Woodwind Instruments in al-Fārābī’s Kitāb al-Mūsīqī al-Kabīr

Abstract

Al‑Fārābī (d. 950 CE), the so-called ‘Second Master’ (Aristotle being the First Master), is known for his influential works on philosophy, especially his commentaries on Aristotle, as well as for his works on logic, physics and metaphysics, ethics, and politics. It was on behalf of al‑Karḫī, Caliph ar‑Rāḍī’s (r. 934–940 CE) wazīr, that al‑Fārābī wrote his Grand Book on Music, explaining musical concepts such as rhythm and melody to the wazīr. As a logician and practicing musician, he combined and improved upon different sources, such as Greek musical theory, as well as on the Arabic authors and musicians al‑Kindī (d. after 870 CE) and Isḥāq al‑Mawṣilī (d. 850 CE). In this paper, I discuss several issues related to woodwind instruments mentioned in al‑Fārābī’s Grand Book on Music. Al‑Fārābī expounds on their interconnections with the tonal production of other instruments, specifying their tone system in terms of finger positions on the fretboard of the ʿūd. Further questions address the relation between theory and practice, as well as some considerations about the modes that seem to be common on woodwinds.