Making the great Book of songs : compilation and the author's craft in Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī's Kitāb al-aghānī / Hilary Kilpatrick.

"First published in 2003. Transferred to Digital Printing 2010."--T.p. verso of paperback edition.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 412-422) and indexes.

-- 1. Modern Research on the Kitâb al-aghânî -- 2. Abû I-Faraj's Life, Times and Works -- 3. Abû I-Faraj's Interventions: Songs and Singers -- 4. Abû I-Faraj's Interventions: Poetry and Poets -- 5. Abû I-Faraj's Interventions: Prose akhbâr and the Arrangement of Material -- 6. Articles on Songs, Events and Relationships -- 7. Articles on Personalities -- 8. Connections between Articles: The Common Fund of Material -- 9. Ordering the Material: The Framework of Introductory Songs

This is the first systematic literary study of one of the masterpieces of classical Arabic literature, the fourth/tenth century Kitâb al-aghânî (The Book of Songs) by Abû I-Faraj al-Isbahânî. Until now the twenty-four volume Book of Songs has been regarded as a rather chaotic but priceless mine of information about classical Arabic music, literature and culture. This book approaches it as a work of literature in its own right, with its own internal logic and coherence. The study also consistently integrates the musical component into the analysis and proposes a reading of the work in which individual anecdotes and poems are related to the wider context, enhancing their meaning.