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Concerning Music and Musical Instruments: References to music in a 15th century collection of anti-sama‘ treatises
Abstract by Lisa Nielson On Session 232  (Medieval Maps, Music, and Mysticism)

On Tuesday, November 25 at 8:30 am

2014 Annual Meeting

Abstract
The National Library of Israel (NLI) in Jerusalem holds a folio (Ap., Ar. 158) listed as "Majmu’ fi mas’alat al-sama wa’l-malāhī" (A collection of treatises concerning music and musical instruments) that contains ten treatises, eight of which are concerned with sama‘, or listening to music. With the exception of an overview by musicologist Amnon Shiloah and mention by select specialists in medieval Arabic literature, this potentially rich source for medieval Islamicate music has yet to be studied in detail. The NLI collection is in the hand of Ibn Burayd Burhan al-Din Ibrahim al-Qadiri (1413-1475) and contains treatises dated from the 9th to the 15th century. Among them is a copy of the "Dhamm al-Malāhī" (Censure of Instruments of Diversion), believed to be the first anti- sama‘ treatise, by the 9th century religious scholar Ibn Abi’l Dūnya. It is nearly twice as long as the copy in Landberg 1019 at the Staatsbibliotek in Berlin and that held at the Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi in Istanbul. In addition to the Censure, the collection includes anti- sama‘ treatises by al-Khallal (848-923), al-Adjurri (d. 971CE), al-Tabari (959/60-1058), al-Maqdisi (1173-1245), al-Wassiti (1259-1311), and Ibn Jama’a (1325-1388). My initial interest in the NLI collection has been to examine references to music and musicians in order to track shifts in music terminology between the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries. During the 8th century, terms such as malāhī, ‘alat al-lahw, and ‘alat al-tarab, as found in early treatises such as the "Kitāb al-lahw wa’l malāhī" (Book of Play and Musical Instruments) by Ibn Khurdadhbih (c.820-912) and the "Kitāb al-malāhī" (Book of Musical Instruments) by Ibn Salama (c.830), were generic references to music and musical instruments. As sama‘ debates progressed in the 9th and 10th centuries, these terms came to be invested with moral undertones, and the language used to describe different sound genres, musicians and performance became more complex. This paper considers such changes through a comparison of references to music in early 9th century music treatises to those found in the 9th and 10th century anti- sama‘ treatises in the NLI collection. I begin with a brief overview of the contents of the NLI collection, followed by a look at terms for music and musicians, and conclude with an outline of terms which experienced a shift in or expansion of meaning.
Discipline
Other
Geographic Area
None
Sub Area
7th-13th Centuries