A Tunisian musical icon

… the ʻAbd ʻAzīz Jemaīl Tunisian ʻūd (1923) in the Collection of Jellāl Ben ʻAbdallah

Egypt to France c.1800

By Rachel Beckles Willson An oud travelled to Europe as a consequence of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. Musician and writer Guillaume André Villoteau (1759-1839) had joined the 159 men Napoleon took along with him as a “Commission of the Sciences and Arts”, and while in Egypt he collected instruments to bring back home…

Ottoman oud histories

This beautiful postcard invites us to think afresh about the history of the oud. Two elegantly dressed women look out at us, holding their instruments and their plectra. Beside them is a boy in a top hat, who stands on a footstool to reach the right height. In the background and at the edge of…