Kamancheh

Art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh/Kamancha, a bowed string musical instrument
	UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Country	Azerbaijan and Iran
Reference	01286
Inscription history
Inscription	2017 (13th session)
List	Representative

Kamancheh
	Persian Kamānches, ca. 1880
String instrument
Other names	Kamancha, Kamanche, Kemancheh, Kamanjah, Kabak kemane
Classification	Bowed strings
Developed	Iran
Playing range
	g3-e7
Related instruments
	Kemancheh Tarhu; Shahkaman; Ghaychak; Rebab; Sorahi; Kemenche;
Musicians
	Sayat Nova; Ali-Asghar Bahari; Kayhan Kalhor; Ardeshir Kamkar; Saeed Farajpouri; Habil Aliev; Mehdi Bagheri;
Builders
	Ebrahim Ghanbari Mehr; Bayyaz Amir-Ataaie; Saeed Maleki; Qodratollah Kurdi; Emad Kosari;

Short description: Iranian bowed string instrument

The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (Persian: کمانچه, Azerbaijani: kamança, Armenian: քամանչա, Kurdish: کەمانچە ,kemançe) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian,^[1] Azerbaijani,^[2] Armenian,^[3] Kurdish,^[4] Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument.^[5]^[6] The kamancheh is related to the rebab which is the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and the bowed Byzantine lyra.^[7] 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.^[8]

Name and etymology

The word "kamancheh" means "little bow" in Persian (kæman, bow, and -cheh, diminutive).^[9] 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.^[10]

Structure

The kamancheh has a long neck including fingerboard which kamancheh maker shapes it as a truncated inverse cone for easy bow moving in down section, pegbox in both side of which four pegs are placed, and finial^[11] 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.^[6]

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

Kamancha on the Armenian miniature, XVI or XVII century.
Qajar Iran miniature of a woman playing the kamancheh.
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.^[12]
Woman playing kamancheh, ca. 1820.
The Armenian ashugh Sayat-Nova playing a kamanacheh, ca. 1964.
Azerbaijani kamancheh player Malik Mansurov.
Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall, Tehran, 2016.
Kamancheh player, Kermanshah, Iran, 2008.
Kamancha player, Yerevan.