GILGAMISH – كلكامش
Lute or in Arabic [ood] is the main instrument in any Middle Eastern band. It could be played by itself or with an orchestra. Iraqi lute was built from fine pine, ood meaning wood in Arabic, is where the name came from. This instrument used to be played in Egypt more then 3500 years ago. and originated from Persia. The Persian lute is a little different from the Arab lute.
This wonderful instrument has usually five but sometimes six strings. The best builder in the entire world is an Iraqi man by the name Mohammed Fathal.
Historically the most famous players in the Arab world were Isaac Almoosaly, Ibrahim Almadi, and Zeriab.
More recent masters were Salman Shooker and late great Moneer Basheer. Today I heard the bad news from Baghdad that Mr. Shooker has passed away. Iraqi people lost another great artist in this field. Mr. Shooker also played the clarinet and wrote a lot of music. One of the British writers wrote about Mr. Salman being the man of music.
Mr. Shooker was born in Baghdad, 1921, to a Kurdish family. He is a cousin of Dr. Azeez AlHaj..many of his students also went on to great success
We send our condolences to the Iraqi people, his family and friends. May God bless his soul.
