Kurdish music

Kurdish music refers to music performed in Kurdish language.^{[citation needed]}

Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellers (çîrokbêj), minstrels (stranbêj) and bards (dengbêj). There was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings (şevbihêrk) is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre. Many songs are epic in nature, such as the popular Lawiks which are heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes such as Saladin. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love. Lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed specifically in autumn. Love songs, dance music, wedding and other celebratory songs (dîlok/narînk and bend), erotic poetry and work songs are also popular.

Another style of singing that originated as practice to recite religious hymns in both Zoroastrian and Islamic Sufi faiths is Siya Cheman. This style is practiced mostly in the mountainous subregion of Hewraman in the Hewrami dialect. However, some modern artists, have adopted the style and blended it with other Kurdish music. Siya Cheman can also be classified as çîrokbêj because it is often used to for storytelling.^[1]

Musical instruments include the tembûr (tembûr, saz), biziq (bozuk), qernête (Duduk) and bilûr (Kaval) in northern and western Kurdistan, şimşal (long flute), cûzele, kemençe and def (frame drum) in the south and east. Zirne (wooden shawm) and dahol (drum) are found in all parts of Kurdistan.

The most frequently used song form has two verses with ten syllable lines. Kurdish songs (stran or goranî) are characterized by their simple melodies, with a range of only four or five notes.

History

Historically, Kurdish Music has very ancient roots that go back to the Hurrian period of Kurdish history. The Hurrians - the ancestors of the modern Kurds - were an ancient people that inhabited present-day Kurdistan and established several kingdoms before their aryanization by the coming Medes. A Hurrian tablet dating back to the 13th century B.C. was discovered in Ugaret; it contains in its upper portion the text of a Hurrian hymn. In the lower portion, it contains a series of numbers and technical terms that have been interpreted as a score rendering the tune to which the hymn would have been sung. This is then the earliest known musical score in history. Interestingly, the meqam in which the hymn was composed corresponds with the modern meqam "Kurd".

Kurdish musicians had a great role in the musical life of the Islamic caliphate. Ziryab was one among the absolutely greatest musicians in the Islamic era. He brought the Middle Eastern musical tradition to Muslim Spain and trained local musicians in his style. He also invented many maqams and musical forms and improved the design of the 'ûd. Ibrahim Mûsili and Is'haq Mûsili were considered among the greatest musicians of the Abbasid court. They wrote several first-rate works on local Iranic and Mesopotamian styles. Musicologists like Safi al-Din Ûrmawi - the founder of the systematist school of music (Wright 1978) - and Muhammad al-Khatib Arbîlî who wrote some of the most seminal works on Middle Eastern musicology.

Kurds of Turkey

There are about 15 million Kurds in Turkey. Eastern regions are where Kurds live in. Some of the most famous Kurd Musicians in Turkey are: Şivan Perwer, Rojda, Reşo, Mikail Aslan, Ahmet Aslan, Metin Kahraman, Kemal Kahraman, Aynur Doğan, Ahmet Kaya and Ibrahim Tatlises.

Kurds of Iran

In Iran, Kurdish language and radio stations have generally been allowed on an on-and-off basis, depending on the directions of the views taken by the gorvernment of the time , though music has long been carefully scrutinised for political references. Kurdish music from Iranian Kurdistan has a rather distinctive form with its ancient native instruments such as the Daff and the tamboor and with a shadow of Iranian influence whilst itself, has influenced the music of Iran in general to a certain degree. The sacred sufi music of the Yarsanî sect (Ahleh Haqq) with its 72 meqams is thought to be one of the most authentic and deep-rooted musical traditions in the world.

Some of the most famous classical musicians, composers and singers of the past century from this part include Hassan Zirak (Boukan 1921 - 1972) who performed and recorded more than a thousand songs, Mohammad Mamlê (Mahabad 1925 - 1998) who was known for his heartwarming voice, Abbas Kamandi (Sanandaj), Aziz Shahrokh, Hassan Darzi, Seyed Mohammad Safayi, Osman Hawrami, Najmaddin Gholami (Sanandaj) and Mazhar Khaleqi (Sanandaj).

Several Iranian Kurdish singers and musisians have been highly influential in classical Persian and Iranian music in general, including Sayed Ali Asghar Kordestani (1882–1936) who was allowed to perform in Kurdish on the Iranian national radio, Shahram Nazeri (Kermanshah 1950 - ), Kayhan Kalhor (Kermanshah), Mohammad Jalil Andalibi (Sanandaj), Mojtaba Mirzadeh, and Jamshid Andalibi (Sanandaj).

The Kamkars (Baradaran-e Kamkar) from the city of Sanandaj is a leading ensemble in Kurdish music today. They are internationally renowned for their performance of Kurdish folk music and with great dynamism and innovation. Some members of the group, including Arsalan and Hooshang Kamkar, have also worked individually and produced successful works. The brothers have also been leading Persian performers, working hand in hand with a number of very high-profile Persian singers in the classical genre, like the most famous and renowned Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, along with whom they arguably managed to stop the extinction of the none-religious Iranian music after a ban by the Islamic government, making them a household name all over Iran.

Nasir Razazî (Sanandaj), who now resides in Sweden, performs Kurdish music from all genres. Ali Akbar Moradi is the greatest master of the religious tembûr music of the Yarsan sect to which he belongs.^{[citation needed]} Female singers include Nasir Razazi's late wife, Marziye Fariqi, her sister, Leila Fariqi who is known for performing pop-Westernised songs, Fattaneh Validi (Sanandaj) and Shahin Talabani (Sanandaj) who mainly performs classical folklore.

Morad Kaveh is living in Sweden and is a new successful singer and musician. Firmeski Gesh Nostalgi Album

Brusk Zanganeh is currently studying his diploma in Violin at Zurcher Hochschule in Switzerland. [1]

Kurds of Iraq

Until Saddam Hussein rose to power later in the 20th century, Kurds in Iraq were allowed to perform as they wished, so long as music did not encroach on politics. Ali Merdan (1904–1981), a well known singer and composer, arose during this period. Restrictions on recording grew slowly, and censors banned anything with a hint of subversion. A black market flourished, and some of the Kurds' most popular musicians were executed, including Erdewan Zaxolî. Year 1974 saw a degree of autonomy being achieved for the Kurds, but it was short-lived. After siding with Iran during a war, many Kurds were murdered with chemical weapons by Hussein's government, and the Kurds became highly repressed until the Gulf War and US invasion of Iraq. When the Kurds restored their autonomy in 1991, they started rebuilding their region. Artists now enjoy a good support from the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Kurdish artists and writers are encouraged to move and work there. One of the most important Iraqi Kurdish artists is Chopy Fatah (singer) from the city of Kirkuk that has been able to perform in several international festivals to show the world more about the great Kurdish music.

Aras Ibrahim-violinist, built Martyr Karzan's music group (tipi muziki shehid Karzan) in 1981 which was the only group who could record revolutionary songs in the mountain in the PUK released areas of Kurdistan. The group recorded 5 cassettes and published them. In 1990, the group participated in the First festival of Halabja & Nawroz (arranged by Kurdistan Arts Union) in Saqz-Iran with the famous coral of Halabja which was about the chemical weapon used against the Kurds there. Some members of the group: Aras Ibrahim, Dler Ibrahim, Azad Khanaqini, Shwan Kaban, Idris Issa (Rzgar), Salari gitar, Twana Sulaiman, Hushiar Baba, Salam Ahmed Fars, Soran Jalal Aziz, Aso Kakaiy, Hama Jaza, Abdulkadir Hasan, Siyar, Saleem, Hakm Farhad, Qubad Gorun, Ashti Said, Jwan, Bahar,....

Kurdish singers from Iraqi Kurdistan had sometimes the opportunity of performing and recording with Arab orchestras, which is the reason why Kurdish music from this part is somewhat influenced by Arabian music. Some of the best-known classical musicians of the past generations here are Tehsîn Taha, who was renowned for his beautiful voice, Ali Merdan, Anwer karadaghi, Karim Kaban, Eyaz Yûsif, 'Îsa Berwarî,Dilovan Saeed, Kawîs Axa, Shamal Sayib and composers and violin players Anwer karadaghi, Dilşad Said, Peshraw Baban.

Kurds of Syria

Despite the lack of any musical educational infrastructure, several famous Kurdish musicians arose from Syria.

Gerabêtê Xaço was a great classical stranbêj, Muradê Kinê (Miradko) was another great stranbêj and kemençe player. Se'îd Yûsif (known as "prince of the biziq") is acclaimed for his unparalleled virtuosity on the biziq and his authentic teqsîms and beautiful song melodies. Mihemed Şêxo was a master of symbolic nationalistic lyrics who was imprisoned several times for expressing his political opinion through his songs. Some other important figures are Aram Tîgran, Mehmûd Ezîz - along with his brother Mihemed Elî Şakir -, Faris Bavê Fîras, Bangîn (Hikmet Cemîl), vocalist Miço Kendes and biziq player Ehmedê Çep. Ciwan Haco has been famous in pop/Westernized Kurdish music, "Şeyda" is locally known for his love songs, Nezir Palo is known for its special texts, music and poetry. Nȗhat is known for his soul music. Adnan babê Hêco is a singer of the many articles written about love. There is also very popular singer from afrin Bave Selah, he is known more from kurdish folk songs and cultural songs. Shero Manan is really famous music artist in Afrin who are known as keyboard player. He has his own music studio. There are also wedding singers who are famous in local city in Afrin, for example: Bave Nur, Abdo mohamad (who known more better in Finland as pensseli-setä), Zekeriya Dilshad, Jan Boro, Shoresh Bekir, Ciwan Musa, Xebat Teyfur, Ismail Mohamad, Akkash Dildar and many others.

Kurdish Music in Lebanon

Saber Meho is a Kurdish singer who lives in Lebanon. He works in promoting the Kurdish music and culture in Lebanon. He Participated in big concert with top Lebanese singer. He has been interviewed by Lebanese TVs and Radios. His songs reflects the multi cultural society in Lebanon. He works with Armenian singers and traditional Lebanese singers to promote the middle eastern music ( oriental music). His songs have become popular in Lebanon in recent years.

Academic Studies of Kurdish Music

The earliest study of Kurdish music was initiated by an Armenian priest, Vartapet Komitas in 1904. The first academic center for Kurdish music was founded in Yerevan, called The Malikian School of Music, which studied the old dengbêj. Kurdish academic, Cemîlê Celîl published two collections of popular Kurdish songs in 1964 and 1965. In Iraq, a center for study of Kurdish music was founded in 1958. An academic study of Kurdish music, dance and musical instruments in Hakkari was published by Dr. D. Christensen in 1963. The music of Kurdish Jews has also been studied in the 70s, and published by the Jewish Music Research Centre in Jerusalem.^[2]

References

1. ^ Izady, Mehrdad. The Kurds: A Concise Handbook, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8448-1727-9.
2. ^ http://www.encislam.brill.nl/data/EncIslam/C4/COM-0544.html^{[dead link]}

Further reading

• Skalla, Eva and Jemima Amiri. "Songs of the Stateless". In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 378–384. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
• Izady, Mehrdad. The Kurds: A Concise Handbook, Taylor & Francis, p 256 - 268. ISBN 0-8448-1727-9.
• Dr. D. Christensen, Tanzlieder der Hakkari-Kurden, Eine material-kritisch Studie, in Jahrbuch für musikalische Volks-und Völker-Künde, Berlin i, pp. 11–47, 1963.
• Edith Gerson-Kiwi, The Music of Kurdistan Jews. A synopsis of their musical styles, in Yuval, Studies of the Jewish Music Research Centre, ii, Jerusalem 1971.
• Vartabed Comitas, Quelques spécimens des mélodies kurdes, in Recueil d'Emine, Moscow 1904, and re-edited in Erivan in 1959.
• Ali Akbar Moradi, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Akbar_Moradi