Correspondence with A.J. Racy

Message from Bruno Nettl to A.J. Racy on the occasion of a conference celebrating Racy’s 40 years of teaching at UCLA

I thank the organizers of this conference for permitting me to send a few words of congratulation which I am unfortunately unable to deliver in person. I am speaking as Dr. Racy’s advisor in his graduate studies, both his master’s degree and his PhD, at the University of Illinois, beginning in 1968, and as a good friend, colleague, and occasional collaborator ever since. I congratulate Dr. Racy on his brilliant career as a scholar, musician, and teacher, and I congratulate UCLA’s program in ethnomusicology for having brought him to its faculty and persuaded him to stay on, for forty years now, and for organizing this very interesting and significant conference in his honor. I am impressed by the large number of ethnomusicologists who have been affected by Professor Racy.

Dear A.J., I am happy to recall some of our moments of togetherness: Your arrival at Illinois on the very day I was leaving for a year in Iran, when all we could do was to have a very brief conversation expressing the hope that you’d still be there when I returned; our joint project in which you performed and recorded, and helped me and Ron Riddle to analyze 100 taqasim, which became the basis of an article in which you were arguably the first graduate student whose name was actually in the title, the subject of a research study in ethnomusicology. I remember with pleasure in 1972 our trip to Turkey, and then to Beirut, where I was welcomed lavishly by your large and distinguished family. And I remember hearing you perform, observing you in seminars, here at UCLA and elsewhere, and of course reading your very impressive and insightful publications over the years. And I am grateful for the concert you gave in my honor for my 85th birthday. Thank you.

I congratulate you on having built a brilliant career by combining various components of ethnomusicological endeavor – scholarship, performance, education, dealing with the issues of cultural insider and outsider, and in the course of this, doing more perhaps than anyone to bring an understanding of Arab and Middle Eastern musics to Americans. We at the University of Illinois are proud to have had you with us, beginning many years go, and we look forward to seeing you again in the future.

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Reply from A. J. Racy to Bruno Nettl

Dear Bruno,

What a beautiful and touching message that you sent me for my 40th celebration. It was ready by my friend and colleague from Illinois, Virginia Danielson, just before my closing presentation. Your nice reflections on my work mean so much to me. I have felt nostalgic for the years at Illinois and appreciative of your continuous care and support since I left Beirut and showed up in Urbana, just before your trip to Iran. Especially after our trip to Turkey and Lebanon, my parents and brothers have always remembered you and asked about you. In my opening address I mentioned that we also honor our teachers and referred to our recognition and the concert dedicated to you. I have cherished that wonderful event.

With best regards and wishes for good health and happiness from Barbara and me.