Santur

String
Classification	Stringed, Struck
Playing range
Related instruments
Hammered dulcimer

Woman playing the santur in a painting from the Hasht-Behesht Palace in Isfahan Safavids state, 1669

The santur (also santūr, santour, santoor) (Persian: سنتور‎‎) is a hammered dulcimer of Persian/Iranic origins.^[1][2][3] The term Santur originated with meaning "100 strings."^[1]

History

The santur was invented in Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey, and parts of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). This instrument was traded and traveled to different parts of the middle east and each country customized and designed their own versions to adapt to their musical scales and tunings. The original santur was made with tree bark, stones and stringed with goat intestines. The Mesopotamian santur is also the father of the harp, the Chinese yangqin, the harpsichord, the qanun, the cimbalom and the American and European hammered dulcimers.^[4]

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 bridges, providing a range of approximately three octaves. The right-hand strings are made of brass or copper,^[5] while the left-hand strings are made of steel.^[6] Two rows of 9 bridges. A total of 18 bridges divide the santur into three positions. Over each bridge crosses 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 notes all together. The top "F" note is repeated 2 times, creating a total of 25 separate tones in 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 (Dastgahs) of Persian classical music. These 12 Dastgahs are the repertory of Persian classical music known as the Radif. 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 is wider, more rectangular and has more strings. Its corresponding mallets are also held differently played with a different technique. The eastern European version of the santur called the cimbalom, which is much larger and chromatic, is used to accompany Romani music.^[7]

Iraqi santur

Typical Iraqi Santur

Chalghi Santur Player playing on a non-standard Iraqi Santur

The santur (also santour, santoor ) (Arabic: سنطور‎‎) is a hammered dulcimer of Mesopotamian origin.^[8] It is a trapezoid box zither with a walnut body and ninety two 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 twenty-three 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. The name 'santur' is thought to be derived from the Greek psalterion which, itself, is the result of musical experiments by Phythagorus based on the 6,000-year-old bull-headed lyre discovered from excavations found in the ancient city of Ur ('Children's Book of Music' ISBN 978-0-7566-6734-4).^[9] It is also thought that the name is derived from "Sant"- "Ur", meaning sound of Ur in Sumerian. It is native to Iraq, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran 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' ISBN 0-931340-88-8). 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".^[10]

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, and has three movable bridges: 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. ('Music of the Arabs' ISBN 0-931340-88-8) For a video demonstration, see Wesam al-Azzawy's video links in the sections below.

Notable santur players

Iran

• Abol Hassan Saba
• Mohammad Heydari
• Manoochehr Sadeghi
• Faramarz Payvar
• Nasser Rastegar-Nejad
• Farzaneh Mohammadian
• Parviz Meshkatian
• Amirhossein Vahdati
• Majid Kiani^[11]
• Mohammad Sadeq Khan^[12]
• Ali Akbar Shahi^[13]
• Hassan Khan^[14]
• Hussein Malek^[15]
• Habib Soma’i^[16]
• Reza Varzandeh^[17]
• Reza Shafieian^[18]
• Mansur Sarami^[19]
• Masoud Shaari^[20]
• Mohammad Santour Khan^[21]
• Daryoush Safvat^[22]
• Jalal Akhbari^[23]
• Pouya Saraei
• Ardavan Kamkar
• Pejman Azarmina
• Pashang Kamkar
• Peyman Heydarian
• Kourosh Zolani
• Arfa Atrai^[24]
• Azar Hashemi^[25]
• Susan Aslani^[26]
• Manijeh Ali Pour^[27]
• Hayaf Yassine
• Masoud Malek- Ostad Masoud Malek- Solo Santour Chahargah
• Maryam Saffarian
• Yasser Ghazikhani

Iraq

Notable players of the Iraqi santur include:^[28]

• Abdallah Ali (1929–1998)
• Akram Al Iraqi
• Amir ElSaffar ^[29]
• Azhar Kubba
• Bahir Hashem Al Rajab
• Basil al-Jarrah
• Ghazi Mahsub al-Azzawi
• Hugi Salih Rahmain Pataw (1848–1933) ^[30]
• 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-) ^[31]
• 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-) ^[32][33][34]
• Yusuf Badros Aslan (1844–1929)
• Yusuf Hugi Pataw (1886–1976) ^[30]

Greece

Plyers of the Greek Santouri include:

• Aristidis Moschos
• Areti Ketime

India

Players on the Indian santour include:

• Rahul Sharma
• Shivkumar Sharma

Japan

• Dr. Masato Tani^[35]

Germany

• (Dr. Bee Seavers) disciple of Pt. Shivkumar Sharma^[36]

Santurs 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 is played and has been used by a number of classical composers, including Zoltán Kodály, Igor Stravinsky and Pierre Boulez, and more recently, in a different musical context, by Blue Man Group. The khim is the name of both the Thai and the Khmer hammered dulcimer. The Chinese yangqin is a type of hammered dulcimer that originated in Persia. The santur and santoor are found in the Middle East and India, respectively.

See also

• Persian traditional music
• Maqam al-iraqi

Gallery

• Santur related pictures
• 
  Ali Bahrami-Fard playing in Vahdat Hall
• 
  Chalghi Santur Player playing on a non-standard Iraqi Santur
• 
  Santur Hand Position
• Santur Technique Video.theora

References

1. 1 2 Farrokh, Kaveh (2007). Shadows in the desert : ancient Persia at war (1. publ. in Great Britain ed.). Oxford, UK: Osprey. p. 286. ISBN 9781846031083. 
2. ↑ "Santur is a hammered dulcimer, consisting of a trapezoidal box with horizontal strings, played with oval shaped featherweight mallets known as mezrab.". Art Max Academy. 
3. ↑ --- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻUmmāl al-Markazīyya.
4. ↑ 'Music of the Arabs' ISBN 0-931340-88-8
5. ↑ "Bass strings made of Brass or Copper". Art Max Academy. 
6. ↑ "Different kinds of Steel exist". Art Max Academy. 
7. ↑ Kenrick, Donald (2010). The A to Z of the Gypsies (Romanies). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8108-7561-6. 
8. ↑ --- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻUmmāl al-Markazīyya.
9. ↑ Lyres of Ur
10. ↑ --- Touma, Habib Hassan (1996). The Music of the Arabs. Amadeus Press.
11. ↑ Kiani, Majid. "Master of the Santur". Santur Master, Teacher & Performer. 
12. ↑ Khan, Mohammad Sadeq. "One of the oldest Santur Masters". Master of the Santur. 
13. ↑ Shahi, Ali Akbar. "Santur master". Old school santur player. 
14. ↑ Khan, Hassan. "Santur Master". Old school Santur Master. 
15. ↑ Malek, Hussein. "Santur master". Old School Santur Master. 
16. ↑ Somai, Habib. "santur master". Old school Santur master. 
17. ↑ Varzandeh, Reza. "Santur Master". Unique Style of Playing. 
18. ↑ Shafieian, Reza. "Saba's Student". Santur Master. 
19. ↑ Sarami, Mansur. "Santur Master". Old School Santur player. 
20. ↑ Shaari, Masoud. "Santur Master". Old School Santur Master. 
21. ↑ Khan, Mohammad Santour. "Oldest Santur Master that we have proof of". Master of the Santur.  Missing or empty |url= (help)
22. ↑ Safvat, Daryoush. "Santur Master". Old school Santur master. 
23. ↑ Akhbari, Jalal. "Old School Santur Master". Master of the Santur. 
24. ↑ Arfa, Atrai. "Santur Player". Santur Soloist. 
25. ↑ Hashemi, Azar. "Female Santur Player". Santur Soloist. 
26. ↑ Aslani, Susan. "Female Santur Player". Santur Soloist. 
27. ↑ Ali Pour, Manijeh. "Female Santur Player". Old School Santur Player. 
28. ↑ Al-Hanafi, Jalal (1964). Al-Mughannūn al-Baghdādīyyūn wa al-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī. Baghdad: Wizarat al-Irshad.
29. ↑ http://amirelsaffar.com/
30. 1 2 http://www.dangoor.com/72page41.html
31. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/santourmzdarwish/mohamedzakidarwish
32. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7BlsQAud0
33. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8teLR50E1Q8
34. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmOc7nUR4Hg
35. ↑ Tani, Dr. Masato. "Japanese Santour Player". Ethnomusicology. 
36. ↑ [http:www.shantiniketan.eu Pt. Shivkumar Sharma]

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. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.
• Children's Book of Music' ISBN 978-0-7566-6734-4

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. ISBN 0-89003-158-4
• 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.
• Heydarian, P.; J.D. Reiss (2005). "The Persian music and the santur instrument" (PDF). Proceedings of Sixth International Conference on Music Information Retrieval, London, UK. 11. pp. 524–527. 
• 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. ISBN 3-11-014809-9.
• Kilmer, Anne (2001). "Mesopotamia §8(ii)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie 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 [s.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[artin]. L[itchfiel]. (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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Santur.

• Santur - The Art of Persian Music
• The Persian music and the santur instrument
• Santur introduction in American Lutherie magazine
• Nay-Nava Encyclopedia entry on the santur
• Dr. Ümit Mutlu's information on the santur (in Turkish)
• Santur history (in Turkish)
• The Iraqi Santur