Dear Vance, Art, Stewart, Stuart and All, How nice it would be indeed, Vance, if we could but sleep it off, wake up to find it has all been a bad dream. It is a bad dream, a living nightmare for so many people out there, troops and civilians.
It is not a subject for this list, but I have to admit that I could not find it in myself to wish people a happy new year, on this list, or on the French list, and really believe my words. I shall not say here, who I think is to blame, but the events since the invasion have unravelled like a predictable Shakespearian tragedy. However, we are not a zone of political discussion, and that question might not, indeed, be relevant to our list. What does seem to be relevant, however, is that Baghdad had an important school of Oudists. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, it was the place of political asylum chosen by the Turkish Oudist, Chirif Mohyi Iddin Haydar, when fleeing from political oppression in Turkey*. There he set up a renowned lute school, in which Mounir Bachir (1930-1997) was his pupil <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Mounir_Bachir> . The situation seems complex, as the great historic centre of the Oud appears to have been Mossul, and the most famous early musicians seem to have been Kurds. Indeed, Mounir Bachir, himself came from Mossul, so that the Baghdad school would perhaps have been a meeting of two great Oud traditions. I have no idea how much the Kurdish Oud players suffered under Baghdad rule. I imagine that in "free" Kurdish areas, perhaps the Oud is still thriving at the moment. Even the Baghdad Oud school seems to have suffered from dictatorship : Rahim Alhaj, pupil of Mounir Bachir is said to have fled Iraq for America, Albuquerque, even before the war. 'He was imprisoned twice by the regime of Saddam Hussein, in part for refusing to compose musical tributes to that regime's military adventures during the 1980's." <http://www.rahimalhaj.com/news4.html>. I also see that Ahmed Mukhtar, coming from the Baghdad school, was chosen by the UN with "sixteen other musicians from all over the world to release a CD for the benefit of the victims of terrorism and wars. (-- ). He also teaches Arabic music theory and percussion in London colleges" <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Mukhtar>. Did he flee the dictatorship, or the war? I don't know. Perhaps a new Oud school will develop out of all this distruction, in London and even ironically in America. Viewed from this narrow angle of lute playing, the situation may appear complex; but however much music and musicians may suffer under dictatorship, there is no doubt they certainly don't thrive in the midst of war and barbary. I think, legitimately, on this list we can have a thought for our fellow Oudists who still remain in the civil- war zones of Iraq, and particularly the Baghdad school. Let us hope that what a few heads of state began in 2002 will not result in an end to that wonderful luth school, even if it may survive in London and in Albuquerque -- I will admit that reducing my thoughts to the protection of Oudists seems very selfish coming from a lute player, but as a member of the lute list, I do not feel that I can allow myself, here, to extend my thoughts further. Best regards to all lutists, luthists, and oudists Anthony PS *Please, fellow Turkish Oudists do not think I am criticizing your country. I honestly don't know what the exact circumstances were that caused Chirif Mohyi Iddin Haydar's departure. Le 27 janv. 07 =E0 04:19, vance wood a ecrit : > Why don't you go sleep it off Arto? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Arto Wikla" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 6:32 PM > Subject: [LUTE] VERY OFF TOPIC! (political?) > > >> >> Dear all, >> >> it is going bad! Mr. Bush - the winner of the USA elections, the man >> chosen by (nearly) half of the Amercians, has managed to produce a >> civilian war in a country, where he sent his military. Tens if not >> hundreds of people are killed EVERY day! Human beings like you or me. >> This is one the very rare cases of a superpover sending its >> military to >> occupy a state after the second world war... >> >> The guy and his country is bound to that mess for a long, LONG >> time. And >> the same guy took care of taking the USA out of the so called >> "western >> values" by his concentration camps and accepting the torture. Even >> in the >> legistlation of the USA there seems to be something like "light >> torture" nowadays... Horrible! >> >> To me the modern USA represents a new historical period of gettig >> out of >> the the times of the so called Enlightment, the time where human >> rights >> were taken seriously. And now we have come back to the Dark Ages >> again? >> Or? >> >> Arto >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> >> >> -- >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.17.12/653 - Release Date: >> 1/26/2007 >> >> > > --
