Kamancha

Kamancha is an ancient stringed musical instrument of Azerbaijan played with a bow. Various kinds of kamancha are famous among the peoples of the Eastern and Middle Asia. This instrument, characterized with a charming, tender and melodic sounding, has been improved throughout centuries and survived till our times.

The one and two stringed kamancha is supposed to originate from the spring Gopuz (also Azerbaijani musical instrument). The description of kamancha is widely spread in the works of Medieval classics. The painting “The musical assembly” of Mir Sayid Ali, a representative of the painting school of Tebriz of the 16th century, reflected berbet, daf and kamancha. Abdulgadir Maragai in his works cited kamancha along with other musical instruments and gave broad information about it. The German traveler E.Kempfer, who visited Azerbaijan in the 17th century, noted that kamancha is a three or four stringed instrument with a wonderful sound timber. The genius Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi gives the following description to kamancha in his poem “Khosrov and Shirin”:

The bow is burning and moaning like Moses,
and the player is listening attentively to the singer,
who starts a wonderful gazal,
praising this orgy.

It is known that the three, four and even five stringed kamanchas existed already in the last century. A five stringed kamancha of the 19th century, preserved in the Ethnography Foundation of the Museum of History of Azerbaijan is interesting in this sense. The said museum has a kamancha, belonging to the prominent composer of Azerbaijan Zulfugar Hajibeyov. The body and the neck of this three stringed kamancha are skillfully encrusted with natural pearl. The peculiarity of this 19th century instrument is that a part of its body is made of a vertical section of wood, which covered with leather clothing. 

The kamancha, played with a bow is made of mulberry tree or walnut-tree, while the bow is made of a horse hair. Kamancha consists of a body, a neck and a spike, which enters the inner part of the body and goes out and communicates both parts of the body. The body, the neck and the tuning peg are produced by special machine tools by way of cutting. The total length is 700 mm, the height of the body is 175 mm and the width is 195 mm. Its diapason ranges from the small octave A to the third octave A. The notes for kamancha are written in the G clef and sound one tone higher than written. It is tuned in fourths or fifths.

The great composer of Azerbaijan Uzeyir Hajibeyov highly evaluated the sound timbre of kamancha. “…Music played on kamancha is perfect as for the sounding and is closer to a human voice. Kamancha is the best of all melodic instruments.” The legends of the Middle Asia state that the stringed gopuz was created by Dede Gorgud. A number of scientists, especially doctor Verner Bahman, state according to the treatise of Al Farabi, that the Middle Asia is considered the home of the stringed instruments.

A number of artistic and historical documents, proving the existence of kamancha since ancient times, are available in Azerbaijan. Kamancha’s role in folk music is great. We have such mugams that have found their artistic sounding solution in this very instrument. Shushtar, Shur, Bayaty-Shiraz and other mugams is a real proof of it. Our folk music becomes more complete and impressive when played on moanful kamancha. 

Kamancha is also used as a solo instrument, which plays the main part of a melody in the orchestras and ensembles of folk musical instruments. Kamancha, which participates within a trio (tar, kamancha, gaval (daf) during the performance of mugams, is the brightest pattern of stringed instruments.