Thread by @Silpayamanant

I'm up to 950CE in my Arabic Music Theory bibliography & have over a dozen theorists & over 20 works listed.

Chap. 58 of "The History of Muslim Philosophy" has been useful, though a snapshot. But a good intro to get a sense of the breadth of the subject!

al-islam.org/history-muslim…

So far the earliest Music Theorist in the bib. so far is Abū ʿUthmān Saʿīd Ibn Misjaḥ (d. 97 AH|715 CE)--dying just before the Abbasid Caliphate so essentially right before the Islamic Golden Age.

Let's put this into a more inclusive view of Music Theory.

In Armenia, the earliest examples of Khaz notation was created for use in the Armenian Orthodox church. So the beginnings of Armenian šarakan chants.

https://twitter.com/Silpayamanant/status/1279852674821820416

In China, some of the earliest guqin notation dates back to the 6th century. But the oldest Jieshi Diao Youlan (Chinese: 碣石調·幽蘭) existing copy of the score, a four foot long scroll, is from the 7th century and housed in the Tokyo National Museum.

silkqin.com/02qnpu/01yl.htm

In India the Br̥ahaddeśī (usually attributed to Śrī Mataṅga Muni) was written sometime between the 6th-8th century. Probably the first musical treatise to discuss Rasa theory in music and introduces Sargam (the Indian solfege system).

carnaticmusicexams.wordpress.com/books-authors/…

A little earlier in Ethiopia, St. Yared is said to have created the whole Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo chant tradition and a form of notation for it. This isn't to be confused with Melekket which is a later 15th century form of notation for Zema Chants.

https://twitter.com/Silpayamanant/status/1293923079601651712

In other words: An inclusive #MusicTheory curriculum change isn't hard, folks. A lot of stuff is much more accessible to us now than in the past.

And if you haven't done so yet, go read @philewell's "Music Theory and the White Racial Frame"
mtosmt.org/issues/mto.20.…

Per language requirement issues in "Music Theory and the White Racial Frame" most of these Arabic #MusicTheory primary sources are in Arabic, Syriac, Persian, & later, Ottoman Turkish. Few of them have been translated into European languages much less English. It wasn't until...

...recently, the Fihrist (comprehensive cat. of Arabic books at the time) of Ibn al-Nadim (935–95CE) was available in English translation. Other than commentary by other authors, this is a valuable resource for the existence of lost #MusicTheory works.

wdl.org/en/item/7464/

Should also be noted that the 1st Musician listed in my Arabic #MusicTheory bib. is “the father of Islamic Music,” Ibn Misjaḥ (d. 715CE) and who's said to be half African by Al-Isfahani, which lines up w/ descriptions of him as a dark-skinned or black Meccan!

#BlackMusicMatters

In the mail today—512 page catalogue of Arabic Music Theory writings (c. 900-1900) by the late Amnon Shiloah!

#ArabicMusic #MusicTheory #ArabicMusicTheory #Bibliography #Catalogue #Music #Repertoire #MiddleEasternMusic #MiddleEast

Early birthday present: al-Nadim’s “Fihrist” (987 CE). Probably the first catalogue of all known works in Arabic. Over 10,000 works by 2,000 + authors who including several Arabic #MusicTheory treatises that are no longer extant! This edition clocks in at 1,149 pages!