Shahrud

Shahrud, Persian شاهرود, DMG SAH- Rūd, too, saw -i Rud is a historic stringed instrument that only by drawings in two manuscripts of the music-theoretical work Kitāb al - Musiqa al -Kabeer that coming from Central Asia scholar al -Farabi (c. 870-950 ) is known and probably was one of the archlutes. SAH -Rud was introduced in Samarkand early 10th century and spread throughout the Arab Middle Eastern music.

Etymology

The Persian word SAH- Rūd consists of saw "King " ( Shah ) and Rūd together, as well as the TAR contains the basic meaning of " string ". Rūd is a historic oriental lute, while the long-necked lute tar is still in Iranian music played. The Persian musician Abd al -Qadir ( Ibn Ghaybi, † 1435 ) from Maragha in the northwest of Iran mentioned the sounds Rūd Chatı (also Rūd Chani ) next RUDAK and Ruda. Two centuries later described the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi travel writer ( 1611 - after 1683 ) the sounds Ruda the čahārtār similar as, a four-stringed instrument in name. Arab historian al - Maqqari (around 1577-1632 ) refers to a source from the 13th century, after which the Ruda be met with in Andalusia.

SAH -Rud, " the King of the lute ", may have been developed for the namesake of the 1860s in the years of the Afghan Rubab, North Indian dish necked lute sarod. The Persian word sarod already referred to in a number of spelling variations, however, much longer lute instruments and generally stands for " music ". In Balochistan the Indian Sarinda similar stringed lutes are surod and sorud known. One in the Ottoman period şehrud called stringed instrument that often appears on Ottoman and Persian miniature paintings as large bulbous variant of the short-necked lute ʿ ūd is obviously not a form related to the medieval SAH- Rūd called - but.

Design

A published illustration of the Sah -Rud comes from a manuscript of the 13th century, which is preserved in the National Library in Cairo, the only other from a presumably formed in the 12th century manuscript, which is located in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. The Madrid representation is closely surrounded by writing, executed less carefully and without compasses; structurally, the two do not differ. The Cairo drawing, however, is carefully constructed with ruler and compass. It is unclear whether both drawings go back to the same or a different template, or whether the later Cairo drawing of the former in Madrid has been copied. From archaeologically excavated clay figures, Sassanian rock reliefs or Persian manuscript illuminations often leaves a rough idea of ​​the appearance win historic musical instruments, only the number of strings is usually adapted to the artistic needs and is rarely realistic. This also applies to the total of more reliable representations in musicological works. To include the ornamental decorations of angular harp ( Cang ) on a drawing from the 13th century to more artistic freedom than to their actual appearance. Often harps are depicted entirely without strings with leading or over the cabinet out into the emptiness strings. Sometimes the musicians could not hold in the manner depicted his instrument, or he could not grip the strings.

In the illustration of the Sah -Rud, the parallel strings run like a zither across the ceiling, but will end on the right side somewhere outside. The six shorter ( highest ) strings are bent at its end. A right angle thereto upward leading second string bundle is enclosed by a curved wooden frame, which is reminiscent of the yokes a lyre or the frame of a harp. These strings terminate outside the structure. An explanation as to why both strings systems extend beyond the instrument could be that the artist 's long drooping after their fixation point string ends, which often provided with an appendage and were left for decoration, as has just moved on line. The Madrid instrument has 40 strings, 27 of which closed over the cabinet and 13 are perpendicular to the frame, the drawing from Cairo shows a SAH- Rūd with 48 strings, 29 strings on the body and 19 to the frame.

The musicologist and Rodolphe d' Erlanger Orientalist (1872-1932), whose six -volume work La musique arabe edition contains the first two volumes of a translation of al - Farabi al - Kitaab al - Kabīr Musiqa, classified the SAH- Rūd 1935 as zither. Henry George Farmer (1882-1965) called it before 1929 in A History of Arabian Music a " archlute or Zither" and added that it was " the beginning of the 15th century certainly a archlute " with twice the length of a lute. Influenced by d' Erlanger others wanted to see a harp or a psaltery, which is why farmers from a "Harp Psaltery " made ​​in The Sources of Arabian Music ( 1940). In the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam from 1934 farmers had SAH- Rūd mentioned in the article ʿ ud, ie at the Oriental According instruments. This section Farmers was taken over unchanged in the new edition of 2000 because farmers was later returned to his original position. Accordingly, should the bundle as a string melody strings on a fingerboard and the other strings bundles are presented as leading to separate vertebrae drone strings. This view is strengthened by al -Farabi, the (Persian Cang, Arabic ǧank ) this particular instrument of the common in his time angular harps and lyres of the ( Arab mi ʿ Zafa ) differed. Pavel elector joined Farmers interpretation as "Harp Psaltery " to. The Kanun player and music historian George Dimitri Sawa, however, speaks of a zither. Al -Farabi was in the 10th century to a range of four octaves. After Abd al -Qadir had SAH -Rud in the 15th century, ten double strings and was twice as long as the ʿ ūd.

Besides the two representations of the Kitāb al - Musiqa is a SAH- Rūd mapped notwithstanding drawn in the incunabula from 1474 written by the John Duns Scotus work Quaestiones in Librum II of the Sentences. The incunabula kept in the Ethnographic Museum in Brno in the Czech Republic and is believed to have originated in Brno. The stringed instrument depicted as colored pen drawing in an edge trim strip between vegetable ornaments is held by a standing musician in his hand. This instrument with a different body shape, but also, as in the Arabic manuscripts partially inwardly curved edges and without sound holes is shown in perspective in playing position, allowing an estimate of its size. But here the number of strings remains unclear, since only so many strings were drawn in parallel as in the 25 -millimeter imaging was possible. In the Arab drawings of the body has six edges, at the Brno representation, it is one more, which can be, however, due to a lack of precision. After coloring to judge a covering the top with animal skin ( parchment ) would have been possible.

Dissemination

SAH -Rud goes back to a musician named Ḫulaiṣ ibn al - Ahwaz, who introduced this instrument 918/19 in Samarkand and went about with him in the Central Asian Sogdiana. Later it spread to Iraq, Syria and Egypt. Arab instrumental music seems to have changed considerably at this time according to the information of the Kitāb al - Musiqa al -Kabeer. Up to 9-10. Century had the Barbat developed from the slender solid form what is now known form of short-necked lute with a round body made ​​of chips, which is under the name of ʿ ūd since the popular Arab stringed instrument. Tuhfat al - ʿ ūd was a lute ūd half as large as the ʿ. The "perfect Lute" ( ʿ ūd Kāmil ) with five double strings was the scale.

During the reign of the Abbasids, there was, as stated by al -Farabi, two different long- necked lutes, the older ṭunbūr al - Mizani (also ṭunbūr al - Baghdādī ) and the ṭunbūr al - churasānī, both named after their areas of distribution Baghdad and Khorasan. There were the rare stringed instruments with undiminished plucked strings, one of which was the lyre (mi ʿ Zafa ) is used more often than the harp ( ǧank ) and the trapezoidal zither ( qanun ). Singers accompanied themselves on instruments sound, there is no known description of what a singer himself played a lyre or harp.

SAH -Rud is occupied until the 15th century. For the 16th century, its existence is no longer detectable. A similarly complicated stringed instrument is a built by Wendelin Tieffenbrucker archlute with laterally attached to a harp -like frame parallel strings. This latest 1590 -crafted, exceptional single piece had a range of 6.5 octaves and would be the successor of the Sah -Rud conceivable that the luthier Tieffenbrucker may know.