Music theory in the Safavid era : the taqsīm al-naġamāt / Owen Wright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wright, Owen, 1938- author.

Series:

SOAS musicology series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Music theory--Iran--History.

Music theory.

History.

Iran.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 435 pages : illustrations, music ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019.

Summary:

The Safavid era (1501-1722) is one of the most important in the history of Persian culture, celebrated especially for its architecture and art, including miniature paintings that frequently represent singers and instrumentalists. Their presence reflects a sophisticated tradition of music making that was an integral part of court life, yet it is one that remains little known, for the musicological literature of the period is rather thin. There is, however, a significant exception: the text presented and analysed here, a hitherto unpublished and anonymous theoretical work of the middle or second half of the sixteenth century. With a Sufi background inspiring the use of the nay as a tool of theoretical demonstration, it is exceptional in presenting descriptive accounts of the modes then in use and suggesting how these might be arranged in complex sequences. As it also gives an account of the corpus of rhythmic cycles it provides a unique insight into the basic structures of art-music during the first century of Safavid rule.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781138062436

113806243X

OCLC:

1015828093

Publisher Number:

99978844256