Book contents
- The Science of Music
- Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
- The Science of Music
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Transliteration
- Introduction
- Part I Context
- 1 Music and Mathematics in an Interconnected Web of Cosmic Relations
- 2 Learning the Science of Music in Medieval Baghdad
- 3 Al-Urmawi’s Baghdad before and after the Coming of the Mongols
- 4 Al-Urmawi Goes to the Mustansiriyya: How to Learn the Science of Music
- Part II Texts
- Epilogue
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
- Series page
2 - Learning the Science of Music in Medieval Baghdad
from Part I - Context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2024
- The Science of Music
- Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
- The Science of Music
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Transliteration
- Introduction
- Part I Context
- 1 Music and Mathematics in an Interconnected Web of Cosmic Relations
- 2 Learning the Science of Music in Medieval Baghdad
- 3 Al-Urmawi’s Baghdad before and after the Coming of the Mongols
- 4 Al-Urmawi Goes to the Mustansiriyya: How to Learn the Science of Music
- Part II Texts
- Epilogue
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
- Series page
Summary
Chapter 2 will begin by emphasizing the role of elite patrons in the production of educational treatises on the science of music. The chapter will then provide an analysis of the relationship between learning the science of music, and musical practice, including performance, poetic skills, and listening to music. After providing some medieval philosophical arguments regarding the necessity of learning the science of music in order to better appreciate music performance, the chapter pivots toward presenting the sociocultural benefits of learning the science itself, especially among the elite of the city of Baghdad between third/ninth–seventh/thirteenth centuries. Through aphorisms and entertaining anecdotes by famous Baghdadi literati such as Ibn Khurdadhbih, al-Sarakhsi, and al-Tawhidi, I demonstrate how knowledge about music – as opposed to art-music itself – was used by the elite as a social currency to gain access to certain social circles that would have otherwise remained inaccessible to them.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Science of MusicKnowledge Production in Medieval Baghdad and Beyond, pp. 48 - 72Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025