From al-ʿAṭṭār to Mušāqa: On the Music- Theoretical Debates in Damascus in the First Half of the 19th Century

Abstract

Abstract This article deals with the life and music-theoretical writings of the Damascene scholar Muḥammad al-ʿAṭṭār (1764–1828). The re-identification of a small treatise on music theory entitled Nubḏa mina l-mūsīqī as the latter’s Risāla that was mentioned and quoted by his student Mīḫāʾīl Mušāqa (1800–88) and the detailed analysis of it and his Rannat al-awtār led to a reconsideration of the emergence of the commonly called “modern” Arabic music theory, and to a reassessment of the role of al-ʿAṭṭār and Mušāqa in the establishment of the 24-tone equal temperament. A critical edition of the Nubḏa is attached to the article.