After the assassination of the Caliph Omar, in 644, the final link with the prophet was broken. The Caliphate passed into the hands of Arab chieftains who, having little sympathy with the principles of Islam, delegated the function of arbitrarily interpreting the supposed rules laid down by Mohammed. This left them free to enter into disputes with their rivals, and to supervise the collection (and spending) of taxes. But life for a Caliph could be exceedingly dull, and the restrictions laid down by the faith, of which he was the nominal head, only made things worse. He was supposed to pray five times a day, to abstain from wine, and to fast often. He was expected to read nothing but the Koran, and all he had to listen to was the gossip of his innumerable wives or the sycophantic bickering of his courtiers. As a result the Caliphs went to war, conquered and settled in their preferred territories, and, in the protected privacy of their palaces, set about surrounding themselves with a level of culture and entertainment to befit their position and immense wealth.
756: Foundation of the Caliphate of Cordoba
In order to compete with the courts in the East, cultural life was encouraged to such an extent that Cordoba soon vied for prominence with Baghdad. A library of some 400,000 books was established and some of the greatest scholars made their home in Spain. The names of a number of singers and players of al'ud are recorded - mostly slave girls from the East - but none were so famous as the Persian, Ziryab, known for his complexion as 'the Blackbird', who was remembered by poets and musicians as late as the fourteenth century. Ziryab was credited with the invention of a plectrum made from an eagle's wing, and also with the introduction of a fifth course for the instrument (although Al-Farabi, a century later, still only knew of four courses). It is said that his career in the East ended after the following exchange when he had refused to play his master's instrument at the request of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid:
HARUN: Why were you unwilling to use your master's lute?
ZIRYAB: If the Emir desires me to sing in my master's style, I will sing with his lute, but if I am to sing in my own style, I must play my own instrument.
HARUN: They seem alike to me.
ZIRYAB: At first view, yes; but even if the size and wood are the same, the weight is not. My lute weighs about a third less, and the strings are made of silk which has not been spun with hot water, which weakens them. The bass and third strings are made of lion guts, softer and more sonorous than those from any other animal. These strings are stronger than any others and better withstand the striking of the plectrum.
And, as a result, Ziryab arrived in Cordoba in the year 821, bringing with him what was probably the first lute to be seen, or heard, on the European mainland.
The 'Ikhwan al-Safa', ca.990
Writings attributed to a mystical brotherhood who were on the fringe of Islam - practising Neoplatonism and Manicheeism. There is much concerning the effects of music on body and soul, and, in particular, the following on the power of Al-Farabi as a lutenist:
He played the strings in such a way the made everyone laugh from the merriment and pleasure, joy and gladness, which entered their souls. Then he altered the strings and played them in another way, and made them all weep from the sadness of the mode and grief of heart. Then he altered them again, and played them again, and made everyone go to sleep.
Only a little earlier, around 850, similar sentiments could be found on another continent:
The singers have hushed their notes of clear song:
The red sleeves of the dancers are motionless.
Hugging his lute, the old harper of Chao
Rocks and sways as he touches the five chords.
The loud notes swell and scatter abroad:
'Sa, sa,' like the wind blowing in the rain.
The soft notes dying almost to nothing:
'Ch'ieh, ch'ieh,' like the voice of ghosts talking.
Now as glad as the magpie's lucky song:
Again bitter as the gibbon's ominous cry.
His ten fingers have no fixed note:
Up and down - kung, chih, and yu.
And those who sit and listen to the tune he plays
Of soul and body lose the mastery.
And those that pass that way as he plays the tune,
Suddenly stop and cannot raise their feet.
Alas, alas that the ears of common men
Should love the modern and not love the old.
Thus it is that the harp in the green window
Day by day is covered deeper with dust.
Po Chui: The Harper of Chao.
12th century.
Averroes condemns instruments other than lyres and lutes - certainly under the influence of Plato and Aristotle. He was born in Cordoba, but later worked in Marrakesh.
