A khananda ( ; ; alternative spellings in English: khanende, khanande, khanandeh) is a name generally given to singers of

mugham Mugham () or Mughamat () is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is an art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is a modal system. ...

, an

Azeri Azeri or Azeri Turk may refer to: * Azeri people, an ethnic group also known as Azerbaijanis * Citizens of Azerbaijan * Azeri language, the modern-day Turkic language * Old Azeri, an extinct Iranian language * Azeri Turk (journal), Academic jour ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

genre. The word is of Persian origin and means "singer". When performing traditional mugham, a khananda is accompanied by a trio of musicians who play the

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black b ...

, the

kamancheh The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (, , , ) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. Th ...

and the

daf Daf (), also known as dâyere and riq, is an Iranian frame drum musical instrument, also used in popular and classical music in Persian-influenced South and Central Asia, such as in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, many ...

(tambourine). Often the khananda is the daf-player.

Origins and development

The exact origins of the art of khanandas have not been studied thoroughly however it is likely that it emerged during the urbanization in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

epoch. In the growing cities, khanandas would perform at the events organized by the nobility, on weddings and

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

s, in

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

s and

tea house A teahouse or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel, especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment that only ser ...

s. With

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

being the main language of the local literature at the time (mugham lyrics were based on Classical

Islamic poetry Islamic poetry is a form of spoken word written & recited by Muslims. Islamic poetry, and notably Sufi poetry, has been written in many languages including Urdu poetry, Urdu and Turkish poetry, Turkish. Genres of Islamic poetry include Ginans, de ...

), khanandas used it in their performance and therefore gained popularity mostly among the

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

. Small town and village-dwellers to whom the Persian language was alien preferred the music of the

ashig An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, აშუღი) is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as '' hikaye'') or a shorter original composition—with a long-necked l ...

s (traveling bards singing in a

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

language, i.e. Azeri). Classical khanandas followed a specific dress code which included a

chokha A chokha, or ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; also known as a cherkeska, is a woolen coat (clothing), coat with a high neck that is part of the traditional male dress of peoples of the Caucasus. It was in wide use among Avars (Caucasus), Avars, ...

, an arkhalig, an

astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

cap (papag), rings and a belt decorated with

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. Some would even decorate their musical instruments depending on their status and prominence. Khanandas would traditionally gather in salons known as ''majlis-i khananda''.Khananda
. ''Axtar.az'' The art of khanandas experienced its peak in the 19th and the early 20th century. Starting from this period mughams were also widely sung in Azeri – a practice introduced by

Jabbar Garyagdioglu Jabbar Garyagdioglu or Garyaghdyoglu ( pronounced ) (31 March 1861 – 20 April 1944) was an Azerbaijani folk singer (khananda). He is known as the first khananda to perform mughamats in the Azeri language. He mostly sang in Azerbaijani language ...

. Being home to most of Azerbaijan's renowned classical musicians, the city of

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

became the main cultural centre of Azeri folk music and the arts often referred to as the "conservatory of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

". While traditionally khandadas were trained privately, in the 1870s a Shushavian khananda

Kharrat Gulu Karbalayi Gulu Mahammad oghlu ; 1823–1883) was a musicologist, poet, founder of music school in Shusha. Biography The founder of music school in Shusha, musicologist Karbalayi Gulu was born in 1823. Kharrat Gulu used to attract young people ...

established the first school of mugham where future singers would undergo professional training. A khananda who was required to have no less than a two-octave

voice range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of study ...

would be tested on the knowledge of mugham subgenres, including their vocal performance, as well as classical poetry. If a khananda's specialization included playing an instrument he or she would be required to demonstrate proficiency in both solo and accompanied performance. A khananda who successfully passed the exam gained the title of ''ustad'' ("master").The Art of Mugham
by Sanubar Baghirli Starting from the late 1800s khanandas started acting in Azeri theatres incorporating mugham into musical plays. In the past decades a practice of khananda duets has been introduced in Azerbaijan.

References

{{reflist Music of Azerbaijan

Origins and development

See also

References