dear Roman, and all the picture of the 'ud is from the book of Safi al Din 'Abd al-Mu'min b. Fakr al-Urmawi" Kitab al -adwar" written in 1333-34. It is an important arab treatise on musical theory ( he also wrote onother one) and it was written while Safi ad-Din was working in the library of the Caliph al-Mustassim. The oldest known copy ot the kitab al-adwar was finished in 633/1236 ( Ms Nuruosmaniye 3653) when the author was only 20 years old.! ( did he write it?) Cronologically it is the first scientific treatise on music after that of Ibn Sina. the kitab al- adwar contains a lot of informatuons on the 5 course 'ud that , by that time, was still a new and little practiced lute. The part related to the musical theory is very interesting because it explains clearly the 12 maqam ( modes)and the division of the octave in 17 parts.he also provides the proportions between length and width o the various parts of the 'ud. Sorry but I don't know what the incription says. You should contact professor Neubauer in Frankfurt who translated almost all the arab treatises and has a great knowledge. best wishes, Davide Rebuffa
From: "Roman Turovsky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "David Van Edwards" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "LUTE-LIST" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 1:04 AM Subject: Re: fretted ud > That's the one!!! > RT > ______________ > Roman M. Turovsky > http://turovsky.org > http://polyhymnion.org > > Dear Roman, > > Do you mean this picture which I've just copied from your page?: > > http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/Ud.htm > > As you see I also have a much bigger version which is among the > > earliest images I collected. Alas in those days I didn't take much > > care over keeping notes on the source. But if that's the image you > > mean, I might be able to search for where I found it. Probably in the > > local university library. Or maybe an early issue of Early Music. > > > > I too would be interested in a translation of the arabic script > > along the strings and as a title to the illustration. As you say it > > is an interesting confirmation of Farmer's thesis that the early 'Ud > > was fretted. > > > > Best wishes, > > > > David > > > > > > At 9:15 PM -0500 18/11/03, Roman Turovsky wrote: > >> Today "my eye has caught" a CD by an Azerbajdzhani composer Frangi Ali-Zade > >> called Crossings. She does not appear to be related to our own arabe-manquÈ > >> Daniel Franke-Ferengizade. > >> The cover is illustrated with what appears to be a collage with a clipping > >> of an antique illumination of a FRETTED ud with two rosettes in the form of > >> the Star of David, situated crosswise the axis of the body, above and below > >> the strings. There is writing UNDER the strings, apparently in Arabic > >> script. > >> I have found a SMALL jpg picture and inserted it into the text in the page > >> 2, paragraph 4 at > >> http://www.polyhymnion.org/torban > >> Can anyone identify the source of this illumination??? > >> RT > >> ______________ > >> Roman M. Turovsky > >> http://turovsky.org > >> http://polyhymnion.org > > > > > > -- > > The Smokehouse, > > 6 Whitwell Road, > > Norwich, NR1 4HB > > England. > > > > Telephone: + 44 (0)1603 629899 > > Website: http://www.vanedwards.co.uk > > > > >
