Born in Cairo, Mustafa Said is a musician, composer, musicologist, oud virtuoso and singer. Mustafa has founded Asil Ensemble for Contemporary Arabic Classical Music in 2003. Mustafa Said is a winner of the Aga Khan Music Awards 2019. He was the director of "AMAR Foundation for Arab Music Archiving & Research", from 2009 to 2022, which is the only organisation in the Arab world that works in audio archiving Arabic music. Mustafa also directed and adapted "Rawdat Al-Balabel" which is a series of podcasts about classical Arabic music sponsored by AMAR and the Sharjah Art Foundation.
Mustafa started music education at a very early age accompanying the “Mashayekh” of Tanta (Egypt) and learning from them the art of Inchad. He made a study trip around the Mediterranean sea and central Asia to study music from different areas, as self-studies and within a world music program at many universities starting with the American University in Cairo, alongside literature and linguistic studies at Ain Shams University. Later he pursued a Master's Degree which was supervised by Nidaa AbuMurad from Antonine University in Lebanon, he focuses his study on the modal system in Mashayekh singing tradition. Mustafa’s major projects and activity is in the field of performing music and composing new melodies. Taught workshops and gave conferences and lectures in many academic and artistic institutions. He also wrote several musical compositions for theater plays, dance performances and documentaries. He has participated in many international music festivals as a solo performer, a guest artist, a collaborator with other musicians, or with the Asil Ensemble (which he founded in 2003).
Four albums were published containing his compositions as well as many articles in academic publications and regular magazines. His Music and essays were recognized in many awards and cretics.
PhD in musicologie from the holy spirit university of kaslik, 2023, thesis entitled:
.سفينة الملك ونفسية الفلك"(شهاب الدين)، الموشّح وموسيقى المقام الناطقة بالعربية بين التنظير والمراس"
Supervised by:
Jean Lambert, Professor of University. Paris Nanterre.
Fr. Baidh el Hage, Professor of USEK.
سفينة الملك ونفيسة الفلك مصنّفٌ بمثابة جسرٍ بين فترتين زمنيّتين، تنعكس فيه التغيّرات الّتي بدأت تطرأ، في زمن تصنيفه، النصف الأوّل من القرن التاسع عشر، على سائر مناحي الحياة في البلاد الناطقة بالعربيّة. به تنظيرٌ نغميٌّ يخالف السابق عليه، لكنّه ليس بتشعّب وتعقيد المعمول به في الزمن اللاحق عليه إلى زماننا هذا. أدباً: يعكس ما كان يُغنَّى، وما بالرصيد الشعريّ الغنائيّ من تنوّع المشارب.
يحاول هذا البحث، بتحقيق المصنّف، الربط بين زمن تصنيف هذه السفينة، وما لحق بها. كَمَنَتْ في وصلات الأنبار الثالث من السفينة المدوّن فيها قرابة 360 موشّحاً، ألحانٌ بمثابة حلقة الوصل في الرصيد الّذي استمرّ وأدرك عصر التسجيلات، أواخر القرن التاسع عشر وأوّل ثلاثة عقود من القرن العشرين. ما عوامل الاستمرار؟ هل من قاعدةٍ نظريّةٍ وعمليّةٍ لربط الزمنين بزماننا الحاضر ومحاولة فهمٍ، بقراءةٍ أُخرى للتاريخ النظريّ والعمليّ النغميّ، لاستشراف مستقبل؟
حاول البحث إثبات ما أمكن الوصول إليه من ألحان الموشّحات الواردة في السفينة، نغماً وأدباً، كذلك سائر الأعمال الأخرى من أنواع الشعر المختلفة. الغرض من هذا توثيق المثبت وسدّ ما لم يمتلئ منه، وفتح الباب أمام مزيد بحثٍ فيثبت ما لم يُثبت بعد.
بعد التحقيق: حاول البحث مقاربة العمل بالنظريّة بالتجربة الشخصيّة العمليّة، اعتماداً على ما سُمِع، فصنِّفت جداول إحصائيّةٌ ترصد مقامات ألحان الموشّحات وضروبها من الرصيد المسجّل. أمّا في التصنيف المقاميّ والإيقاعيّ، اعتمد البحث على طريقة المشايخ المنشدين، طريقة تعليمٍ انتقلت شفاهةً جيلاً إلى جيل. طريقةٌ أقرب لما ورد تنظيره نغماً في السفينة، فهي تخالف التنظير الأقدم منها، ولا توافق التعقيد والتشعّب في النظريّة العثمانيّة الحديثة. تربط تفاعيل اللغة والعروض بالإيقاع، تبسّط الأبعاد ولا تُمانع تشعّب المقامات.
Safinat AlMulk waNafisat AlFulk can be considered a bridge between two ages in the Arab region. It witnesses the social changes that affected all live aspects. Musically, it shows a theory that is different from the older one of the middle-ages, it is, nevertheless, not as complex as the one that progressed in the Ottoman court, which took place in the music education in the Arab Region, even until the current days.
Rereading such a manuscript through paleographic methods made us able to fill both musical and literary gaps. Filling these gaps were able to show the diversity of the sung poetry, especially the Muwashshah that is the real link between the age of the manuscript and the following ages, how music practice continued in the Classical Arabic Modal Music until the current.
After the Manuscript rereading and comments, a Musicological process is tried in order to link the practice with this book, trying to discover the changes and the continuity. Supporting tables were put in order to proof the research conclusions and statistics. Such a personal experience with the records is continued depending on a teaching method to modal and rhythmic systems in Classical Modal Music. This is the method of the Mashayekh of the Sufi Chanting. A method that links the Arabic language meters, especially the morphological Tafeelah and Aroud, to the rhythmic cycles. A method that gives very high attention to intervals, yet, it does not complicate modal branches details, preferring simplicity and opening imagination thinking of building modal progressions.
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