|
Brief Story about the Lute......
The lute or Oud
first came to Mecca with the skilled craftsmen who were
brought in by the ruler of the region, Abdullahi Ibn El Zubair, to
maintain the holy shrine in the early days of Islam.
A famous Arab
singer named Ibn Suraig became fascinated by the new instrument. He
befriended the Persian craftsmen and learned to play it, drawing
Arab music from a lute for the very first time.
About a thousand
years ago the bud gained its characteristic many-holed
sound-board, which is credited to a great musician from Turkistan.
Commonly called El Faraabi, after his home town, he was a
philosopher who wrote books on Aristotle and Plato, and his skill as
a lute player was legendary. One evening, it is said, he took his
lute on a visit to a group of friends. He played one tune and had
them all laughing; a second tune made them all cry. Then he played a
third tune that lulled them all to sleep, quietly picked up his lute
and departed.
Another story
tells how El Faraabi awoke one morning and discovered to his grief
and horror that rats had chewed holes in the soundboard of his lute.
At first he wept with fury. But when he passed his fingers over the
strings, a more melodious sound came forth than ever before, and he
began to rejoice. With a gleeful pun he exclaimed “El Far abi! El
Far abi!” - literally “The rat (El Far) is my father (abi)l”
The lute was
brought to Europe by another Arab musician, El Hassan lbn Nafis,
known as ‘Ziryaab’, who added the instrument’s fifth upper string.
He was a talented
student at the music school of lshag Al-Mawsily, son of Ibrahim Al-Mawsily. Now Ishag and his father Ibrahim were both outstanding
musicians, but lshag grew jealous of Ziryaab musical virtuosity and
remarked, pointedly, “It is most unbecoming for two stars to shine
at the same time”. his student took the hint and departed with his
family to Andalusia in Spain, where he established his own academy
for music and manners, with his daughters as teachers.
by Abdel Karim Alkabli | 
