Arnold Dolmetsch, the Rebab, and the Revival of the Rebec

The early music pioneer Arnold Dolmetsch (1858–1940), his wife Mabel (1874–1963), their children, students and friends played a key role in the revival of the rebec. They also had an interest in the rebab. Arnold and his family might have first encountered the rebab through their friend Marie-Thérès...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Irving, David Ronald Marshall
Tipo de recurso: otro
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/420428
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/420428
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Early music revival, Rebec reconstruction, Rebab performance, Arnold Dolmetsch, Organological history
Descripción
Sumario:The early music pioneer Arnold Dolmetsch (1858–1940), his wife Mabel (1874–1963), their children, students and friends played a key role in the revival of the rebec. They also had an interest in the rebab. Arnold and his family might have first encountered the rebab through their friend Marie-Thérèse de Lens (1888–1948), who moved to Morocco during World War I. She visited England in 1920 and performed on the rebab at a Dolmetsch family concert. The Dolmetsches visited her in Meknes in 1929. Mabel observed rebab performances there and later wrote about them to Henry George Farmer (1882–1965) and Virginia Randolph Harrison (1901–1991), discussing the rebab’s relationship with the rebec. Arnold began to build rebecs in 1928; an audiovisual recording of him playing one survives from that year. He and his family performed on the instrument in the Haslemere Festival. Arnold searched for repertoire that would suit its historical context and timbre; his decisions were sometimes described as anachronistic. In 1934, Arnold constructed tenor rebecs to play arrangements of music by Pérotin (fl. ca 1200). This chapter examines the Dolmetsches’ engagement with the rebab and their contribution to the revival of the rebec.