MofA Week 3: Music in theory, theory in practice

Bird's eye view of the history of music in the Arab world

Film: Dananeer (1940)

Three ways of reading:

1. as an (explicit) representation of 9th c Abbasid culture
2. as an (implicit) representation of Egyptian perceptions of "Arab history" in 1940
3. as an (implicit) representation of Egyptian music in 1940

Theory and practice

• consider the relation among
  • formal (music) theory (e.g. philosophical treatises)
  • informal discourse (about music) (e.g. work of Scott Marcus on intonation, modulation)
  • (musical) practice (composition, improvisation) (e.g. analysis of performances by Dr Jihad Racy)
• In relation to practice, theory can be
  • Prescriptive (and then often ideological, polemical)
  • Descriptive (ethnographic)
  • Autonomous
• Reading music theory...
  • Theory projects ideology of musical aesthetics
  • Theory reflects broader historical and discursive trends (e.g. Greek philosophy)
  • Theory condenses cultural values
  • Theory reflects cultural politics (e.g. Abbasid inclusiveness)

Medieval Arabic theory of music (science, metaphysics)

• Caliph Ma'mun (r. 813-33) and Bayt al-Hikma
• Influence of Greek philosophical treatises on Arab music theory
  • Music as part of quadrivium (music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy)
  • Word "musiqi" ("musiqa") enters Arabic from Greek, comes to imply theory
• Key figures: philosophers
  • al-Kindi (d. 870)
  • al-Farabi (d. 950)
  • Ikhwan al-Safa (late 10th c)
  • Ibn Sina (d. 1037)
  • Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (d. 1294)
• Two kinds of theory:
  • Metaphysical
  • Sonic
  • We'll talk about the latter today
• Influence of Greek treatises:
  • Pythagorean tuning
  • Double octave system
  • Tetrachords
  • General notion of systematic exposition
• Difficulties in interpreting medieval theory
  • Relation of theory and practice? Theory may be prescriptive, descriptive, or independent.
  • Theory of earlier period is filtered by later ideologies
  • Many works and all sound is lost
• Components of theory of sound in Arabic writings
  • Tonal theory
    • Pitches and scales
    • Modes
  • Rhythmic theory

Tonal theory in medieval period

• Theory is closely linked to instruments, particularly chordophones (ud and tanbur), providing flexible visual representation (monochord was Greek theoretical instrument)

• Most often the `ud serves as reference

• • 5 strings: bam - mathlath - mathna - zir - hadd
  • 4 frets: sababa - wusta - binsir - khinsir
  • 5 notes per string (but some are variable)
  • Each string provides tetrachord (jins)
  • Jins species (anwa`)
    • First degree fixed (mutlaq)
    • Fourth degree fixed (binsir) - major 3rd
    • fifth degree fixed (khinsir) - perfect 4th
    • Second and third degrees are variable (sababa and wusta)
  • Jins combine to form scales, basis for modes

Theoretical approaches

• Theorization of Old Arabian school (Hijazi, with retroactive Greek and prescriptive influence): e.g. Ibn al-Munajjim
• Theory of the philosophers: e.g. al-Farabi (Greek influence, ethnographic approach)
• The Systematists: e.g. Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (prescriptive systematizer)
• Modern theorists from the 19th c onwards

Refer to spreadsheet and associated audio examples

Informal discourse about music

• Intonation (Marcus article)
• Modulation (Marcus article)

Musical practice

• of Dr Ali Jihad Racy, analyzed in Taqsim Nahawand (Nettl and Riddle article)
• video of Dr `Atif `Abd al-Hamid (Cairo)
• examples at www.maqamworld.com

For next time: select one maqam from www.maqamworld.com. Study the maqam's structure as presented there, and listen to all the examples. Using these examples as models, develop your own composition or improvisation in the same maqam.