Say, just for kicks: isn't "Iskadariyya" a very mildly corrupted form of Eskendariyya, the name in Arabic for the city of Alexandria? So "O daughter/girl of Alexandria"--makes sense since it was for so long one of the most metropolitan cities on the mediterranean basin...easy to see it navigate its way via greece & turkey, Roma, into the land of the Magyars... just my mind wandering, purely conjectural of course. :^)
cheers, Vlad Wolodymyr Smishkewych wolodymyrsmishkewych.com [email protected] > > On 14 Dec 2009, at 02:22, [email protected] wrote: > >> Today's Topic Summary >> Group: http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy/topics >> >> Digest for [email protected] - 7 Messages in 3 Topics [2 Updates] >> Topic: Digest for [email protected] - 7 Messages in 3 Topics >> Arle Lommel <[email protected]> Dec 13 09:45AM -0500 >> >> Hi Augusto. >> >> I'm wondering the basis for the claim that the Hungarian HG follows >> Arabic/Turkish modes? The tuning, aside from absolute pitch, is identical to >> the French instrument. The keyboard looks different (because of the spaces >> in it), and yes, one key looks inverted compared to a piano, but the lower >> row (the only row on some of the earliest examples known) plays the Ionian >> (major scale), and the upper row simply adds in the missing pitches on the >> Western diatonic scale (and no, it doesn't use any quarter tones). So I'm a >> bit confused about what you're trying to say. I know you play the Hungarian >> instrument, so you do know what you're talking about, and I suspect that >> I've misunderstood what you wanted to say, but without further explanation, >> your statement conveys something about the Hungarian instrument that isn't >> the case (that it uses a "different" scale from most European instruments). >> >> Now it is true that Hungarian HG music uses a lot of modes besides Ionian, >> including Mixolydian (very common), Lydian (less common), Dorian (extremely >> common), and Aeolian (very common), all of which appear in the HG >> repertoire, but the modes one plays and the instrument's basic scale are two >> different things. Other modes, notably the Hungarian Gypsy scale (which does >> correspond to a maqam in the Kurd family), appear frequently in Hungarian >> music, but are not often found in the Hungarian HG repertoire. Maqāmāt >> consist of multiple ajnas, but the combinations are not fixed, so no single >> keyboard would be an "Arabic" keyboard. >> >> However, if you assume an Ajam-family maqam, your statement would be >> generally true of both French and Hungarian HGs (as well as all diatonic >> major scale Western instruments), so that wouldn't seem to be what you mean >> as it wouldn't differentiate or tell us anything other than that there are >> Ajam maqāmāt that generally correspond to the western Ionian scale. >> >> Regarding the bellydance repertoire, that I have less trouble seeing, since >> maqāmāt corresponding to the Hungarian modes (none of which are uncommon in >> Western folk music) exist and there was a considerable period of musical >> exchange in the region and ongoing contact with Balkan music where your >> statement about using Arabic modes is indubitably true. >> >> Best, >> >> -Arle >> >> >> On Dec 13, 2009, at 1:38 AM, Augusto de Ornellas Abreu wrote: >> >> >> Augusto de Ornellas Abreu <[email protected]> Dec 13 05:04PM -0200 >> >> I was making reference to that odd key on the top (which I love, btw)... >> With it (no need for quarter tones), it is very easy to play many >> Arabic-Turkish tunes. >> >> What I meant too was what you mentioned on your last paragraph. There was >> (as still is to a point) a lot of exchange between Eastern Europe and the >> muslim world, especially via Turkey and the Ottomans. Many tunes that the >> Arabs or the Turks claim that are theirs, the Greek, the Bulgarian or even >> the Hungarian claim the same. >> >> An example (which is great for bellydancing, BTW) is "Üsküdara" (there are >> great videos of it on youtube, especially one by a Spanish group called >> Mediterranea or something like it), which the Arabs call "Yaa banaat >> Iskadariyya" and the Greeks, "Apo Xeno Topo" >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "hurdygurdy" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy >> >> The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at >> http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new >> subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster.
