Edward Powell
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Who is ZIRYAB, and why is he oud important?
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SamirCanada
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From what I know he wasnt only important to the oud but also to fashion and social etiquette.
He was a music student of al-Mawsili in Baghdad and he basically had an argument with his teacher so he fled to the new world at the time for the
arabs which was Andalusia. If I remember correctly the argument was about him adding a 5th string to the oud made from a youn lions gut. Anyways he
brought with him to Andalusia his oud and his lifestyle from Baghdad which was really advanced at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziryab
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jdowning
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Just to add to Samir's comments - according to Dr. G.H. Farmer's translation of the surviving manuscripts fragments of the 9th C. the form of oud
introduced by Ziryab - while at the court of Khalif Harun (who died in 809) - was one third lighter in weight than the ouds then in general use. The
importance of lightness in construction of the oud was later emphasised by other early writers, starting with Al-Khindi (9th C), up until Ibn
al-Tahhan al-Musiqi (14th C).
Ziryab is credited with having been the first to use silk strings on an oud although silk musical instrument strings in general were not an innovation
to judge from the comment that Ziryab's strings " were not spun in hot water as was the custom" (likely a reference to the ancient Chinese practice of
boiling their silk strings to consolidate the filaments after they had been twisted).
The reference to gut strings made from a young lion's intestines may just be a romantic fantasy but Ziryab is said to have preferred these strings
above all others as this gut "gave a much purer tone (tarannum) and it was not affected by temperature ..... and it stood the strain of the plectrum
(midrab or risha) much longer".
(Could this be the origin of 'cat gut' a term often applied centuries later to violin strings made from sheep's intestines?)
Ziryab's strings were dyed - which may imply that they were made heavier by adsorption of tannin and/or metal salts used as mordants in the dyeing
process. 'Weighted' strings would have had a superior acoustic performance compared to strings made of plain silk or gut.
The strings were coloured as follows - the top treble string or Zir, yellow; the second or Mathna, red; the third or Mathlath, white and the fourth or
Bamm, black.
Ziryab is credited with adding a fifth string placed between the Mathlath and Mathna strings - contrary to the four course oud tradition. There seems
to be no mention of the colour of the fifth string.
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DaveH
Oud Junkie
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This is quite a good article.
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200407/flight.of.the.blackbir...
I'm sure he's an important figure but I do think he falls victim to western romanticising, and the marketing gravy-train. The truth is we know
practically nothing of his music. That's not to slate his talent, but I guess it means that everyone can project onto ziryab the arabic-spanish fusion
fantasy of their choice! If we did actually hear his music, it's likely our modern ears would find it peculiar at the very best.
Sorry to state the obvious and go on about this again.
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tchandler
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I think he popularized the use of toothpaste at the court, as well. Now that's innovation!
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jdowning
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The late Dr Henry George Farmer is one of the few sources translating the early Arabic and Persian texts about the oud into English.
In his "Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments" (The Civic Press Glasgow, 1939) he gives some information about Ziryab in a chapter entitled "The
Structure of the Arabian and Persian Lute in the Middle Ages". Here Farmer tells us that the instrument constructed by Ziryab "although the same size
as the oud generally used, was one third LIGHTER".
"A History of Arabian Music" by Farmer was first published 10 years earlier (Luzac & Co., Ltd, London, 1929 - my reference copy is a 1967
reprint). In a chapter "The Abbasids" (page 109) Farmer notes that Ziryab introduced some novel improvements to the oud and that "Whilst his
instrument was equal in size and made of the same wood as the oud in general use, it was HEAVIER by nearly one third"
So - was Ziryab's innovative oud lighter or heavier than the oud generally used in his time? Does anyone have access to the original source documents
or translations of the relevant parts of the texts by other authors to confirm this one way or the other?
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Lamma Anakhu
Oud Lover
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That section of "A History of Arabian Music" is referencing the work of al-Maqqari, whose work has come under scrutiny by Dwight F. Reynolds of UCSB
(author of "Interpreting the Self, Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition"). This viewable excerpt of the article from Middle Eastern
Literatures, Vol. 11, No. 2, August 208:
(I'd like to purchase the article in a couple of weeks [$34], and when I do I'll share some excerpts if anyone is still interested.)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14752620802223756#previe...
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ibn sina
Oud Maniac
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Anyone who's interested in early Arab autobiographies ought to check out Dwight Reynolds "Interpreting the Self, Autobiography in the Arabic Literary
Tradition" mentioned above. There are some fascinating chapters. The translations are very readable too.
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