Abdallah Chahine (Arabic: عبد الله شاهين; 1894–1975) was a Lebanese pianist and tuner-technician who devised an "Oriental piano" capable of playing quarter tones.[1][2]
Abdallah Chahine constructed his Oriental piano with the help of Austrian Hofmann.[3] Wadia Sabra had already had an oriental piano manufactured by Pleyel in Paris, in 1920.[4] As worded by Thomas Burkhalter,
Using an old straight piano, Chahine invented a prototype that had chords, a keyboard of six octaves, and an ingenious pedal devised to obtain quartertones.[5]
In 1962, Chahine recorded a vinyl record with typical Oriental music.[5]
Among the composers drawn to Chahine's microtonal instrument were Aloys Hába (1893–1973), Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Toufic Succar (1922–).[6]
His family still owns a large music store in Beirut.[7] His great-granddaughter Zeina Abirached has published a comicbook, Le piano oriental, about a character inspired by him.
References
- ^ The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music 2008, p. 783
- ^ Burman Hall 2005, p. 38
- ^ Burkhalter 2014, pp. 262–263
- ^ Les Cahiers de l'Oronte 1969, p. 82
- ^ a b Burkhalter 2014, p. 263
- ^ Burman Hall 2005, p. 40
- ^ Kozma, Schayegh & Wishnitzer 2014, p. 257
Sources
- The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 2. Routledge. 2008.
- Kozma, Liat; Schayegh, Cyrus; Wishnitzer, Avner, eds. (2014). "'Small' Technologies and Consumer Goods". A Global Middle East.
- Burman Hall, Linda (2005). Kimberlin, Cynthia Tse; Euba, Akin (eds.). Towards an African Pianism: Keyboard Music of Africa and the Diaspora. Vol. 1.
- Les Cahiers de l'Oronte. 1969.
- Burkhalter, Thomas (2014). Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut.
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