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start:
18 december 2006, up-date: 18 december 2006
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One
of the most grandiose figure of history of Middle Eastern Music is Safi
al-Dîn Abd al-Mumin al-Urmawi. One faces with the name of Safi al-Dîn
in the introduction parts of almost new and earlier books written in the
field of the theory of Eastern music. He has thoroughly analyzed the old
Greek resources and works of the Muslim scholars like al-Kindi, al-Fârâbi
(Alpharabius) and Ibn Sîna (Avicenna). He studied the practical
music of his time scientifically and systematized it. The theory and practice
of this systematization can be found in al-Risâlah
al-Sharafiyyah fi al-Nisab al-Ta'lifiyyah (The Sharafian Treatise
on Musical Proportions).
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| It is accepted that the works of Safi al-Dîn Abd al-Mumin al-Urmawi are of great importance in the chain of theoretical works in music history starting with al-Kindî. Having studied most sciences in al-Mustansiriyyah and having been known as the most celebrated calligrapher and literary man, Safi al-Dîn was also a good physicist and a performer of the ûd (oriental lute). Being famous with his compositions abroad, Safi al-Dîn invented two musical instruments and trained students in the fields of calligraphy and music. "Old Orient Sound System with 17 Notes" which was systematized by Safi al-Dîn known as Zarlino of the Orient, was considered and claimed as the best of other systems by some writers. |
| The works of Safi al-Dîn in the field of theory of music, Kitâb al-Adwâr (The Book of Musical Modes) and al-Risâlah al-Sharafiyyah fi al-Nisab al-Ta'lifiyyah had been a source for many authors writing over the theory of music in a few centuries after his time. Qutb al-Dîn Mahmud al-Shirâzi (d. 1310), Abd al-Qadîr b. Ghaybî al-Marâghi (d. 1435), Fath Allah Mumin al-Shirwâni (d. 1486), Muhammad b. Abd al-Hamid al-Lâdhiqi (d. 1494) and Alishah b. Haci Buke (d. 1500) are some of the writers following Safi al-Dîn in their works. |
| The content of al-Sharafiyyah is studied in this article. (1) I have studied al-Sharafiyyah that consists of five discourses under different subtitles. Especially, I have examined in detail the mathematical fundementals of music in the second, third and fourth discourses of the book. |
| While al-Sharafiyyah was studied under these subtitles I have indicated the points from the works of al-Kindî, al-Fârâbi and Ibn Sîna that were benefited by Safi al-Dîn. Beside, I have tried to follow the traces of al-Sharafiyyah by showing references to it in some works written in later centuries, in order to emphasize the impact of the book on the successor studies, innovations brought by it and the differences from the previous works. |