On Music

An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of Epistle 5
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-19-959398-9
Verlag: Hurst & Co.

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 164 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 757 g

Reihe: Epistles of the Brethren of Purity

The Ikhwan al-Safa' (Brethren of Purity), the anonymous adepts of a tenth-century esoteric fraternity based in Basra and Baghdad, hold an eminent position in the history of science and philosophy in Islam due to the wide reception and assimilation of their monumental encyclopaedia, the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa' (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). This compendium contains fifty-two epistles offering synoptic accounts of the classical sciences and philosophies
of the age; divided into four classificatory parts, it treats themes in mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and theology, in addition to didactic fables. The Rasa'il constitutes a paradigmatic legacy in the canonization of philosophy and the sciences in mediaeval Islamic
civilization, and has also shown a permeating influence in Western culture.
This is the third volume in a series presenting the very first critical edition of the Rasa'il in its original Arabic, complete with the first fully annotated English translation. Epistle 5: On Music examines not just the technical, scientific, and mathematical aspects of music, but its cosmic, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. Music completed the classical training of the quadrivium (the sine qua non for further studies in philosophy and theology), and, as
with other epistles of this group, there is much emphasis on numeric proportions and the underlying cosmic order of the universe. Technical concepts such as rhythm, tone, metre, and melody, along with the lute and its tunings as these relate to the fourfold Galenic theory, lead to a consideration of the psychological applications
and the ultimately spiritual nature of music.

Zielgruppe

Students and scholars in the domains of medieval philosophy, musicology, Islamic studies, history of ideas in Mediaeval Islamic civilization, classics, and theology

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wright, Owen

Weitere Mitwirkende

Wright, Owen

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein Musiktheorie, Musikästhetik, Kompositionslehre
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Philosophie & Wissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Nicht-Westliche Philosophie Islamische & Arabische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
Epistle 5: On Music
Bibliography
Index
Risãla 5 (Arabic Text & Variants)

Über Autor(innen)

Owen Wright is Professor of the Musicology of the Middle East at SOAS, University of London. His research interests focus on the textual sources for the history of music in the Middle East.