Kurdish music

Hassan Zirak, Kurdish folk singer

Kurdish music (Template:Langx, or مۆسیقای کوردی) refers to music performed in the Kurdish languages and Zaza-Gorani languages.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The earliest study of Kurdish music was initiated by the renowned Armenian priest and composer Komitas in 1903,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> when he published his work "Chansons kurdes transcrites par le pere Komitas" which consisted of twelve Kurdish melodies which he had collected.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Karapetê Xaço, another Armenian, also preserved many traditional Kurdish melodies throughout the 20th century by recording and performing them.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1909, Scholar Isya Joseph published the work "Yezidi works" in which he documented the musical practice of the Yazidis including the role of the musician-like qewal figures and the instruments used by the minority.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Kurdish music appeared in phonographs in the late 1920s, when music companies in Baghdad began recording songs performed by Kurdish artists.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Despite being secondary to vocals, Kurds use many instruments in traditional music.<ref name="ref1">Template:Cite book</ref> Musical instruments include the tembûr (see Kurdish tanbur), saz, qernête, daf, duduk, kaval, long flute (şimşal),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> kemenche,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> oboe (zirne) and drum (dahol).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Definition

Traditional Kurdish music is culturally distinct from Arabic, Armenian and Turkish music,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and mostly composed by people who remained anonymous.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Thematically, the music were of melancholic and elegiac character, but has since then incorporated more upbeat and joyous melodies.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Kurdish folklore consists of three genres: the storytellers (çîrokbêj), bards (dengbêj) and popular singers (stranbêj).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Moreover, there are religious-themed songs (lawje)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> seasonal musical topics, for example "payizok" that are songs about the return to the summer pastures performed in autumn.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kurdish improvisations are called teqsîm.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Prohibition

In Iraq, tolerance for Kurdish music ceased with the Saddam regime (1979–2003) which put in place restrictions against Kurdish culture.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Between 1982 and 1991 the performance and recording of songs in Kurdish was also banned in Turkey.<ref name="ref1" />

See also

• Kurdish dance
• Kurdish classical music
• Kurdish folk music

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. Template:ISBN
• 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.
• Template:Cite encyclopedia , "BAYT , a genre of Kurdish folk art, an orally transmitted story which is either entirely sung or is a combination of sung verse and spoken prose."

External links

• Template:Cite encyclopedia (Kurdish music sample)