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Music theory in the Safavid age: The taqsīm al-naġamāt

Wright, Owen

Authors

Owen Wright



Abstract

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 There is, however, a significant exception: the text presented and analysed here, a hitherto unpublished and anonymous theoretical work probably of the middle of the sixteenth century.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.

Citation

Wright, O. (2019). Music theory in the Safavid age: The taqsīm al-naġamāt. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315161624

Book Type Authored Book
Publication Date Jan 1, 2019
Deposit Date Mar 16, 2021
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Series Title SOAS Musicology Series
Series ISSN 0965-1829
ISBN 9781138062436
DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315161624
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315161624


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