Subhi Anwar Rashid
Iraqi Scholar
Iraqi Scholar
by Wafaa' Al-Natheema
The first time I heard about Subhi Anwar Rashid was from the late Allen Svoboda when he (Allen) used to live in Houston, Texas. We were talking about Iraqi maqaam music and he suggested that I read Subhi. A. Rashid’s book entitled, “al-alaat almosiqiyya almosahiba lilmaqaamil iraqi,” or “The Musical Instruments Accompanying Iraqi Maqaam,” which was published in Baghdad in 1989. Allen made a copy of the entire book and mailed it to me in 1991. At that time, I was researching history of music in general and of Arabic and Iraqi music in particular.
Rashid was to me the unknown scholar with whom I began my journey of music learning and with other scholars such as the British Henry George Farmer in 1991.
The second time was in 1995 when his name was mentioned to me as an excellent source for music history. Then thirteen years pass by and I see his name a third time at the library of congress. That was in January 2008 when I was researching for Arab women musicians in pre-and-post Islam. When I did the search in the library’s data, I got the following titles;
“tareekhul mosiqa al-arabiyah,” or “The History of Arabic Music,” published by SKD Bavaria & Handel GMBH in Germany, 2000,
“tareekhul Oud,” or “The History of Oud,” published by dar alaa addine in Damascus, Syria, 1999.
“moujaz tareekh almosiqa wal ghinaa al-arabi,” or “The Summary of The History of Arabic Music and Singing,” published by dar ashu’oon athaqafiyya al-amma in Baghdad, Iraq, 2000.
“madkhal Ilaa tareekh alghinaa,” or “Introduction to the History of Singing,” published by dar alaa addine in Damascus, 2000.
Unfortunately, I could not find the final book on the history of singing at the library of congress, which I needed for my research. This was one of the reasons that prompted me to contact him besides the fact that I saw his phone number and address listed in one of his books, which gave me an incentive to call him, along with finding a very interesting reading about the history of the word “Arab” in one of his books. I said to myself it is time to contact him.
After locating Subhi's number and phoning him, we agreed that I interview him on the phone. I began this habit of phone interviewing people after the death of my utterly missed father, Mahmood. I called few of his old-time friends (until I see them in person and hopefully interview them face to face) to learn about his past and theirs while working or studying with him.
Subhi Anwar Rashid was born in al-Athamiyya area of Baghdad in 1928. He began his music studies in 1950 at the Institute of Fine Arts, but did not complete it. Then earned a law degree from the University of Baghdad.
In 1963 he completed a Masters Degree in Archaeology at the Free University of Berlin and in 1966 he obtained his Ph.D. in archaeology from Frankfort University. While in Germany, he did an extensive research on history of music and has written many articles and books on the subject matter.
Between 1966 and 1983, Dr. Rashid held various positions; the Dean of the Institute for Music Studies, Director of the International Center for the Studies of Traditional Music and President of the Committee of Historic Studies in the Arab League’s Commission on Music. He retired on October 15, 1983.
From my phone interview with him, I learned that after obtaining the Ph.D., he returned to Baghdad in 1966 and became the director of the National Museum of Baghdad and was simultaneously lecturing on history of music at Baghdad University.
According to him, the most important book he had written was, “tareekh almosiqa al-arabiya, assullam almosiqi, al-iqaa wal alaat,” or “The History of Arabic Music - The Musical Scale, Rhythm and Instruments,” which was published in 2000 in Germany.
During the interview, Rashid mentioned his first published book in Arabic,
“tareekh al-alaat almosiqiyya fil iraq alqadeem,” or “History of Music Instruments in Ancient IRAQ,” published in Beirut in 1970. Later in 1975, he published in Baghdad a book entitled, “al-alaat almosiqiyya – al-usoor al-islamiyya,” or “Music Instruments – Islamic eras,” and “almosiqa fil iraq alqadeem,” or “The Music in Ancient Iraq” in Baghdad in 1980.
Subhi Rashid began writing and publishing in German language before publishing in Arabic. His first published series by UNISCO was a collection of images on the history of music in Mesopotamia. It was published in 1984 in Leipzig and was translated to Japanese language in 1985. Later, he participated in a well-known German series, Handbook of Musicology in 1989.
Subhi left Iraq for Germany on July 12, 1990 accompanying his German wife, son and two daughters. He then taught one semester at Leipzig University and continued researching and publishing articles and books as well as participating annually in the Arabic Music Symposium at Cairo.
Our edited phone interview can be viewed here in Arabic language with some English translation of what was being said by S. A. Rashid as well an English description on the right side of the youtube screen:
Note 1: The definition of “Maqaam” is an intervallic relation of tunes within a fixed order. In singing, it has its rules with regard to the kind of lyrics each maqam is required to include as well as a structure of how it should begin and end.
Note 2: I use a different system of English transliteration of Arabic. So if you are searching for the books mentioned above, you may find them with slightly to significantly different transliteration.
Note 3: The Publications of Dr. Subhi Anwar Rashid in German Language:
Books
1. Mesopotamien. Musikgeschichte in Bildern, Bd. II, Leipzig 1984.
2. Die Musik der Keilschriftkultur. Neues Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft. Bd. 1, Die Musik des Altertums, Laaber-Verlag 1989.
Journal Articels
1. Neue akkadische Leierdarstellungen und ihre Bedeutung für die mesopotamische Musikgeschichte. Sumer, Journal of Archaeology in Iraq. Vol. XXIII, 1967 No. 7 II.
2. Zur Datierung der mesopotamischen Trommeln und Becken. Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, Bd. 61, Berlin 1971.
3. Umdatierung einiger Terrakottenreliefs. Bagdader Mitteilungen, Band 6, 1973.
4. Untersuchung zum Musikinstrumenten Assyrien. Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte Vorderasiens. Festschrift für Rainer Michael Boehmer, Verlag Philipp vom Zabern. Mainz 1995.
5. Mesopotamische Musikinstrumente im Spiegel der Glyptik. Altertumskunde des Vorderen Orients. Band 7 (Vom Halys zum Euphrat), Ugarit Verlag Münster.
6. Bedeutung und Ursprung der Laute. Damazener Mitteilungen Band 13, Verlag Philipp von Zabern. Mainz 2001.
