Inscribed by the author to Nobel

Allawerdi, Michael (Allah Wirdi, Miha'il Halil). Falsafat al-musiqa al-Sharqiyah. The Philosophy of Oriental Music.

€ 2,800.00

First edition in Arabic, inscribed by the author to an unidentified member of the Swedish Nobel family: "Présenté par l'auteur à Mr. le Maître Gunar Nobel avec les meilleurs salutations [...] Damas 10.5.1952". The Syrian musicologist Allawerdi held that there were two basic forms of music: the oriental, natural one, based on the harmonic series, and the western, mechanical one, based on the tempered scale of 18th century instruments. While he associated the former with serenity and peace, he viewed the latter as artificial and complex, ultimately leading to restlessness, chaos, and war. Allawerdi strove to unify the "language of music" as a first step towards achieving world peace. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.

A good copy, including several of the author's further writings on the subject, one as an original authorial typescript.