The classical

music of Afghanistan The music of Afghanistan comprises many varieties of classical music, folk music, and modern popular music. Afghanistan has a rich musical heritage and features a mix of Persian melodies, Indian compositional principles, and sounds from ethn ...

is called klasik, which includes both instrumental (

rāga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

s, naghmehs) and vocal forms (

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

s).Doubleday, pg. 3 Many ''ustad'', or professional musicians, are descended from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n artists who emigrated to the royal court in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

in the 1860s upon the invitation of Amir Sher Ali Khan.Mikalina These north Indian musicians use Hindustani terminology and structures.Doubleday, pg. 3''Many of the Kabuli professional 'master musicians' (known as ''ustad'') are directly descended from musicians who came from India to play at the Afghan court in the 1860s. They maintain cultural and personal ties with India -- through discipleship or inter-marriage -- and they use the Hindustani musical theories and terminology, for example raga (melodic form) and ''tala'' (rhythmic cycle).'' (all emphasis in original) Afghan ragas, in contrast to Indian ones, tend to be more focused on rhythm, and are usually played with the

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

, imported from India, or the native zerbaghali, daireh or

dohol A dohol () is a large cylindrical drum with two skinheads. It is generally struck on one side with a wooden stick bowed at the end, and with a large thin stick on the other side, though it is also played with the bare hands. It is the principal a ...

, all percussive instruments. An important characteristic of the Afghan ghazal is that, unlike the Indian talas and

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

s it is based on, Afghan ghazal features the "repetitive use of fast instrumental sections interpolated between units of text", an element derived from Pashtun music. Afghan ghazal is viewed as a "light-classical" form of

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several ...

, which uses Persian texts consisting of a series of rhyming

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

s, many written by spiritual poets like Bedil, Sa'adi and

Hafez (), known by his pen name Hafez ( or 'the keeper'; 1325–1390) or Hafiz, “Ḥāfeẓ” designates someoone who has learned the Qurʾān by heart" also known by his nickname Lisan al-Ghaib ('the tongue of the unseen'), was a Persian lyri ...

Notes

References

* Baily, John. "Music of Afghanistan: Professional Musicians in the City of Herat". 1988. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Baily, John. "The naghma-ye kashal of Afghanistan". 1997. ''British Journal of Ethnomusicology'', Vol. 6, pp 117–163. * Baily, John. "A System of Modes Used in the Urban Music of Afghanistan". ''Ethnomusicology'', Vol. 25, No 1, pp 1–39. *Doubleday, Veronica. "Red Light at the Crossroads". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 3–8. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. * {{Portal bar, Afghanistan, Music Music of Afghanistan Classical music in Afghanistan Classical and art music traditions

See also

Notes

References