Books from Geonic Times up to 1800. Répertoire International des Sources Musicales. München: G. Henle Verlag, 1975.
Ref ML 113 .R432 ser. B t.9 pt. 2

Armistead, Samuel, and Joseph Silverman. Tres Calas en el Romancero Sefardí (Rodas, Jerusalén, Estados Unidos). Spain: Editorial Castalia, 1979.
ML 3776 .A75

Bohlman, Philip Vilas. The Land Where Two Streams Flow: Music in the German-Jewish Community of Israel. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
ML 345 .I8 B6 1989.

Braun, Joachim. Music in Ancient Israel. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002.
ML 166 .B7613 2002

Burgh, Theodore W. Listening to the Artifacts: Music Culture in Ancient Palestine. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2006.
ML 162 .B85 2006.

Fleisher, Robert. Twenty Israeli Composers: Voices of a Culture. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1997.
ML 390 .F59 1997

Folk Music of Palestine: Hebrew, Yemenite, Persian, Arabic, Bokharian. F-4408 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, FE-4408 Folkways. CD. 1995.
Compact Disc 6387

Gradenwitz, Peter. Music and Musicians in Israel. Jerusalem: The Youth and Hechalutz Department of the Zionist Organization, 1952.
ML 3754.G733

_________. The Music of Israel: From the Biblical Era to Modern Times. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1996.
ML 345 .I5 G73 1996.

_________. The Music of Israel: Its Rise and Growth through 5000 Years. New York, NY: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1949.
ML3776 .G7

Hassidic Tunes of Dancing & Rejoicing. Ethnic Folkways Records FE 4209. LP. 1978.
LP 5182

Israel. RGNET1168CD World Music Network. CD. 2006.
Compact Disc 9453

Katz, Israel J. Judeo-Spanish Traditional Ballads from Jerusalem: An Ethnomusicological Study. Brooklyn, NY: The Institute of Medieval Music, Ltd., 1972.
ML 3776 .K37

Morasha: Traditional Jewish Musical Heritage, recorded by Dr. Amnon Shiloah. Ethnic Folkways Records FE 4203. LP. 1978.
LP 5059
Listen

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 2. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4505. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4728
Listen

National Anthems of the World, performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, conducted by Major F. J. Harris, MBE. London Records PS 120. LP. 1959.
LP 7455
Listen

Netzer, Effi. The Most Popular Folk Songs from Israel. EUCD 1498 ARC Music. CD. 1999.
Compact Disc 9508

Regev, Motti, and Edwin Seroussi. Popular Music and National Culture in Israel. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004.
ML 3502 .I75 R44 2004

Sharvit, Uri. “The Role of Music in the Jewish Yemenite Ritual: A Study of Ethnic Persistence.” Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1982.
ML 3195 .S48 1982a

Read about the music of Israel at Grove Music Online.
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Jordan

Aiff Bulos Sings Songs of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. F-8816 Folkways. CD. 1999.
Compact Disc 6389

Read about the music of Jordon at Grove Music Online.
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Kazakhstan

Beliaev, Viktor M. Central Asian Music: Essays in the History of the Music of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R. Edited by Mark Slobin ; translataed by Mark and Greta Slobin. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975.
ML 300.5 .B4413

Central Asia. RGNET1129CD World Music Network. CD. 2005.
Compact Disc 9447

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Read about the music of Kazakhstan at Grove Music Online.
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Kuwait

Read about the music of Kuwait at Grove Music Online.
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Kyrgyzstan

Beliaev, Viktor M. Central Asian Music: Essays in the History of the Music of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R. Edited by Mark Slobin ; translated by Mark and Greta Slobin. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975.
ML 300.5 .B4413

Central Asia. RGNET1129CD World Music Network. CD. 2005.
Compact Disc 9447

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Read about the music of Kyrgyzstan at Grove Music Online.
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Lebanon

Afif Bulos Sings Songs of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-8816. CD. 1961.
Compact Disc 6389
Listen

Arabic songs of Lebanon and Egypt, performed by the George Sawaya Trio and female chorus. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-6925. CD. 1956.
Compact Disc 6388
Listen

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 5. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4508. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4632
Listen

Read about the music of Lebanon at Grove Music Online.
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Oman

Read about the music of Oman at Grove Music Online.
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Pakistan

Qureshi, Regula. Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context and Meaning in Qawwali. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2006 and 1995.
Ml 3197 .Q74 2006 and Compact Disc 9095

Rough Guide to the Music of India and Pakistan. RGNET 1008. CD. 1996.
Compact Disc 5683
Listen

Songs and Sounds of Faraway Places. Philips Mono PCC 201. LP. 1963.
LP 4154
Listen

Sufi Music. RGNET 1064 CD World Music Network. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 9440

Read about the music of Pakistan at Grove Music Online.
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Qatar

Read about the music of Qatar at Grove Music Online.
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Saudi Arabia

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 1. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4504. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4631
Listen

National Anthems of the World, performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, conducted by Major F. J. Harris, MBE. London Records PS 120. LP. 1959.
LP 7455
Listen

Read about the music of Saudi Arabia at Grove Music Online.
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Syria

Let Jasmine Rain Down, University of Chicago Press 1998. (This recording accompanies ML 3776 .S53).
Compact Disc 5782
Listen

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 5. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4508. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4632
Listen

Shelemay, Kay Kaufman. Let Jasmine Rain Down: Song and Remembrance Among Syrian Jews. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1998.
ML 3776 .S53 1998

Read about the music of Syria at Grove Music Online.
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Tajikistan

Beliaev, Viktor M. Central Asian Music: Essays in the History of the Music of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R. Edited by Mark Slobin ; translated by Mark and Greta Slobin. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975.
ML 300.5 .B4413

Central Asia. RGNET1129CD World Music Network. CD. 2005.
Compact Disc 9447

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Read about the music of Tajikistan at Grove Music Online.
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Turkey

Bartok, Bela. Turkish Folk Music From Asia Minor. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976.
ML 3757 .B37

Farhangi, Farzad. Sandstorm. Columbia, SC: MIPA Studios, 2003.
Compact Disc 8429

Music of the World’s Peoples, vol. 3. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings F-4506. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 4729
Listen

National Anthems of the World, performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, conducted by Major F. J. Harris, MBE. London Records PS 120. LP. 1959.
LP 7455
Listen

Rough Guide to the Music of Turkey. RGNET 1057. CD. 2003.
Compact Disc 5687
Listen

Saygun, A. Adnan. Béla Bartók’s Folk Music Research in Turkey. Edited by László Vikár. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1976.
ML 3757 .S4

Signell, Karl L. Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music. New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1977. Reprint. Seattle, WA: Asian Music Pub., 1977.
ML 345 .T8 S5 1986

Songs and Dances of Turkey. Recorded by Laura Boulton. Folkways Records FP 80-1. LP. 1955.
LP 12960
Listen

Songs and Sounds of Faraway Places. Philips Mono PCC 201. LP. 1963.
LP 4154
Listen

Turkey: Traditional Songs and Music. Collected and edited by Wolf Dietrich. Lyrichord LLST 7356. LP. 1977.
LP 8864
Listen

Turku. Özlem. HSCD-1103 Hittite Sun Records. CD. 2004.
Compact Disc 8374

Turquie: Musique Soufi. Radio France 558522. LP. 1976.
LP 10433
Listen

Read about the music of Turkey at Grove Music Online.
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Turkmenistan

Beliaev, Viktor M. Central Asian Music: Essays in the History of the Music of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R. Edited by Mark Slobin ; translated by Mark and Greta Slobin. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975.
ML 300.5 .B4413

Central Asia. RGNET1129CD World Music Network. CD. 2005.
Compact Disc 9447

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Sufi Music. RGNET 1064 CD World Music Network. CD. 2001.
Compact Disc 9440

Read about the music of Turkmenistan at Grove Music Online.
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United Arab Emirates

Read about the music of United Arab Emirates at Grove Music Online.
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Uzbekistan

Beliaev, Viktor M. Central Asian Music: Essays in the History of the Music of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R. Edited by Mark Slobin ; translated by Mark and Greta Slobin. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975.
ML 300.5 .B4413

Central Asia. RGNET1129CD World Music Network. CD. 2005.
Compact Disc 9447

Silk Road. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40438. CD. 2002.
Compact Disc 5991

Read about the music of Uzbekistan at Grove Music Online.
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Yemen

Afro-Arabian Crossroad: Music of the Tihama on the Red Sea, North Yemen. Recorded by Anderson Bakewell. Lyrichord LLST 7384. LP. 1983.
LP 8863
Listen #1
Listen #2

Folk Music of Palestine: Hebrew, Yemenite, Persian, Arabic, Bokharian. F-4408 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, FE-4408 Folkways. CD. 1995.
Compact Disc 6387

Sharvit, Uri. The Role of Music in the Jewish Yemenite Ritual: A Study of Ethnic Persistence. PhD Diss., Columbia University, 1982.
ML 3195 .S48 1982a

Read about the music of Yemen at Grove Music Online.
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