jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Kitab al-Adwar
Renowned scholar and theorist Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (born 1216, died 1294 in Baghdad) wrote two significant works on the theory of music - Kitab
al-Adwar (The Book of Musical Modes) and the more extensive work al-Risala al-sharatiyya fi al-nisab al-ta litiyya (The Sharafian Treatise on Musical
Proportions).
Kitab al-Adwar, originally written in Arabic, was later translated into Persian and Turkish and a number of manuscript copies of the book survive.
In 1999, a 26 page copy was sold at "Christies" in London for over $8,000.
A clear page by page image of an original copy of Kitab al-Adwar may be downloaded from
http://www.saramusik.org/article.php3?id_article=53
The book appears to be complete in itself but I do not know if it is a full copy of the original with only 24 pages.
The attached engraving of a fretted oud (subject of the 'Old Oud' project on this forum) is said to have come from an early 14th C copy of the Kitab
al-Adwar. If so, then it is not present in this copy. Can anyone positively confirm that the engraving is to be found in the Kitab al-Adwar and - if
so - where can the copy in question be found? The language of the copy may also be significant as - for example - if written in Turkish, the oud in
the engraving may represent an oud from the Turkish tradition.
Incidentally the article "Safi al-Din al-Urmawi and the Theory of Music" by Dr Fazli Arslan - a study (in English) of Safi al-Din's second book, may
be found helpful in gaining an understanding of the text and diagrams in Kitab al-Adwar for those of us who cannot read Arabic.
Check "All Articles">Music Science at:
http://www.fstc.co.uk
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Note also that Baron Rodolphe d' Erlanger discusses (in French) the contents of both of Sufi al-Din's books in Tome 3 of "La Musique Arabe".
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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See also "Musical Mathematics" by Chris Forster - Part IV Arabian, Persian and Turkish Music. - Section 11.70
http://www.chrysalis-foundation.org
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