ABSTRACT
Europeans have generally depicted them as repulsive, hypocritical fanatics, and, confirming Edward Said's argument concerning Orientalism, European music for them reinforced these stereotypes through invented rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic clichés designed to strip them of all spiritual associations. Western colonialist expansion reinforced negative images of the Orient, and the study of Oriental cultures was motivated in part by colonialist attitudes of superiority. This chapter considers three paintings by two prominent nineteenth-century French Orientalist painters, Jean-Léon Gérôme and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. It is clear from the directions that the music's effect on the Dervishes is gradual, frantic, and involuntary. The dance is designed to reflect the irrationality of the whirling Dervishes through their bizarre rituals and frenzied music that culminate in a loss of consciousness. Hypocrisy, is the defining element of the religious sect. Denying music the cultural meanings would ultimately lead to its silence, censorship, and isolation from our everyday life.
