kamancheh

{{About|the Iranian kamancheh|the related but different Pontian Greek, Turkish or Armenian instrument|Kemenche}}

{{Infobox instrument

| name = Kamancheh

| names = Kamancha, Kamanche, Kemancheh, Kamanjah, Kabak kemane

| image = 2 Kamānches, Persia, ca. 1880.jpg

| image_capt = Persian Kamānches, ca. 1880

| background = string

| classification = Bowed strings

| developed = Iran

| range = g3-e7

| related =

| musicians =

| builders =

| sound sample= {{Listen

| embed = yes

| filename = Kamancheh Improvisation Played by Kayhan Kalhor.ogg

| title = Kamancheh music

| description = Kamancheh Improvisation Played by Kayhan Kalhor – Silk Road Project}}

}}

{{Infobox intangible heritage

| Image =

| Caption =

| ICH = Art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh/Kamancha, a bowed string musical instrument

| Domains =

| Countries = Azerbaijan and Iran

| ID = 01286

| Region =

| Year = 2017

| Session = 13th

| List = Representative

}}

File:Kamancheh.jpg

The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) ({{langx|fa|کمانچه}}, {{langx|az|kamança}}, {{langx|hy|քամանչա}}, {{langx|ku|کەمانچە ,kemançe}}) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian,{{cite book |title=Global Minstrels: Voices of World Music |date=2012 |publisher=Elijah Wald |isbn=9781135863685 |page=227}} Azerbaijani,{{cite web |url=http://unesco.preslib.az/en/page/FWdGKng1R2 |title=Kamancha |author= |publisher=UNESCO |quote=In the Republic of Azerbaijan it constitutes a major element of classical and folkloric music, and performances occupy a central place in a wide number of social and cultural gatherings.}} Armenian,{{cite book|last=Dowsett|first=Charles|title=Sayatʻ-Nova: an 18th-century troubadour: a biographical and literary study|year=1997|publisher=Peeters Publishers|location=Leuven|isbn=90-6831-795-4|authorlink=Charles Dowsett|page= 4}} Kurdish,{{cite news |title=Iranian Kurdish musician wins prestigious award |url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/46dfb901-1ecd-40d3-b8c7-1c872fe622d4 |access-date=24 March 2020 |agency=Kurdistan24 |date=19 August 2019}} Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument.{{cite web|title=Pastimes of Central Asians. Musicians. A Man Practising the Kamancha, a Long-necked Stringed Instrument|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/10824/#time_periods=1850-1899&page=8|work=World Digital Library| year=1865 |access-date=14 May 2014}}

The kamancheh is related to the rebab which is the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and the bowed Byzantine lyra.{{cite web|url=http://en.mehrnews.com/detail/News/106573|title=Iranian string instrument 'Kamancheh' to be inscribed on UNESCO list|date=11 April 2015|access-date=1 May 2015}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/art-of-crafting-and-playing-with-kamantcheh-kamancha-a-bowed-string-musical-instrument-01286 |title=Art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh/Kamancha, a bowed string musical instrument |author= |publisher=UNESCO }}

Name and etymology

The word "kamancheh" means "little bow" in Persian (kæman, bow, and -cheh, diminutive).{{cite web|url=http://www.loghatnaameh.com/dehkhodaworddetail-517f91e26c9a482aa5447c3e20c4aff8-fa.html|title=کمانچه – پارسی ویکی|website=loghatnaameh.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017181107/http://www.loghatnaameh.com/dehkhodaworddetail-517f91e26c9a482aa5447c3e20c4aff8-fa.html|archive-date=2008-10-17}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.frmtr.com/muzik-enstrumanlari/5496809-kabak-kemane-ve-kemancha-hakkinda-rehber.html|title=Kabak kemane ve Kemancha hakkında rehber|access-date=2014-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214014210/https://www.frmtr.com/muzik-enstrumanlari/5496809-kabak-kemane-ve-kemancha-hakkinda-rehber.html|archive-date=2017-12-14|url-status=dead}}

Structure

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{{Cite web|url=https://saxonianfolkways.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/the-masters-of-kamanche/|title=The Masters of Kamanche|last1=Chandrakausika|first1=R.A.M.|date=2013-03-08|website=A World Heritage Of Native Music|access-date=2017-05-16}} 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.{{cite encyclopedia|title= Music Around the World: A Global Encyclopedia [3 Volumes]|editor1-last= Martin|editor1-first= Andrew R.|editor2-last= Mihalka|editor2-first= Matthew Ph.D.|year= 2020|publisher= ABC-CLIO|page=442|isbn= 9781610694995|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wvb2DwAAQBAJ}}

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

File:Group of Musicians,, XVIth or XVIIth century.jpg|Kamancha in an Armenian miniature, XVI or XVII century.

File: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.

File: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.Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila S. Blair (Ed.): The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Volume 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, p. 8

File:Kamancheh player, harem, Qajar Iran, ca 1820.jpg|Woman playing kamancheh, ca. 1820.

File:Sayat-Nova 1964.jpg|The Armenian ashugh Sayat-Nova playing a kamanacheh, ca. 1964.

File:Malik Mansurov Mugam Quartet (Azerbaijan) (2).jpg|Azerbaijani kamancheh player Malik Mansurov.

File:Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall - 2016 (7).jpg|Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall, Tehran, 2016.

File:Kamanche.jpg|Kamancheh player, Kermanshah, Iran, 2008.

File:Kamancha in Yerevan.jpg|Kamancha player, Yerevan.

Notable kamancheh players

Habil Aliyev
Mehdi Bagheri
Ali-Asghar Bahari
Mark Eliyahu
Kayhan Kalhor
Ardeshir Kamkar
[https://www.kamancheh.com Kourosh Babaei]
Sayat-Nova
Mostafa Taleb
Yaara Beeri
[https://mehrnamrastegari.com/ Mehrnam Rastegari]

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060411025557/http://nay-nava.blogfa.com/ Nay-Nava: The Encyclopedia of Persian Music Instruments]
[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/500952 Kamanche, Iran, ca. 1869]
[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503503 Kamanche, Iran, ca. 1880]