Kamancheh

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox instrument Template:Infobox intangible heritage

Kamancheh

The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Azerbaijani,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Armenian,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kurdish,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=abc/>

The kamancheh is related to the rebab which is the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and the bowed Byzantine lyra.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The strings are played with a variable-tension bow.

In 2017, the art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh/Kamancha was included into the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists of Azerbaijan and Iran.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Name and etymologyEdit

The word "kamancheh" means "little bow" in Persian (kæman, bow, and -cheh, diminutive).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Turkish word kemençe is borrowed from Persian, with the pronunciation adapted to Turkish phonology.

It also denotes a bowed string instrument, but the Turkish version differs significantly in structure and sound from the Persian kamancheh.

There is also an instrument called kabak kemane literally "pumpkin-shaped bow instrument" used in Turkish music which is only slightly different from the Iranian kamancheh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

StructureEdit

The kamancheh has a long neck including the fingerboard, which the kamancheh maker shapes as a truncated inverse cone for easy bow movement in the down section, pegbox in both sides of which four pegs are placed, and finial<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Traditionally kamanchehs had three silk strings, but modern instruments have four metal strings.

Kamanchehs may have highly ornate inlays and elaborately carved ivory tuning pegs.

The body has a long upper neck and a lower bowl-shaped resonating chamber made from a gourd or wood, usually covered with a membrane made from the skin of a lamb, goat or sometimes a fish, on which the bridge is set.

From the bottom protrudes a spike to support the kamancheh while it is being played, hence in English, the instrument is sometimes called the spiked fiddle.

It is played sitting down held like a cello though it is about the length of a viol. The end-pin can rest on the knee or thigh while the player is seated in a chair.<ref name="abc">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Kamancheh is usually tuned like an ordinary violin (G, D, A, E).

Group of Musicians,, XVIth or XVIIth century.jpg

Kamancha in an Armenian miniature, XVI or XVII century.
Qajar Miniature (1800 - 1850) by unknown Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Film and Choreography - Art Palace.jpg

Qajar Iran miniature of a woman playing the kamancheh.
A court musician playing the kemanche, painting by Abul Qasim, Qajar Iran.jpg

A woman playing the kamancheh. Detail from a wall painting in which Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is surrounded by musicians and dancers. Painted by Abuʾl-Qasim, dated 1816.<ref>Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila S. Blair (Ed.): The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Volume 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, p. 8 </ref>
Kamancheh player, harem, Qajar Iran, ca 1820.jpg

Woman playing kamancheh, ca. 1820.
Sayat-Nova 1964.jpg

The Armenian ashugh Sayat-Nova playing a kamanacheh, ca. 1964.
Malik Mansurov Mugam Quartet (Azerbaijan) (2).jpg

Azerbaijani kamancheh player Malik Mansurov.
Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall - 2016 (7).jpg

Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall, Tehran, 2016.
Kamanche.jpg

Kamancheh player, Kermanshah, Iran, 2008.
Kamancha in Yerevan.jpg

Kamancha player, Yerevan.

Notable kamancheh playersEdit

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:Iranian musical instruments Template:Armenian musical instruments Template:Azerbaijani musical instruments Template:Turkish musical instruments Template:Intangible Heritage Iran Template:Intangible Heritage Azerbaijan Template:Authority control

Kamancheh

Contents

Name and etymologyEdit

StructureEdit

Notable kamancheh playersEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Further readingEdit

External linksEdit