Kurdish music refers to music performed in the

Kurdish languages Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language ...

and Zaza-Gorani languages. The earliest study of Kurdish music was initiated by the renowned

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

priest and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...

in 1903, when he published his work ''" Chansons kurdes transcrites par le pere Komitas"'' which consisted of twelve Kurdish melodies which he had collected. The Armenian

Karapetê Xaço Karapetê Xaço or Karabêtê Xaço or Gerabêtê Xaço ( hy, Կարապետ Խաչո) (September 3, 1900 Salihe Kevirbiri, ''Bir Çığlığın Yüzyılı: Karapetê Xaço'', Si Yayınları, İstanbul, 2002, p. 66. or 1903 or 1908 - January 15, 200 ...

also preserved many traditional Kurdish melodies throughout the 20th century by recording and performing them. In 1909, Scholar Isya Joseph published the work "''Yezidi works''" in which he documented the musical practice of the

Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...

including the role of the musician-like qawâl figures and the instruments used by the minority. Kurdish music appeared in

phonograph A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

s in the late 1920s, when music companies in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

began recording songs performed by Kurdish artists. Despite being secondary to

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

s, Kurds use many instruments in traditional music. Musical instruments include the

tembûr Kurdish tanbur ( ku, ته‌مبوور, translit=Tembûr) or tanbour a fretted string instrument, is an initial and main form of the tanbūr instrument family, used by the Kurds. It is highly associated with the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) religion in ...

(see

kurdish tanbur Kurdish tanbur ( ku, ته‌مبوور, translit=Tembûr) or tanbour a fretted string instrument, is an initial and main form of the tanbūr instrument family, used by the Kurds. It is highly associated with the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) religion in ...

), bağlama, qernête, daf,

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...

kaval The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and Anatolia (including Turkey and Armenia). The ka ...

, long

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(şimşal),

kemenche Kemenche ( tr, kemençe) or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Armenia, Greece, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. and regions adjacent to the Black S ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

(zirne) and

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

(dahol).

Definition

Traditional Kurdish music is very distinctive from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Turkish music The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popula ...

, and mostly composed by people who remained anonymous. Thematically, the music were of

melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...

and

elegiac The adjective ''elegiac'' has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to something of, relating to, or involving, an elegy or something that expresses similar mournfulness or sorrow. Second, it can refer more specifically to poetry composed in ...

character, but has since then incorporated more upbeat and joyous melodies. Kurdish folklore consists of three genres: the

storytellers Storyteller, story teller, or story-teller may refer to: * A person who does storytelling Arts and entertainment Film *''Oidhche Sheanchais'', also called ''The Storyteller''; 1935 Irish short film * '' Narradores de Javé'' (''Storytellers'') ...

(çîrokbêj), bards (

dengbêj Dengbêj is a Kurdish music genre and/or a singer of the music genre Dengbêj. Dengbêjs are singing storytellers. There have been many terms to describe Dengbêjs throughout history, but today Dengbêj is the best known, and also several singing ...

) and

popular singer Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

s (stranbêj). Moreover, there are religious-themed songs (lawje) seasonal musical topics, for example "payizok" that are songs about the return to the summer

pastures Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

performed in autumn. Kurdish improvisations are called teqsîm. Hassan Zirak, Kurdish folk Singer

Prohibition

However, the tolerance for Kurdish music ceased with the Saddam regime (from 1979 to 2003) which put in place restrictions against Kurdish culture. Between 1982 and 1991 the performance and recording of songs in Kurdish was also banned in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

References

External links

* (Kurdish music sample) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurdish Music Kurdish culture Kurdish folklore

Definition

Prohibition

References

Further reading

External links