The Lute Maker |
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Collection title
Passerelle
First broadcast date
11/28/2005
Abstract
Since Algeria is the crossroads of many cultures, it is natural that the diversity of the country has inspired so many artisans who love their jobs and struggle to save them.
Karim, a young man from Bejaia, expresses his passion for music by manufacturing musical instruments; he is in his shop and tells his story.
Broadcaster
EPTV - Canal Algérie
Audiovisual form
Magazine
Primary theme
Music and songs
Secondary themes
- Economy / Markets and crafts
Credits / Cast
- Bouarour Samia - Journalist
Map locations
- Algeria - Centre - Bejaia
Context
The Stringed-Instrument Maker
Yvan Gastaut
On November 28th 2005, a film in the magazine programme “Passerelle”, broadcast on the general interest channel Canal Algeria, shows the work of a stringed-instrument maker from Kabylia in his modest workshop. Love of the craft, of its traditions, passing on knowledge and a musical culture marked by nobility and pride: these are the key words of this craftsman’s philosophy as he explains how a musical instrument becomes a part of heritage.
The oud, derived from the Arabic word al-oud (“wood”), is an instrument with plucked strings, known in Europe as the lute. Symbol of the way Mediterranean peoples and cultures mixed, this
instrument first appeared during the Akkadian civilization (circa 2300 BC) and in Babylon (about 1800 BC). Used by the Assyrians, later during the Egyptian civilization, and with variations in the Far East, the oud, exported from Iran into the Umayyad empire (7th & 8th century AD), was a great success during the expansion of Islam in the Middle East and North Africa. In Medina, a meeting place for many musicians, oud players were particularly well-regarded. With four double strings, played with a eagle feather, the oud particularly inspired the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. In the late 18th century, the Golden Age of Islam, he made it the most important instrument in the Muslim world. The chronicler Abu al-farag al-Isfahani tells us in the Book of Songs, a monumental work of 20 volumes published in the 9th century, that in all the palaces in Baghdad, one could see many oud players accompanying sung poems. During that period, the poet and musician Zyriab, famous at the court of Baghdad, was expelled by his master, jealous of his skill, and so the oud crossed the Mediterranean with him and took its final shape, a curved box made of arch-shaped wooden bars. Zyriab settled in Andalusia, then under Muslim rule: he founded a school at Cordoba and the oud became a major instrument of a kind of music called “Arab-Andalusian”. The most dizzying rhythms of this music are the result of the delicate balance between the oud and poetry.
From Andalusia, the oud spread across Europe, “laud” in Spain, “aland” in Portugal, “loth” in
France, “lotto” in Italy. Its use was particularly widespread during the Renaissance (from the palazzo of Florence to England and Germany).
Since then, the lute has remained a multicultural, or “world” instrument, an integral part of celebrations and ceremonies, playing a major role in cultural life and, under various forms and names, uniting music lovers from around the Mediterranean with its varied tones. Most commonly used on the southern shore, its use has nevertheless gradually declined in Europe since the 18th century. In the end the instrument almost disappeared, victim of an overly elitist image and its lack of volume. But with the revival of early music played on instruments copied from the originals, interest in the lute revived during the 20th century. In recent years, it has created a new momentum among all kinds of musician from every country. It is found in rock and song (Sting, Peter Gabriel, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Noir Désir), rai (Cheb Khaled), Cuban music but is also used by flamenco masters like Paco De Lucia and Luis Delgado, or under the baton of Jordi Savall and Christoph Eschenbach.
Bibliography
- A History of the Lute from Antiquity to the Renaissance, Douglas Alton Smith, The Lute Society of America, 2002, 389 p..
- Luths et luthistes en Occident : actes du colloque organisé par la Cité de la Musique, 13-15 mai 1998, Paris, Cité de la musique, 1999
