The Lute in Middle Eastern Music with Mason Zantow

Mason Zantow will demonstrate the Middle Eastern lute and its relationship to the European lute and modern guitar through performance of several pieces of Ottoman classical music. Ottoman classical music is a modal music form having its roots in the musical ideas of Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia, which has continued to evolve to the modern day incorporating Medieval Persian music, the music of the Turkish peoples of Central Asia, the native inhabitants of Anatolia including Armenians and Greeks, as well as various Europeans such as the Balkan and Western music forms into a unique art music. It is truly the music of the city of Istanbul which has always been a bridge between East and West.

Mason will perform on the oud (Arabic/Turkish lute), the lavta (Greco-Armenian-Turkish lute), and Cumbus (Turkish oud-banjo), highlighting some of the essential features of Middle Eastern modal music, shared principles with Western music and certain dissimilarities such as intonation and tuning systems. As a self-taught guitar player, Mason will also demonstrate the relationship of the modern Spanish guitar to the Medieval Arabic oud as well, and insights into the learning process as a Westerner who has been a student of Eastern modal music for many years.

Free and Open to the Public

For additional information and to RSVP please call the Dodge County Historical Society at 920-887-1266.