It is sadly customary in the West to ignore the Byzantine contribution to
the civilization in general, and to the lute in particular. While it had a
plethora of lutes that MUCH PREDATE the 7th century.
RT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Winheld" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2009 12:26 AM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Arabian past
Any explanations? Or am I so ignorant that I am not worth a serious
answer?
Franz, you are perfectly worthy- but this worthless correspondent was
at work today and did not get home until after 9:00 PM, PST. As to
the question, firstly we have to know what Arab music was like at the
time the Oud passed into European hands. We cannot assume that it was
anything like modern Arab music (As Roman pointed out, the oud had
frets way back then) and for that matter we don't even know enough
about EUROPEAN music at that time. Lots of
anthropology/musicology/organology cross-disciplinary matters for
discussion here. By the way, the lute's ancestry has been traced to
pre-Islamic Pakistan; with lutes first going East to China in the 7th
Century AD (Pipa) and then Japan (Biwa)- so the Islamic transmission
is but one step in a multifaceted Global migration. No one, or no
culture, can claim exclusive "ownership". This is just basic
groundwork, of course. Your specific musical questions will
eventually be answered by the professional lutenists and academic
scholars who make this list so rewarding, and worthwhile. Give them a
little time, and I guarantee that it will be discussed to death and
beyond- at least I hope so, and look forward to it.
Dan
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