GEORGE SAWA’S PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
Mutʿat al-Asmāʿ fī ʿIlm al-Samāʿ, The Ears’ Pleasure and the Science of Listening to Music by al-Tīfāshī. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2023.
A Treatise on Qanun Musical Ornaments. Zakhārif al-Qanun al-Mūsīqiyya. Leiden: E.J.Brill, 2022.
Ḥāwī l-Funūn wa-Salwat al-Maḥzūn, Encompasser of the Arts and Consoler of the Grief-Stricken by Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān. Annotated Translation and Commentary. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2021.
Musical and Socio-Cultural Anecdotes from Kitāb al-Aghānī al-Kabīr. Annotated Translations and Commentaries. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2019.
Erotica, Love and Humor in Arabia. Spicy Stories from The Book of Songs by al-Isfahani. Translated and Edited by George Dimitri Sawa. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2016
An Arabic Musical and Socio-Cultural Glossary of Kitāb al-Aghānī (The Book of Songs). Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2015.
Egyptian Music Appreciation for Bellydancers. Toronto: George Dimitri Sawa, 2010. German Translation by Michael Hartenbach: Ägytische Musik. Wissen und Praxis für Tänzerinnen des orientalischen Tanzes. Portuguese translation by Lulu Hartenbach: Musica Egipcia Apreciaçao e Practica Para Bailarinas de Dança Oriental. Sao Paulo: Kaleidoscœpio de Ideias, 2015 (See also accompanying DVD below). Japanese edition: Ikaros Publication, 2014 (www.Ikaros.jp).
Rhythmic Theories and Practices in Arabic Writings. An Annotated Translation of Passages and Treatises from 132-339 AH/750-950 AD. Ottawa: The Institute of Mediaeval Music, 2009.
Music Performance Practice in the Early ʿAbbāsid Era. 750-932 A.D. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1989; rpt. with an updated bibliography in Ottawa: The Institute of Mediaeval Music, 2004.
ARTICLES
Lives in Musicology: My Life in Arabic Music — Scholarship, Translation, Teaching, Performance. Acta musicologica. 95: 2 (2023), 101-12.
Baghdad at the Crossroads of Musical Exchanges, in UNESCO/Interactive Atlas of the Silk Roads.
“ʿAbbāsid Music; al-Fārābī; ʿAllūyah; ʿAmr ibn Bāna; Ibn ʿAʾisha; Ibn Jāmiʿ; Ibn Misjaḥ; Ibn Muḥriz; Ibn Surayj; Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī; Maʿbad; Mālik ibn abī Samḥ; al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Salama; Mukhariq; Nashīṭ; Qānūn.” Encyclopaedia of Islam. Third edition.
“Al-Fārābī's Polychord: A Re-Exposition of Ptolemy's Kanon as a Didactic Instrument for the Tone System.” Festschrift in Honor of Prof. Owen Wright. Oxford University Press, 2015.
“Egyptian Dance Rhythms.” Nuances: The Quarterly Journal for Members of Mosaique Language and cultural Arts. 3:1 (2012), 1-4.
“Egyptian Percussion Instruments.” in The Gilded Serpent, July 9, 2011. http://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/07/09/sawa-egyptian-percussion-instruments/
“Baghdadi Rhythmic Theories and Practices in Twelfth-Century Andalusia.” In Music and Medieval Manuscripts. Paleography and Performance. Essays dedicated to Andrew Hughes. Ed. John Haines and Randall Rosenfeld. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004, pp. 151-181.
“Islam's Glittering Treasures: Music.” The Globe and Mail, November 3, 2001.
“Theories of Rhythm and Meter in the Medieval Middle East.” Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 6. The Middle East. 2002 edition, pp. 387-393.
“Classification of Music Instruments in the Medieval Middle East.” Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 6. The Middle East. 2002 edition, pp. 395-399.
“Lifestory: Performers from Kitāb al-Aghānī (Book of Songs) of al-Iṣbahānī (d. 967).” Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 6. The Middle East. 2002 edition, pp. 351-356.
“Middle Eastern Music.” Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 3. The United States and Canada. 2001 edition, pp. 1218-1221.
“Fārābī, v. Music. Encyclopaedia Iranica.
“Kitāb al-Aghānī li-Abī al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī: Fawāʾiduhu l-Mūsīqiyya wa-l-Ijtimāʿiyya wa-l-Thaqāfiyya wa-l-Iqtiṣādiyya.” In Majallat al-Baḥth al-Mūsīqī, Majalla Muḥakkama Niṣf Sanawiyya, al-Majmaʿ al-ʿArabī li-l-Mūsīqā, Jāmiʿat al-Duwal al-ʿArabiyya . 1: 1 (2001), 81-92.
“Kitāb al-Aghānī li-Abī al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī: Mashrūʿ Fahrasatihi.” In Majallat al-Baḥth al-Mūsīqī, Majalla Muḥakkama Niṣf Sanawiyya, al-Majmaʿ al-ʿArabī li-l-Mūsīqā, Jāmiʿat al-Duwal al-ʿArabiyya. 1: 1 (2001), 92-104.
“Nature of Discourse on Music Composition in the Kitāb al-Aghānī of Al-Iṣbahānī (d. 967).” In the Journal of the Centro per le Iniziative Musicali in Sicilia, in English and French, 1992.
“Editing and Translating Medieval Arabic Writings on Music.” In Music Discourse from Classical to Early Modern Times: Editing and Translating Texts. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Editorial Problems. University of Toronto, 19-20 October, 1990. Ed. Maria Rika Maniates. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997, pp. 45-70.
“The Legacy of Medieval Middle Eastern Music.” Al-Mizan, 1: 2 (1991), 26-27.
“Paradigms in al-Fārābī's Musical Writings.” In Paradigms in Medieval Thought: Applications in Medieval Disciplines. A Symposium. Ed. Nancy van Deusen and Alvin E. Ford. Mediaeval Studies Volume 3. Lewinston, N.Y.: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1990, pp. 81-92.
“Ethnomusicology in the Canadian University.” In Ethnomusicology in Canada. Can Mus Documents, 5. Proceedings of the First Conference on Ethnomusicology in Canada. University of Toronto, 13-15 May, 1988. Toronto: Institute for Canadian Music, 1990, pp. 351-356, 360-361.
“The Differing World of the Music Historian and the Music Illuminator in Medieval Islamic Manuscripts.” Imago Musicae, 6 (1989), 7-22.
“Teaching our Middle Eastern Musical Heritage.” In An Introduction to Multicultural Music Education: Global Perspectives in Music. Eds. William M. Anderson and Patricia K. Shehan. Reston, Virginia: Music Educators National Conference, 1989, pp. 178-208; 2nd. ed. 1996, pp. 240-261, 274-277.
“Oral Transmission in Arabic Music, Past and Present.” Oral Tradition, 4: 1-2 (1989), 254-265.
“The Status and Role of the Secular Musician in Kitāb al-Aghānī .” Asian Music, 17: 1 (1985), 69-82.
“Musical Humour in the Kitāb al-Aghānī (Book of Songs).” In Logos Islamikos. Studia Islamica in Honorem Georgii Michaelis Wickens. Ed. Roger M. Savory and Dionisius Agius. Papers in Mediaeval Studies 6. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1984, pp. 35-50.
“Al-Fārābī’s Theory of the īqāʿ: An Empirically Derived Model for Rhythmic Analysis.” Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology, 1: 9 (1983-84), 1-32. (An Italian translation appeared in Culture musicali, quaderni di etnomusicologia, 5: 9 (1986), 71-101.
“Al-Fārābī (Music),” “īqāʿ,” “Maqām,” “Music, Islamic Attitudes toward,” “Music, Islamic Influence on non-Western,” “Music, Islamic Influence on Western,” “Music, Middle Eastern,” “Musical Instruments, Middle Eastern.” Dictionary of the Middle Ages. 1982 edition.
“Bridging One Millenium: Melodic Movement in al-Fārābī and Kolinski.” In Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Music: Essays Presented to Dr. M. Kolinski. Ed. Robert Falck and Timothy Rice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982, pp. 117-133.
“The Survival of Some Aspects of Performance Practice of Medieval Arabic Music.” Ethnomusicology, 25: 1 (1981), 73-86.
“Arabic Music,” “Arabic Sacred Music,” “Egyptian Music,” “Lebanese Music,” “Syrian Music.” Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. 1981 edition.
BOOK REVIEWS
Muʿāraḍat al-ʿArūḍ, by ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Ḥamām. The World of Music,. 35: 2 (1995), 106-108.
Music Arabe. Le Congrès du Caire de 1932. Ed. Shéhérazade Qassim Hassan and Philippe Vigreux. The World of Music, 35: 3 (1993), 107-111.
La Musique traditionnelle de l’Azerbayjan et la science des muqams, by Jean During. Ethnomusicology, 34: 3 (1990), 462-468.
“Near and Middle East,” by Bruno Nettl. In The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, 1986 edition. Asian Music, 19: 2 (1988), 169-175, 20: 1 (1988-1989), ii.
The World of Islam, Images and Echoes: A Critical Guide to Films and Recordings, ed. Ellen-Fairbanks Bodman and Lorraine Sakata. Ethnomusicology, 31: 1 (1987), 131-133.
Music in the Mind. The Concepts of Music and Musicians in Afghanistan, by Lorraine Sakata. Yearbook for Traditional Music, 17 (1985), 206-209.
RECORD REVIEWS
Egypte. Les Musiciens du Nil, vol. I. Produced by Radio France. Notes in French by Alain Weber and Pierre Sallee. English translation. One 12” 33 1/3 rpm disc. 1976, reedited in 1981, 1982 and 1983. Musiques traditionnelles vivantes. V. Musiques populaires. OCORA 558-514 HM 52 (Distribution harmonia mundi, France); Egypte. Les Musiciens du Nil, vol. II. Produced by Radio France. Notes in French by Alain Weber. English translation by Patricia Matore;-Wright. One 12” 33 1/3 rpm disc. 1977, reedited 1979, 1981 and 1983. Musiques traditionnelles vivantes. V. Musiques populaires. OCORA 558-525 HM 52 (Distribution harmonia mundi, France). Ethnomusicology, 31: 1 (1987), 173-176.
CDS
Oyoun. Toronto: Arabesque Dance Company, 1999.
The Art of the Early Egyptian Qanun. Vol. 1. Toronto: George Dimitri Sawa, 2008.
The Art of the Early Egyptian Qanun. Vol. 2. Toronto: George Dimitri Sawa, 2009.
DVDS
Lulu and George Dimitri Sawa. Apreciaçao da Musica Arabe Para Bailarinas. Teoria e Practica. 2 vols. Sao Paulo: Ventreoteca. Produzido por Kaleidoscopio de Ideias. Shimmie, 2015.
The Art of Bellydance Choreography. With Iana Komarnytska and Dr. George Sawa. Toronto: 2015.
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/DrGeorgeSawa (15 items, some are mentioned below.
English Instructional videos on Arabic music for dancers:
1) sound of percussion instruments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0z1bwwxLVE
2) Taqsim and the dancer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6WZsKvfqn8&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4QuUFyeKkLdP352_nBdg3o1&index=3
3) Finger cymbals: sounds and patterns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leE1kOvw8-g&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4QuUFyeKkLdP352_nBdg3o1&index=2
4) Circular Notation system for dancers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9pyc2ft4Zg
Spanish Instructional videos on Arabic music for dancers:
1) sound of percussion instruments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYfV40pU3Bw&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4S3ynX6zjsZxiE6AMK_TXYo
2) Taqsim and the dancer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQgSQlEYH78&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4S3ynX6zjsZxiE6AMK_TXYo&index=2
3) Finger cymbals: sounds and patterns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hli-g6nXI-g&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4S3ynX6zjsZxiE6AMK_TXYo&index=3
4) Circular Notation system for dancers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGbqDx_L6LE&index=4&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4S3ynX6zjsZxiE6AMK_TXYo
Russian Instructional videos on Arabic music for dancers:
1) sound of percussion instruments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMiCwg1ik0&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4Rl7rJDSkDSFmZT3OeJs1J2
2) Finger cymbals: sounds and patterns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMfepu2HKW4&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4Rl7rJDSkDSFmZT3OeJs1J2&index=2
3) Taqsim and the dancer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxw8YzAoQEQ&index=3&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4Rl7rJDSkDSFmZT3OeJs1J2
4) Circular Notation system for dancers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyMdMZO5RtE&index=4&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4Rl7rJDSkDSFmZT3OeJs1J2
Other link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo03nq824Cc&feature=youtu.be
Iana’s Komarnytska Egyptian Music lessons: http://vk.com/club63142407
Interview with Iana Komarnitska: #bellydancelifepodcast; Episode 75, George Sawa, Digging Deep into the History of Egyptian Music.; www.ianadance.com/podcast
Qanun Performance, Montreal, 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6Bqi1eT8w
Qanun Performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnd9SuR7Ou8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6Bqi1eT8w&list=PLOjcMj1oeD4QKV-AemnWmU_iRWyacZDVW (taqsim in Montreal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skzgpR35Zq4 (Bruna Milani dancing to Dakhlet el-Aalem) YES
https://youtu.be/E_kAzmuOI14 (Malak Alaoani dancing to samai thaqil). NO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLN-RTPn964XRHurzkhSY_BY5x8a4X6s3h&v=RjzOl_rJ01s (Kahina, Tribute to Mohammad Ali St. Composers) YES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nua_WiL8L4 (Lulu and Afrita Hanem). YES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWUSdSPyjPo (Aziza Mor, Hasan ya Kholi and taqsim and nahawand salameyya) NO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4lSInI4WDM (Nesrine, Lamma Bada) YES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8qVImIL4G4 (Carol Louro, Hawanem) YES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0xh6oYO7eI#t=68 (Iana taqsim qanun nahawand)
http://youtu.be/KPwDEd6Xaws (Thania taqsim hijazkar)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZf38vI2MY (Kaleena)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbL5acPm-6w&index=8&list=PL3092D25129D767FC (Nada at Noor centre, smorgesboard) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI_jrLdDyqg (nada lamma bada)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBi6dMDq7Pk&feature=share (nada at harbourfront)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuzomoGfNy8 Lama bada yatathanna (Iana)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaWu-_J3lu0 (Nisaa and Raqset el-Hawanem)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMqwrxJik0#t=14 (iana Komarnytska and dakhlet el-Awalem)