The present volume consists of translated anecdotes, on musicological and socio-cultural topics, from al-Iṣbahānī’s
Kitāb al-Aghānī al-Kabīr (
The Grand Book of Songs) with annotations and commentaries. It deals with musical rhythmic and melodic modes, technical terms and treatises; music instruments; composition techniques and processes; education and oral/written transmissions; vocal and instrumental performances and their aesthetics; solo and ensemble music; change and its inevitability; musical and textual improvisations;
ṭarab and the acute emotions of joy or grief; medieval dances; social status. Though extracts from
The Grand Book of Songs have been translated in European languages since 1816, this work presents a much larger and more comprehensive scope that will benefit musicologists, medievalist and Middle Eastern scholars as well as the general reader.
George Dimitri Sawa is an independent scholar with a PhD in Music and Middle East Studies, from the University of Toronto. He taught Middle Eastern Music History: medieval, modern and sacred music,
at the University of Toronto (1987-1995) and York University (1982-1986, 1994, 2006-2007).
“Unquestionably, this is a volume covering a vast area: literature, history, biography, social comment, and of course information about music and its development. Sawa’s volume is a splendid work for the completion of which a combination of patience and erudition was obviously among its prerequisites, - the result being one of those tomes indispensable for students of Music, Ethnomusicology, and Sociology of Art.”
- Stavros Nikolaidis in:
Journal of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 29 (2020).
“Wesentliches geleistet und ein wertvolles Referenzwerk geschaffen, welches dazu beiträgt, das kitāb al-aġānī auch für nicht arabistische Disziplinen zu erschließen und leichter zugänglich zu machen.“
- Anna Diltsch in
Institut für Orientalistik Wien , (2022).
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsEditorial Notes Introduction: Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī and His Book of Songs 1
TheoryThe Modes A
The Eight Rhythmic Modes B
The Eight Melodic Modes C
The Three Passages on Rhythmic and Melodic Modes in the Book of Songs D
Jins and Ṭarīqa E
Rare Songs Containing Eight or Ten Notes F
Early Singing: Ḥudāʾ, Naṣb, and Rukbān G
Technical Terms H
Theoretical Treatises, Anecdotes, Biographies, Song Collections, Authorship, Modes 2
Instruments A
Aerophones: Mizmār, Nāy, and Surnāy B
Idiophones: ʿAṣāt, Dawāt, Jaras, Juljul, Khashaba, Miqraʿa, Nāqūs, Qaḍīb, Qarbūs, Raḥl, Ṣaffāqa, Ṣanj C
Membranophones: ʿArṭaba, Duff, Murabbaʿ, Ṭabl D
Chordophones: Barbaṭ, Kankala, Miʿzafa, Mizhar, Ṣanj, Ṭunbūr, ʿūd E
Storage and Workshop for Instrument Making F
Improvised Instruments 3
Composition A
The Use of Music to Embellish and Spread Poetry B
The Origins of Arabic Music C
Technique and Process of Composition D
Dreams and Jinns as Sources for Compositions E
Contrafacta F
Style and the Imitation of Style G
Composition: Talent Versus Intellect, Head Versus Heart H
Specialization I
Analysis J
Authorship K
Poems, Composers, and Modes L
The Number of Lines of Poems Set to Music M
Choosing and Altering the Order of the Verses and Mixing Poems N
Names of Melodies O
Output P
Quality Versus Quantity Q
Poems Conducive to Be Set to Music R
The Best Composers and Compositions S
Comparisons T
Weak Compositions U
Women’s Compositions and Softness V
Folklore Songs: Sailors, Masons, and Water Carriers W
Monopolies on Poems 4
Education and Transmission A
General Education B
Pedigree C
Music Education D
The Important Role of Women as Teachers, Transmitters, and Memorizers E
Memory Loss F
Learning and Repetitions, Slow Learners and Fast Learners G
Problems of Difficulty and Transmission H
Prevention of Transmission and Stinginess I
Good and Bad Transmitters J
Unconventional Transmissions K
Miscellaneous 5
Performance A
Singers and Songstresses B
To Sing: Qāla, Qaraʾa, Ḥaddatha C
Voice Production D
Beautiful Voice E
Powerful Voice F
Poor Voices G
Stratagem for Poor Voices H
Excellence in Performance I
Poor Performance and Weaknesses J
Postures K
Difficult Songs L
Comparisons M
The Limitations of Descriptions O
Size of Repertoire P
Lute Playing in the Persian Style Q
Lute Virtuosity R
Inheriting a Family Business S
Performance Order T
The Composition of the Majlis and Its Effect on Performance U
Songs without Words 6
Solos, Accompaniment, and Ensemble Music A
Murtajil: A Cappella B
Instrumental Solos C
Unaccompanied Duet Singing D
Unison Ensemble Singing E
Unison Ensemble Singing with Lute Accompaniment F
A Soloist and Her Chorus G
Hand Clapping, Castanets, and Dancing H
Tambourines I
Ṭabl J
Lute K
Ṭunbūr L
Voice and Nāy M
Murtajil and Irtijāl 7
Musical Stability and Change A
On the Inevitability of Change B
Change Is Permissible C
Change Is Frowned Upon D
Wine and Its Positive and Negative Effects on Singing E
The Truth about the Singer Mālik Not Composing but Altering and Beautifying the Songs of Others F
Change as a Tool to Embarrass an Enemy 8
Musical and Textual Improvisations 9
Ṭarab and the Effects of Singing on People and Animals A
Preliminary Definitions B
Physical Effects on People and Animals C
Emotional Effects D
Effects on the Imagination E
Therapeutic Effects F
Ṭarab and Effects of Music: Miscellaneous Topics 10
Dance A
Zafn and Raqṣ B
Early Arabic Music and Dance According to Ibn Khaldūn C
Dastband and Īlāʾ D
Kurraj E
Raqṣ and the Completion of Musical Arts F
The Required Qualities of Dancers According to the Oration of an Anonymous Singer/Boon Companion of the Caliph Al-Muʿtamid, as Reported in the Meadows of Gold of Al-Masʿūdī 11
Physiognomy, Attire, Character, Social Status, and Permissibility of Music A
The Importance of a Beautiful Face, Body, and Attire B
Character and Knowledge C
Slaves, Freed Slaves, Mawlās, and Freeman D
Is It a Sin to Sing? E
It Is Not a Sin to Sing If the Singer Is Pious and Endowed with Good Character, or If the Songs Are Not Erotic F
The Contradictory and Ambiguous Roles of Noblemen, Theologians, and Administrators Toward Music and Musicians G
The Shame of Being an Instrumentalist H
Words of Wisdom in Support of Music Arabic English GlossaryBibliographyIndex of People and PlacesIndex of Terms and SubjectsCharts
Scholars, students and general readers of medieval music and socio-cultural history of the early Islamic, Umayyad and Abbasid era.