Middle East and Mediterranean fiddle
This large and complex area, incorporating many different countries, cultures and traditions, is as musically rich and diverse as its people. Whilst the violin is deeply rooted in many of these traditions, it has to share living space with many of its more exotic cousins, notably the rebab, kemanche and lyra.
Rebab
Of these the rebab (or rebap, rabab, rababah or al-rababa depending
on your point of view) is probably the oldest, dating at least
as far back as the 8th Century, when it was found in Arabia and
Persia. It is almost certainly the direct ancestor of the European
violin. Islamic trading routes helped to spread it over much of
North Africa, the Middle and Far East from the 10th Century onwards.
Tunisian Rebab
Though many variations exist, the rebab consists of a small, usually rounded body, the front of which is covered in a membrane such as parchment or sheepskin. There is a long thin neck with a pegbox at the end and there are one, two or three strings. There is no fingerboard. The instrument is held upright, either resting on the lap or on the floor. There is often a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground; for this reason it is often referred to as a spike fiddle. The bow is usually more curved than that of the violin. The more sophisticated versions have a wooden soundbox and the front may be half covered with beaten copper, half with goatskin. An ornately carved Javanese version forms part of the gamelan orchestra, whilst simpler models such as the 2-string Egyptian "fiddle of the Nile" may have a body made of half a coconutshell.
Indonesian Rebab
The rebab was adopted as a key instrument in the serious classical
music of the Arabs, along with such instruments as the oud (classic
arab lute), the ney (end-blown flute) and various percussion instruments.
Much arab music is based on the style developed in Andalucia during
the Muslim occupation of Spain around 1000 years ago, and includes
instrumental passages, usually with a strong element of improvisation,
alternating with sung poetry. Improvisations or taksim are based
on a complex system of modes and rhythms. The melodic modes or
maqamat have different combinations of 24 possible quarter notes,
and each has its own mood, often associated with particular feelings
or seasons. One hundred and eleven rhythmic patterns or iquala
can be used; the simplest of these is the rajaz, based on the
rhythm of a camel's hooves on the sand.. It is said that drum
beats were used to keep the camels mesmerised throughout a long
trip across the desert- at journey's end the drums would stop
and the camels would drop down dead
The rebab became a favourite instrument of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, and could be heard everywhere from the palace to the tea house.. The arab orchestra or group uses many drones, unisons and parallel octaves, giving a stirring, powerful sound, but it is mostly modal with little in the way of chordal movement. The rebab, though valued for its voice-like tone, has a very limited range (little over an octave), and was gradually replaced throughout much of the arab world by the violin and kemanche.
The Kemenche (Kamanche,Kemence,
Kemange, Kamanjeh, Kamancheh...take your pick!) is thought to
have developed in Iran; its name is derived from two Persian words
Keman (violin) and Ce (small).
Like the rebab, it is held upright, has a body ranging from circular
to an elongate boat shape and has been adopted and widely disseminated
by the arabs. The main difference from the rebab is that it has
a proper fingerboard like a violin, making accurate intonation
rather easier. It has three or four strings, giving it an extra
range and versatility. It is quiet compared to the violin, with
a taut, nasal sound. The close proximity of the strings allows
double stopping, and drones, trills and other embellishments are
widely used. It is often played in arab orchestras alongside either
the rebab or violin, or sometimes both. The Kemenche is found in Iran, Azrbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and central Asia
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| Munis Sharifov, Kemanche professor at National Conservatory of Baku, Azerbaijan | John Vartan with Armenian Kemenche |
In Ottoman classical music it is called the Klassikkemenche, though confusingly the Greeks refer to the same instrument as the Constantinople lyra or Politiki lyra. Originally a folk instrument, this was introduced to the art music of the Ottomans by the Greek gypsy musician and composer Vasilaki in the 19th Century. This is a small instrument, and because it does not have a nut, the middle string is longer than the other two and the fingering starts in a different position
Headless person with Black Sea Fiddle
The kemenche has a particularly strong place
in Iran, where since the Islamic revolution in 1979 it is seen
as representing traditional values, as opposed to the more decedent
and westernised violin. This Persian Kamenche has a round body,
a long neck, and four strings; in shape, in fact, it looks far
more like a rebab.
The Kemenche is also important in the Pontic areas of the Black
Sea (settled by the ancient Greeks). Here a long 3-stringed version,
usually tuned in fourths; GDA or AEB, is called the Black Sea
Fiddle, Pontic Lyra or Karadeziz Kemencesi The extensive use of
double -stopped parallel 4ths is an important feature of the playing
of this instrument, with lots of trills on the upper notes. The
strings are pressed straight down onto the fingerboard like a
violin, making this much
easier to play than most of the other lyras and kemenches, despite
being held upside down on the knee.
The music tends to be fast and energetic, with tunes in 4/4, 5/4,
7/8 and 9/8.
Cretan Lyra
On the Greek island of Crete, the lyra (pronounced lee-rah, and
nothing to do with a lyre!) has become something of a national
symbol. It has a small, pear-shaped body and a very short neck.
Constructed of mulberry wood, ivy or wild pear, it has two semicircular
sound holes or "eyes". It looks in fact very similar
to the Bulgarian gadulka, but does not usually have the sympathetic
strings.
The Lyra
is played upright, usually supported on the knee, where it is
rotated as the player changes from one string to another. The
three strings are pressed from the side with the fingernails,
and are not pressed onto the fingerboard. This allows for a great
deal of slipping and sliding between notes, giving the lyra a
distinctive edge to what is otherwise a very fiddle-like sound.
It is usually tuned GDA, and traditionally most of the melody
was played on the first (top) string, the other two being used
for drones or parallel harmonies. The convex bow often has small
bells attached to it to provide rhythmic accompaniment to the
melody. The bow strokes are usually short , rhythmic and mostly
at the tip, by comparison with the longer, more fluid bowing of
the Turkish Kemanche.
Cretan Lyra by M. Stagakis, 1981
Probably the most famous lyra player was the late Kostas Moundakis; one of the best known players today is one of his former students, the remarkable Ross Daly who, despite the obvious disadvantage of his Irish descent, has settled in Greece and mastered not only the lyra but also the kemence, rebab and a whole menagerie of other exotic Mediterranean instruments. He brings together many of the traditions described above in ambitious and absorbing compositions of what he calls "contemporary modal music...musical voyages beyond multicultural fashions..."
Ross daly
Confused?
Having read this far you are probably thoroughly confused about
what is a rebab, what is a Kemenche, and what is a lyra, and whether
or not you tell just by looking at them...You may even come across
the term spike fiddle which may include almost any of these. Happily
I can report that even the experts (and you can count me out here!)
seem equally confused. Suffice it to say that there seems to be
no consistency in the naming, classifying, or indeed spelling
of this family of instruments.
The European violin, finally, finds a place
alongside its more primitive cousins, having been brought to Egypt
during Napoleon's campaigns and to Constantinople by professional
Greek and gypsy musicians. It has been adapted to suit the modal
nature of arab music by an extensive range of retunings (in Iran,
for example, ADAD, GDGD, GDAD and EDAE are all common) Playing
is often highly ornamented with slides,
double stops, wide vibrato, open drones and so on, and whilst
the violin is sometimes played under the chin, it may also be
played upright, as in Morocco or sometimes Turkey.
There is an interesting and unusual tuning widely used in Greek and Turkish violin music, called Çifte Telli (or Tsifte Telli). It is a GgDd tuning, and involves crossing the middle strings both above the nut and below the bridge. To achieve this, the middle strings are first loosened, then without removing either string from the pegs, they are swapped into each other's notch in the nut, The same is done at the bridge end , again without removing the strings, so that the strings swap notches in the bridge. This leaves two X's where the strings cross above the nut and below the bridge.. The G string remains on G; the next string is tuned to G an octave higher; the next string agin becomes a D, and the top string A D an octave higher.
By double-stopping the 1st and 2nd or 3rd and 4th strings an octave can be played, giving a distinctly oriental sound. Double-stopping the 2nd and 3rd strings gives an unusual harmony of parallel 4ths- a very primordial sound on which Black Sea fiddle music is based.
The name of this tuning Çifte Telli is Turkish for "double strings". It appears in Klezmer as tsvei shtriens (two strings), and also features in gypsy and Romanian fiddling.
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