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A Tribute to Some of the
Musical Scholars in Arabic Music History
(Taqseem Violin  )
It’s noteworthy, and appropriate, to present to you in
this last session, a brief history of the lives of a few
Musical scholars who have contributed to the evolution
and growth of Arabic music in the last 15 centuries.
Notable among them
was “Abu Yousif Yaaqoub Ibn Ishaq Alkindi”, who was born
in 801 A.D., and was thoroughly knowledgeable in
Philosophy, Astronomy, Logic, Music and Mathematics. He
gained his knowledge through delving into the Greek,
Persian and Indian cultures. He passed away in 866 A.D.
after he enriched the Arabic literature with many books
and literate work that was published in Cairo and
Baghdad. Some of his great works were: Al-Risala Al-kubra
fi Al-Ta’leef (a comprehensive study in composition), a
Study in Tune arrangement that indicates Peoples higher
characters and traits, a Study in Rhythms and a Study in
the making of Musical Instruments.
Another notable
scholar was “Abu Nasr Muhammad Ibn Terkhan” who was
known by Al-Faraabi referring to the city where he was
born. It’s the city of Faraab in the country beyond the
two great rivers, Uzbekistan. He was born in the year
870 A.D. Moved to Baghdad and settled there, where he
was learned by “Abu Basheer Matta Ibn Younis”, and
“Yohanna Ibn Kheilan”. He has gained tremendous
knowledge in Logic, Ethics, Politics, Mathematics,
Chemistry and Music, and has written many books in these
fields, and several were translated to other languages.
Some of his works were: A statistics in Rhythm, A book
of notes and Words in Music.
A third notable was
Ibn Siena. He is “Abu Ali Hassan Ibn Abdallah Ibn
Siena. Who was born in the year 980 A.D. in the city of
Afshana, near Bukhara, in Uzbekistan. In his Adulthood,
Ibn Siena was appointed a Medical Doctor to Noah the
Second, of Bukhara, where he was able to use the
governor’s library, which contained a vast wealth of
information about Sciences and the Arts. He entered
into the service of Shams Al-Dawlah in the City of
Hamathan, where he was appointed a Prime Minister, then
moved on to the city of Isphahaan, where he spent the
rest of his life. He has written many books among them
Kitab Al-Thanaa and Kitab Al-Najat, which contained a
large chapter about music.
For further
information about the history and evolution of Arabic
Music, Dr. Al-Mehdi has published a book by the title
“Arabic Music, Its History and literature” which was
published in Tunisia.
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