The santur (also ''santūr'', ''santour'', ''santoor'') ( fa, سنتور), is a
hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...
of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian origins.
[--- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). ''Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī''. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻUmmāl al-Markazīyya.
]
History
![Woman playing a santur, Qajar Iran, artist named Ahmad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Woman_playing_a_santur%2C_Qajar_Iran%2C_artist_named_Ahmad.jpg)
The santur was invented and developed in the area of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
. "The earliest sign of it comes from Assyrian and Babylonian stone carvings (669 B.C.); it shows the instrument being played while hanging from the player's neck" (35). This instrument was traded and traveled to different parts of the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. Each country customized and designed its own versions to adapt to their musical scales and tunings. The original santur was made with wood and stones and strung with goat intestines. The Mesopotamian santur has been claimed to be the father of the
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
, the Chinese
yangqin
The trapezoidal yangqin () is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋 琴 (lit. "foreign zither"), but over time the first character changed t ...
, the
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, the
qanun, the
cimbalom
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
, and the American and European
hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...
s.
Name
The name 'santur' comes from Arabic ''sanṭīr'', a borrowing of the Greek ψαλτήριον '
psalterion'. The
Biblical Aramaic
Biblical Aramaic is the form of Aramaic that is used in the books of Daniel and Ezra in the Hebrew Bible. It should not be confused with the Targums – Aramaic paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Hebrew scriptures.
History
During ...
form ''psantērīn'' is found in the
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...
3:5.
Description
The oval-shaped ''
mezrabs'' (mallets) are feather-weight and are held between the thumb, index, and middle fingers. A typical Persian santur has two sets of nine bridges, providing a range of approximately three diatonic
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
s. The mezrabs are made out of wood with tips that may or may not be wrapped with cotton or felt.
The right-hand strings are made of brass or copper, while the left-hand strings are made of steel.
A total of 18 bridges divide the santur into three positions. Over each bridge cross four strings tuned in unison, spanning horizontally across the right and left side of the instrument. There are three sections of nine pitches: each for the bass, middle, and higher octave called behind the left bridges comprising 27 tones altogether. The top "F" note is repeated twice, creating a total of 25 separate tones on the santur. The Persian santur is primarily tuned to a variety of different diatonic scales utilizing 1/4 tones which are designated into 12 modes (''
dastgah
Dastgāh ( fa, دستگاه) is the standard musical system in Persian art music, standardised in the 19th century following the transition of Persian music from the Maqam modal system. A consists of a collection of musical melodies, . In a son ...
s'') of
Persian classical music
Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran (also known as ''Persia''). It consists of characteristics developed through the coun ...
. These 12 Dastgahs are the repertory of Persian classical music known as the ''
Radif
Radif ( fa, ردیف, meaning ''order'') is a rule in Persian, Turkic, and Urdu poetry which states that, in the form of poetry known as a ghazal, the second line of all the couplets (''s'' or ''shers'') ''must'' end with the ''same'' word/s. Th ...
''. They also had 16 inch botos.
Derivations
Similar musical instruments have been present since medieval times all over the world, including Armenia, China, Greece, India, etc. The Indian
santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...
is wider, more rectangular and has more strings. Its corresponding mallets are also held differently and played with a different technique. The eastern European version of the santur called the ''
cimbalom
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
'', which is much larger and chromatic, is used to accompany Hungarian folk music, Eastern European Jewish music, and Slavic music, as well as
Romani music.
Iraqi santur
The Iraqi santur (also santour, santoor ) ( ar, سنطور) is a hammered dulcimer of Mesopotamian origin.
It is a trapezoid box zither with a walnut body and 92 steel (or bronze) strings. The strings, tuned to the same pitch in groups of four, are struck with two wooden mallets called "midhrab". The tuning of these 23 sets of strings extends from the lower ''yakah'' (G) up to ''jawab jawab husayni'' (a). The bridges are called ''dama'' (chessmen in Iraqi Arabic) because they look like pawns. It is native to Iraq, Syria, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Greece (the Aegean coasts) and Azerbaijan.
It is the main instrument used in the classical
Maqam al-iraqi tradition along with the Iraqi spike fiddle
joza. ('Music of the Arabs' ).
The instrument was brought to Europe by the Arabs through North Africa and Spain during the Middle Ages and also to China where it was referred to as the "foreign ''qin''".
[
The Iraqi santur has, since its inception, been fully chromatic allowing for full maqam modulations. It uses 12 bridges of steel strings on both sides. Three of these bridges are movable: B half flat qaraar, E half flat, and B half flat jawaab. The non-standard version of the Iraqi santur includes extra bridges so that there's no need to move those three bridges. However, playing it is a bit harder than playing the standard 12-bridge santur.][ For a video demonstration, see Wesam al-Azzawy's video links in the sections below.
]
Notable players
Iran
* Abol Hassan Saba
Abol is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Abol Fath Khan (1755–1787), the third Shah of Zand dynasty, who ruled the Persian Empire for a period in 1779
*Abol Hassan Ispahani (1902–1981), Pakistani legislator and diplomat
*A ...
* Manoochehr Sadeghi
* Faramarz Payvar
Master Farâmarz Pâyvar ( fa, فرامرز پایور, ; 10 February 1933 – 9 December 2009) was an Iranian composer and santur player. Payvar died on 9 December 2009 after a long struggle with brain damage. Although once perceived as mar ...
* Mohammad Heydari
Mohammad Heidari ( fa, محمد حیدری; January 1937 – August 23, 2016) was a Persian santur player and songwriter.
Career
After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Mohammad Heidari left the country for Italy and a few years later moved to Los ...
* Parviz Meshkatian
Parviz Meshkatian (Persian: پرويز مشكاتيان; May 15, 1955 – September 21, 2009) was an Iranian musician, composer, researcher and university lecturer.
Biography
Born in Nishapur, Meshkatian entered the Tehran Academy of Ar ...
* Majid Kiani
Majid Kiani is a Master of the Persian Santur. He was the best student of Manoochehr Sadeghi, among others. He teaches traditional Iranian music and his masterpiece is the book named: "Seven Dastgah(s) of Iranian Music". He is a leading figure i ...
* Ahad Behjat Ahad ( fa, احد) ( ar, احد) ( ur, احد) is a Middle Eastern given forename primarily used by Muslims and Jews. It is also used as a family name (surname) (e.g. Oli Ahad).
In Arabic Ahad means "one" and is usually used by Muslims when referri ...
* Nasser Rastegar-Nejad
* Masoud Rezaei Nejad
* Milad Kiayie
Milad may refer to:
* Milad (given name)
* Milad Dezful F.C., Iranian football club based in Dezful, Iran
* Milad Hospital, hospital in Iran
* Milad Rizk (fl. 2010–2015), a Lebanese actor
* Milad Tower, tallest tower in Iran
* Mawlid, the obs ...
* Omid Tahmasebpour
* Mohammad Sadeq Khan
* Ali Akbar Shahi
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
* Hassan Khan
* Hussein Malek
* Habib Soma’i
* Reza Varzandeh
Reza is a Persian name, originating from the Arabic word , ''Riḍā'', which literally means "the fact of being pleased or contented; contentment, approval". In religious context, this name is interpreted as ''satisfaction'' or "''perfect content ...
* Reza Shafieian
* Mansur Sarami
Mansour ( ar, منصور, Manṣūr); also spelled Mounsor, Monsur (Bengali), Mansoor, Manser, Mansur, Mansyur (Indonesian) or Mensur (Turkish), is a male Arabic name that means "He who is victorious", from the Arabic root '' naṣr'' (نصر), m ...
* Masoud Shaari
Masoud (; ) is a given name and surname, with origins in Persian and Arabic. The name is found in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China. Masoud has spelling varia ...
* Siamak Aghayi
* Sourena Sefati
* Mohammad Santour Khan
* Daryoush Safvat
* Jalal Akhbari
* Pouya Saraei
Pouya Saraei ( fa, پویا سرایی) is an Iranian composer, music arranger, conductor, lecturer, music critic, researcher, and santour instrumentalist.
Biography
He started playing the santour at the age of seven and some of his music ma ...
* Ardavan Kamkar
, fa, کامکارها
, image =
, caption =
, image_size =
, background = classical_ensemble
, alias = Kamkar Ensemble
, origin = Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran
, genre ...
* Pejman Azarmina
Pejman Azarmina (Persian: پژمان آذرمینا, born in 1973) is an Iranian-American scholar, entrepreneur, musician and thinkocrat. After 15 years of pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry (most of which being at Pfizer), he joine ...
* Pashang Kamkar
, fa, کامکارها
, image =
, caption =
, image_size =
, background = classical_ensemble
, alias = Kamkar Ensemble
, origin = Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran
, genre ...
Peyman Heydarian
* Kourosh Zolani
Kourosh Zolani (born 1970) is an Iranian-American composer and instrumental soloist. He is known for designing and playing a chromatic santour.
His compositions based on using his unique chromatic Santour include ''Memoirs of Sangesar'', ''Dance ...
* Arfa Atrai
Arfa ( ar, عرفه) is a Syrian village located in Al-Hamraa Nahiyah in Hama District, Hama
Hama ( ar, حَمَاة ', ; syr, ܚܡܬ, ħ(ə)mɑθ, lit=fortress; Biblical Hebrew: ''Ḥamāṯ'') is a city on the banks of the Orontes River i ...
* Azar Hashemi
Azar ( fa, آذر, ) is the ninth month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan. Azar has thirty days. It begins in November and ends in December by the Gregorian calendar. Azar corresponds to the Tropical Astro ...
* Susan Aslani
* Manijeh Ali Pour
''Bijan and Manijeh'' (also ''Bizhan and Manizheh'', Persian بيژن و منيژه - ''Bīžan ow Manīža'') is a love story in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Bijan was the son of Giv, a famous Iranian knight during the reign of Kay Khosrow, the S ...
* Hayaf Yassine
* Masoud Malek
Masoud (; ) is a given name and surname, with origins in Persian and Arabic. The name is found in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China. Masoud has spelling varia ...
Iraq
Notable players of the Iraqi santur include:
* Abdallah Ali (1929–1998)
* Akram Al Iraqi
* Amir ElSaffar
Amir ElSaffar (born 1977 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. His compositions combine jazz, classical, and traditional Arabic music.
Biography
ElSaffar was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1977. His mother, Ruth Antho ...
* Azhar Kubba
* Bahir Hashem Al Rajab
* Basil al-Jarrah
* Ghazi Mahsub al-Azzawi
* Hugi Salih Rahmain Pataw (1848–1933)
* Hashim Al Rajab
* Hala Bassam
* Hammudi Ali al-Wardi
* Haj Hashim Muhammad Rajab al-Ubaydi (1921–2003)
* Hendrin Hikmat (1974–)
* Heskel Shmuli Ezra (1804–1894)
* Mohamed Abbas
* Muhammad Salih al-Santurchi (18th century)
* Muhammad Zaki Darwish al-Samarra'i (1955–)
* Mustafa Abd al-Qadir Tawfiq
* Qasim Muhammad Abd (1969–)
* Rahmatallah Safa'i
* Sa'ad Abd al-Latif al-Ubaydi
* Sabah Hashim
* Saif Walid al-Ubaydi
* Salman Enwiya
* Salman Sha'ul Dawud Bassun (1900–1950)
* Sha'ul Dawud Bassun (19th century)
* Shummel Salih Shmuli (1837–1915)
* Wesam al-Azzawy (1960–)
* Yusuf Badros Aslan (1844–1929)
* Yusuf Hugi Pataw (1886–1976)
Greece
Players of the Greek Santouri include:
* Tasos Diakogiorgis
*Aristidis Moschos
Aristeidis Moschos (Greek: Αριστείδης Μόσχος; 1930 – 8 November 2001) was a Greek player and teacher of the santouri.
Biography
Moschos was born in Agrinio, a city in the Aitoloakarnania district. He was fifth in a family of t ...
* Marios Papadeas
*Ourania Lambropoulou
India
Notable players of the Indian santoor include:
*Ulhas Bapat
Pandit Ulhas Bapat ( mr, उल्हास बापट; 31 August 1950 – 4 January 2018) was a santoor player from India.
Bapat studied under Zarin Daruwala Sharma, K. G. Ginde and Wamanrao Sadolikar. In the film industry, he made his deb ...
(1950–2018)
*Tarun Bhattacharya
Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya (born 23 December 1957) is an Indian classical musician who plays the santoor, a type of hammered dulcimer. He studied with Ravi Shankar. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018.
Early life
Tarun Bhat ...
(b. 1957)
* Rahul Sharma (b. 1972)
*Shivkumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Harip ...
(b. 1938)
*Abhay Sopori
Abhay Rustum Sopori (born 7 June 1979) is an Indian Santoor player, music composer and conductor. He is the son of Santoor player Pandit Bhajan Sopori, known for his versatility, innovations and experimentation. Sopori has received awards in r ...
*Bhajan Sopori
Pandit Bhajan Sopori (22 June 1948 – 2 June 2022) was an Indian instrumentalist. He was a player of the santoor, an ancient stringed musical instrument.
Early life and family
Sopori was born in Srinagar to Shambhu Nath Sopori on 22 June ...
(b. 1948)
* R. Visweswaran (1944–2007)
* Varsha Agrawal (b. 1967)
* Mohammad Tibet Baqal (1914–1982)
* Harjinder Pal Singh (b. 1953)
* Sandip Chatterjee
Germany
* (Dr. Bee Seavers) disciple of Pt. Shivkumar Sharma
Poland
* Jarosław Niemiec
Turkey
* Santuri Ethem Bey composer of Sehnaz Longa
Lebanon
* Marcel Ghrayeb
From around the world
Versions of the santur or hammered dulcimer are used throughout the world. In Eastern Europe, a larger descendant of the hammered dulcimer called the cimbalom
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
is played and has been used by a number of classical 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 ...
s, including Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music ed ...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
, and Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mont ...
, and more recently, in a different musical context, by Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...
. The khim
The ''khim'' ( th, ขิม ; lo, ຂິມ ; km, ឃឹម ) is a stringed musical instrument derived from the Mesopotamian or Persian Santur. It is similar to the Hammered Dulcimer or Cimbalom. This ''khim'' was introduced to Thailand fro ...
is the name of both the Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
and the Khmer hammered dulcimer. The Chinese ''yangqin
The trapezoidal yangqin () is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋 琴 (lit. "foreign zither"), but over time the first character changed t ...
'' is a type of hammered dulcimer that originated in Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. The santur and santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...
are found in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, respectively.
* Afghanistan – santur
* Armenian - sant'ur
* Azerbaijan – santur
* Austria – Hackbrett
* Belarus – Цымбалы (tsymbaly
The tsymbaly ( uk, цимбали) is the Ukrainian version of the hammer dulcimer. It is a chordophone made up of a trapezoidal box with metal (steel or bronze) strings strung across it. The tsymbaly is played by striking two beaters against ...
)
* Belgium – hakkebord
* Brazil – saltério
* Cambodia – khim
The ''khim'' ( th, ขิม ; lo, ຂິມ ; km, ឃឹម ) is a stringed musical instrument derived from the Mesopotamian or Persian Santur. It is similar to the Hammered Dulcimer or Cimbalom. This ''khim'' was introduced to Thailand fro ...
* Catalonia – saltiri
* China – 扬琴 (yangqin
The trapezoidal yangqin () is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋 琴 (lit. "foreign zither"), but over time the first character changed t ...
)
* Croatian – cimbal, cimbale
* Czech Republic – cimbál
* Denmark – hakkebræt
* France – tympanon
* Germany – Hackbrett
* Greece – santouri
The santur (also ''santūr'', ''santour'', ''santoor'') ( fa, سنتور), is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origins.--- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). ''Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī''. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻ ...
* Hungary – cimbalom
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
* India – santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...
* Iran – santur
* Iraq – santur
* Ireland – tiompan
* Italy – salterio
Salterio is the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese term for either of two types of zither: the hammered dulcimer or psaltery.
Concept, etymology
'' 'Salterio' ''/'' 'saltério' ''is used in Italian and Spanish where both 'psaltery' and 'dulcimer' a ...
* Korea – yanggeum
The yanggeum is a traditional Korean string instrument. It is a hammered dulcimer. Unlike other traditional Korean instruments (most of which have silk strings), the ''yanggeum'' has metal strings. It is played by striking the strings with a b ...
양금
* Laos – khim
The ''khim'' ( th, ขิม ; lo, ຂິມ ; km, ឃឹម ) is a stringed musical instrument derived from the Mesopotamian or Persian Santur. It is similar to the Hammered Dulcimer or Cimbalom. This ''khim'' was introduced to Thailand fro ...
* Latgalia (Latvia) – cymbala
* Latvia – cimbole
* Lithuania – cimbalai, cimbolai
* Mongolia – ёочин yoochin
* Netherlands – hakkebord
* Norway – hakkebrett
* Pakistan – santur
* Poland – cymbały
* Portugal – saltério
* Romania – ţambal
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
* Russia – цимбалы tsimbaly, Дульцимер (dultsimer)
* Serbia – цимбал (tsimbal)
* Slovakia – cimbal
* Slovenia – cimbale, oprekelj
* Spain (and Spanish-speaking countries) – salterio
Salterio is the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese term for either of two types of zither: the hammered dulcimer or psaltery.
Concept, etymology
'' 'Salterio' ''/'' 'saltério' ''is used in Italian and Spanish where both 'psaltery' and 'dulcimer' a ...
, dulcémele
* Sweden – hackbräde, hammarharpa
* Switzerland – Hackbrett
* Thailand – khim
The ''khim'' ( th, ขิม ; lo, ຂິມ ; km, ឃឹម ) is a stringed musical instrument derived from the Mesopotamian or Persian Santur. It is similar to the Hammered Dulcimer or Cimbalom. This ''khim'' was introduced to Thailand fro ...
* Turkey – santur
* Ukraine – Цимбали tsymbaly
The tsymbaly ( uk, цимбали) is the Ukrainian version of the hammer dulcimer. It is a chordophone made up of a trapezoidal box with metal (steel or bronze) strings strung across it. The tsymbaly is played by striking two beaters against ...
* United Kingdom – hammered dulcimer
* United States – hammered dulcimer
* Uzbekistan – chang
* Vietnam – đàn tam thập lục (lit. "36 strings")
* Yiddish – tsimbl
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
See also
*Persian traditional music
Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran (also known as ''Persia''). It consists of characteristics developed through the coun ...
Gallery
File:Ali Bahrami-Fard performing in Vahdat Hall.jpg, Ali Bahrami-Fard playing in Vahdat Hall
The Vahdat Hall ( fa, تالار وحدت – ''Tālār e Vahdat'' means "Unity Hall"), formerly the Roudaki Hall ( fa, تالار رودکی – ''Tālār-e Rudaki''), is a performing arts complex in Tehran, Iran.
History
Around the 1950s and ...
File:Iraqi Santur Player.jpg, Chalghi santur player playing on a non-standard Iraqi santur
File:Santur Hand Position.jpg, Santur hand position
File:Santur Technique Video.theora.ogv, Santur technique
References
Bibliography
*Al-Hanafi, Jalal (1964). ''Al-Mughannūn al-Baghdādīyyūn wa al-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī''. Baghdad: Wizarat al-Irshad.
* Touma, Habib Hassan (1996). ''The Music of the Arabs'', trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. .
*Children's Book of Music'
Further reading
*Duchesne-Guillemin, Marcelle (1980). "Sur la restitution de la musique hourrite". ''Revue de Musicologie'' 66, no. 1 (1980): 5–26.
*Duchesne-Guillemin, Marcelle (1984). ''A Hurrian Musical Score from Ugarit: The Discovery of Mesopotamian Music'', Sources from the Ancient Near East, vol. 2, fasc. 2. Malibu, CA: Undena Publications.
*Fink, Robert (1981). ''The Origin of Music: A Theory of the Universal Development of Music''. Saskatoon: Greenwich-Meridian.
*Gütterbock, Hans (1970). "Musical Notation in Ugarit". ''Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale'' 64, no. 1 (1970): 45–52.
*
*Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn (1971). ''The Discovery of an Ancient Mesopotamian Theory of Music''. ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 115:131–49.
*Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn (1974). "The Cult Song with Music from Ancient Ugarit: Another Interpretation". ''Revue d'Assyriologie'' 68:69–82.
*Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn (1997). "Musik, A: philologisch". ''Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie 8'', edited by Dietz Otto Edzard, 463–82. Berlin: De Gruyter. .
*Kilmer, Anne (2001). "Mesopotamia §8(ii)". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
*Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn, Richard L. Crocker, and Robert R. Brown (1976). ''Sounds from Silence: Recent Discoveries in Ancient Near Eastern Music''. Berkeley: Bit Enki Publications, 1976. Includes LP record, Bit Enki Records BTNK 101, reissued .d.as CD.
*Vitale, Raoul (1982). "La Musique suméro-accadienne: gamme et notation musicale". ''Ugarit-Forschungen'' 14 (1982): 241–63.
*Wellesz, Egon, ed. (1957). ''New Oxford History of Music Volume I: Ancient and Oriental Music''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*West, M rtin L tchfiel (1994). "The Babylonian Musical Notation and the Hurrian Melodic Texts". ''Music and Letters'' 75, no. 2 (May): 161–79.
*Wulstan, David (1968). "The Tuning of the Babylonian Harp". ''Iraq'' 30:215–28.
*Wulstan, David (1971). "The Earliest Musical Notation". ''Music and Letters'' 52 (1971): 365–82.
External links
Santur – The Art of Persian Music
The Persian music and the santur instrument
Nay-Nava Encyclopedia entry on the santur
Dr. Ümit Mutlu's information on the santur (in Turkish)
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Hammered box zithers
Arabic musical instruments
Iranian musical instruments
Azerbaijani musical instruments
Articles containing video clips
Iranian inventions