The Abjad Notation and the Presentation of Cycles
This article examines the Abjad notation that was used to describe maqamic structures between the 13th-15th centuries starting with Safiyuddin Urmawi’s Book of Cycles. The article highlights the potential issues that may arise from considering the Abjad notation as a representation of the pitches in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Istanbul University Press
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Konservatoryum |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/61EA2EFE148C427FB1B7A28F86583F0D |
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| Summary: | This article examines the Abjad notation that was used to describe maqamic structures between the 13th-15th centuries starting with Safiyuddin Urmawi’s Book of Cycles. The article highlights the potential issues that may arise from considering the Abjad notation as a representation of the pitches in the Pythagorean 17-tone tuning system. The proposed solution is to view this notation as a contextual system that represents the lahnı [melodic] intervals. Accordingly, the notation implies the limma for consecutive notes, the mujannab for skipping one note, and the tone for skipping two notes. Therefore, the intention appears to be to indicate the intervallic relationships between notes rather than the notes themselves.The article demonstrates that associating the Abjad notation with a fixed tuning would lead to problems in interpreting the music theory of that period. The text discusses the possible authentic interpretation of the notation based on historical sources and also illustrates how the adwar [cycles] are formed by combining only these three intervals. In conclusion, the Abjad notation is interpreted as a practical notation system that facilitates the recognition of these lahniyyat [melodic intervals] that constitute the cycles, and the argument is made that this notation system should not be identified with a fixed pitch sequence. |
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| ISSN: | 2618-5695 |