THE CLASSIFICATION OF REPERTOIRE IN BAKHSHI’S     

TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Hessam Habibi

I N T R O D U C T I O N

     The ethnonym "bakhshi" first occurred in historical sources as late as the eighth to tenth  centuries but the complex ethnogenetic process affecting the nation's history started much earlier.

      The beginning of the present millennium saw vast migrations of nomads, including Turkic tribes, from North-Eastern Asia towards Central Asia. Part of those tribes remained in Central Asia, mixing with the native population (Azarpay G. 1983). The Central Asian Turkic population grew markedly after the sixth century. Thereafter, these tribes became increasingly essential to the processes of ethno- and glotto-genesis, especially in the northern and north-eastern regions of Central Asia. (Albright C.F. 1976)

     Bakhshi’s music is most of all a vocal art, its repertoire made up mainly of a huge number of songs performed by a male singer (bakhshi) using the dotār (a two-stringed long-necked lute) for accompaniment. Sometimes the singers use a second dotār and in northern, eastern and western Turkmenistan also the ghidjak ( a spike-fiddle). The 1930s saw the emergence of the female bakhshi, a product of the propaganda advocating women's rights. Still, there have been very few women performers, mainly because of the lack of the requisite voice quality. (Blum R. S. 1972)

    The set of instruments used by the Turkmen musicians is very small. It includes three professional instruments: the dotār, the ghidjak and the garghy taydak (a long end-blown flute) as well as the dilli taydaik (a small shepherd's single-need pipe) and the qopuz (a jew's harp). The two most widely used professional instruments are the dotār which is looked upon as the instrument most characteristic of the Turkmens, and the ghidjak, whereas the garghy ttiydtik belongs to the group of instruments which are ever more rarely used. Another characteristic feature of the Turkmen use of instruments is the total absence of drums and of dances. Drums are only used in some eastern regions of Turkmenia partly inhabited by Uzbeks.

DOTĀR AND THE MUSIC OF BAKHSHI

      The dotār ( tamdra, dutār ) is a long-necked two-string lute. The pear-shaped body is 38 centimeters[1] long and made of mulberry timber, while the round and narrow neck of the instrument, whose length is equal to that of the body, is made of apricot (zard’ālu, in Turkish  ürük). The total length of the instrument, including the tuning-peg box which is 5 centimeters long is 89[2] centimeters. The strings, tuned in fourths, used to be of silk and are now made of metal. The sound of the dotār even when it has metal strings (the silken ones began to disappear in the twenties and thirties of the present century) is extremely gentle and soft. The prevailing trend among the Turkmen instrument-builders is to make louder, large-sized instruments. In Turkmenistan Electric dotārs are popular, especially with junior bakhshi.( Baily J. 1976)

     A dotār neck has eleven ,twelve or thirteen frets, or parde, which are tied to the neck. In the past the individual frets had their own names which began to disappear as early as the time when Uspenski did his research work in the area. Slobin, referring to Uspenski's findings (Slobin, Mark 1976) quotes only two general terms describing not the individual frets but their groups: the first five frets were called bäsh parde, and the seven rearmost ones shirvan parde. According to this same source there used to be a separate term for the sixth fret. lal or zarin parde (the latter being in all likelihood an erroneous term).[3] The distance between the individual parde of a dotār is equivalent to that of a semitone, except for the whole-tone the distance between the twelfth and thirteenth parde. All this forms a chromatic scale.

      My findings indicate that the names of some other pardes of the dotār are still used. Listed below are terms describing all thirteen frets, as quoted by A. Ahmedov (1983:23). The underlined terms have been identified in the course of my own research.

                                  I. The frets and scale of the dotār:

     Movable tuning is the most characteristic feature of the manner of playing the dotār. At the start of a performance the bakhshi chooses the lowest tuning possible by adjusting the register to the lowest register of his own voice. During the performance the tuning is gradually raised, the successive returns by quarter tone or semitone being done after the performance of one or two songs. The successive adjustments of the tuning are welcomed by the audience, anticipating the progress to a higher level of emotional atmosphere. The frequent adjustment of the tuning is believed to be an important criterion for judging the skills of a particular bakhshi as well as a typical element found in their performance. Movable tuning is used in precisely this same manner in performing the instrumental repertoire.[5]

       Turkmen vocal music, which represents both the source and the core of the whole tradition, is not homogeneous. There are good reasons to believe that in the past each large ethnic or territorial entity had its distinctive style of musical performance.  An interpretation of the differences found among the present-day individual musical styles in terms of their ethnic properties can hardly be provided.( Blum R. S. 1972) The mixing of tribal traditions has resulted in the obliteration of numerous differences which, according to The mixing of tribal traditions has resulted in the obliteration of numerous differences which, according to my research maybe can be divided into the following five currently existing styles or schools: 1. The Ghuchān school of northeastern Khorasan, representing a combination of elements found in the styles characteristic of the Turk, Kurmaji and Fārs tribes. 2. The Ashkhabad school of Southern Turkmenistan which emerged from the style of the Turkmen tribe. 3. The Daregaz school northeastern of Ghuchān exemplifying the style of the Turkmen tribe.  4. The Shirvān  school of northwest of Ghuchān which emerged as a combination of the Kurmanji and Turkmen styles. 5. Bojnord school of western Shirvān, drawing upon just the style of the Kurmanji.

            The music of the bakhshi is firmly linked to the recitation of dāstān (long narrative songs). Each bakhshi has in his repertoire one or more (sometimes as many as ten) dāstāns. The most general but extremely characteristic feature of the turk style is a theatrical manner of performance intended to render the text more appealin. The style of the bakhshi is also highly vigorous: very fast tempi of the performances prevail.  In  Turkmenistan songs performed are mainly those whose lyrics are rhymed dāstān texts and texts of classical native poems. That the purely musical aspects of the bakhshi performances have become an independent realm of  art has resulted in the emergence of some special properties of the southern style. Generally speaking these include its contemplative mood, which is conspicuous especially in the Shirvān school, as well as the markedly slower tempi. Some bakhshis making up the rendition of the northern theatrical style are replaced by peculiar emotion-filled looks and gestures.

       Apart from these general characteristics, an essential distinctive feature of style is also the vocal technique, which undoubtedly represents one of the more interesting phenomena found more in Turkmen music. Bakhshi identify three major types of sound effects performed between the individual stanzas or lines of the lyrics. These are intended to increase emotional tension and also offer opportunities to demonstrate the singer's vocal skills.( Blum R. S. 1972)

         The manner in which the effects are produced represents an important criterion which serves to distinguish between individual musical styles. The djuk-djuk[6] (the proper term being djukguldamak ) is a vocalization using the vowels "i" or "a" depending upon the school of performance. A sound vocalized in this way is produced with a number of brief stops with one breath, the articulation involving rapid contractions and releases of the larynx suggesting the effect of swallowing. The khälemek is the singing featuring  just one syllable, kha, in the low register. This produces a hoarse sound whose pitch is either indefinite or difficult to define. The khäimlemek is a hoarse and stifled sound produced in the low register with the singer's mouth closed. The employment of these sound production devices is essential to the creation of the performance atmosphere and varies in the different Turkmen schools of musical performance. [7]

      The style or school of musical performance represents a set of norms specifying the properties of musical expression typical of the local community. What needs stressing though is that the mental, emotional, and artistic individuality of the singer is most essential to the final form of musical performance, an important feature of the Turkmen tradition, hence the pronounced differences found among individual performers belonging to one stylistic tradition. [8]

       This paper is mainly concerned with the manner in which the repertoire of bakhshi music is arranged, or more specifically, the principles governing the internal grouping of the set of songs performed by the bakhshi. My findings demonstrate that bakhshi performances are governed by general but strictly observed rules defining the order in which the individual groups of compositions are supposed to appear during a concert. The question of arrangement is linked in a natural way to that of the system of notions concerning the criteria for classification of the repertoire. (Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990)

      Bakhshi’s music has never been dealt with in native theoretical studies, and the relevant professional terms have been orally passed from one generation to another. Consequently, to provide a description of the entire system requires arduous and prolonged ethnomusicological study, especially since the information supplied by the bakhshi reveals numerous differences in the interpretation of facts, terms, and notions. The information on which this article is based was obtained from a large number of bakhshi in the course of fieldwork conducted in northern Khorasan between 2001 – 2011 I would also like to stress that the article is to be thought of only as a work in progress.

        The family feast, or toy (Wedding), is bakhshi's major occasion for music making. (Albright C.F. 1976 ) Music making is an obligatory component of the wedding, a major family celebration. Musical performance is also part of occasions marking the birth of a child, its circumcision, the rite of clipping its hair, a person's birthday ( in Turkmen tradition especially the 62nd birthday of men, corresponding to the Prophet Muhammad's age at his death). It is only on the occasion of a death that music-making and singing are not allowed.

        Family celebrations are attended by huge numbers of invited guests, including one closest relatives as well as friends and acquaintances. The toy begins with a lavish feast that is followed in the late hours of the evening by a long bakhshi concert which lasts until the next dawn. The scenario of the musical feast is similar to that of the toy: an obligatory meal followed by listening to music.

      A bakhshi is the principal actor of both the sāz (dotār) kalām (vocal and narration). The term bakhshi refers to a singer, instrumentalist, or teller of tales. That the bakhshi enjoys a special status in the Turkmen community may be accounted for by pointing to the position the bakhshi used to have in the past as shaman. The word bakhshi still refers to individuals looked upon as shamans among other Turkic peoples, such as the Kazakhs, the Kirgiz, and the Uighurs. Some customs and beliefs linked to the bakhshi are still found. For instance they are generally thought of as the heralds of good news who also bring good luck to those on whom they call: boys born during such visits are given the artist's name. Also reminiscent of the shamanic tradition, apart from music, are several elements of the ancient bakhshi routine still found in the discipline some artists continue to impose upon themselves in terms of food, daily routines, and the choice of seclusion before a performance.( Blum R. S. 1972)

     The art of bakhshi is a highly professional skill that is acquired in the course of an extensive, almost ten year education provided by the master. Having completed his education a disciple receives the master's blessing (Bakhshesh), thus acquiring the right to appear independently before an audience. It is generally believed that an important criterion for assessing the skills of a particular bakhshi is the number of songs he can perform, which must not be smaller than 100; some singers have as many as 200 or 300 songs in their repertoire. The bakhshi is expected to have a fine and strong voice. He should always control it least his singing turn into screaming at the most difficult points. This last requirement is very hard to fulfill, for the Turks tradition is marked by its strong preference for a particular vocal timbre and the expectation that the singer should often produce very high pitches. Another important aspect of the evaluation of a bakhshi's skills is the artist's ability to develop his unique artistic individuality as opposed to the undesirable, unimaginative imitation of his master's style and manner. It is believed that very few top bakhshi virtuosos can arrive at the climax of their performance gradually and slowly in a "round-about" or "indirect" manner.( Blum R. S. 1972)

        There are two categories of Turks bakhshi: the dāstānchy bakhshi and tirmechy bakhshi. The former group's specialization is in the telling of the dāstāns. The tirmechy bakhshi ("the collectors") perform songs whose lyrics are poems of classical poets and the rhymed parts of the dāstāns. Despite the presence of these specializations, the repertoire of the bakhshi coming from the different regions of Turkmenistan show but minor differences. As stated earlier, the style of performance is the principal area of individual and vocal stylistic distinctiveness.( Blum R. S. 1972)

      A bakhshi concert is a multi-hour musical presentation of several dozen songs spontaneously arranged in a series. The spontaneity, freedom, and sometimes even uniqueness of the performance represent the most essential aspects of the bakhshi's musical creation. This holds true both for the selection of songs within a particular concert and for the general atmosphere of the concert, which is determined by the temper and the current mood of the bakhshi. However, the fascinating uniqueness of the creation provided by the individual bakhshi never reaches beyond the specific framework within which musical events are arranged in a particular sequence irrespective of the artist's belonging to one or another school of performance or his artistic individuality. What is must adhered to are the rules defining the evolution of the emotional realm of the concert, which is always devised in consonance with the principle of a gradual increase of tension leading to a final climax. Each performance has its internal and recurrent scenario. The substance of the scenario correlates with the number and nature of the phases leading to the climax.( Blum R. S. 1972)

    Bakhshi identify three phases of musical presentation: initial, middle and final. Phase 1 is an introduction, a prelude, and conveys no "emotional" message, special religious message.[9] This stage of the concert is supposed to make the listeners concentrate due to the expressive rendition of the lyrics of the song, which in most cases are concerned with existential questions and convey some kind of moral instruction. Since the purpose of this stage of the performance is to make the listeners reflect on and contemplate the message behind the lyrics, the artist is supposed to refrain from excessive gesticulation and an unlimited show of his vocal abilities. The duration of phase 1 is not very strict determined by the projected duration of the whole performance: the longer the evening, the longer the initial phase.

The second, middle phase of the concert is the most elaborate stage of the performance. The emotional atmosphere here is totally different from phase 1. The bakhshi "is on his way," i..e. begins to create his unique and highly personal air of artistic expression. In the Turkmen region the songs whose performance usually involves the bakhshi's "finding his way" are called yol (literally meaning "way" or "style" in musical terms). According to the bakhshi Ilman Annaev from the district of Telman, in the province of Tashauz the yol category may only include the songs performed in phases 2 or 3 of the concert and never those belonging to phase 1. As the artist "plunges into music," the performance gradually becomes an unrestrained show of his masterly use of the vocal techniques which, with time, begin to eclipse the actual substance of the song. Characteristic of this phase is the presence of numerous compositions whose lyrics are based upon the rhymed texts of the dāstāns.

Phase 3 of the concert represents a climax of the process. At this stage the ecstatic bakhshi and his sound become almost inextricable. Moreover, the sound dominates the content of the song to the point that the latter becomes merely a pretext for the revelation of the entire depth of the artist's emotion. Phase 3 of the bakhshi performance is relatively short and includes a special pieces.(Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990)

        Three zones of tonal space (low, middle and high) are also characteristic of vocal register in the Turk tradition and represent the counterpart of the three phases of emotional progress found in the course of the bakhshi concert. Obviously the concepts of tonal space and register are relative; their actual meaning are very much a function of the qualities and vocal capabilities of the individual singers. The low zone of the tonal space (the lowest register of the bakhshi voice) is made use of in phase 1 of the concert. In phases 2 and 3 musical action is shifted respectively to the middle and high zones (the middle and high vocal register)[10]

        The question of establishing song groups and defining the location of songs in tonal space involves numerous remarkable facts about the structure and texture of performance. The group of the lowest songs is characterized most of all by the relaxation of the vocal apparatus. Some bakhshi contend that the songs "come out of their mouths" while the throat remains lax. Essential to the performance of this group of pieces is the aforementioned limited use of ornamental means and sound effects (djuk-djuk, khalemek,etc.) as well as the emotional restraint the bahkshi exercises.

      The low songs are usually quite short and the Turk bakhshi regard them as rather uncomplicated in terms of structure. Nor do they confront the artist with major problems where vocal technique is concerned. This explain why the bakhshi's education always begin with them. The songs belonging to the middle register require the characteristic tension of the vocal apparatus; some bakhshi insist that they "come out from the throat". Pieces in this group are in most cases more complicated in terms of form and also longer than low register songs. It is in performing the middle songs that the entire gamut of the vocal skills of the bakhshi is fully revealed. This holds true especially for the skillful use of sound effects, which in the course of the second phase of the concert become increasingly expressive, This accounts for the growing density of the texture of pieces in this group.( Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990)

      The songs of the high register performed in the third and the final phase of the bakhshi concert are said to be of special importance to the Turkmen musical tradition. These confront the singer with all but impossible technical hurdles a male voice can hardly take. These problems stem from the necessity of producing very high sounds, magnified by the bakhshi consciously seeking to increase the tension in the vocal apparatus to attain the desirable timbre.( Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990) According to some bakhshi, the sound in the high songs "comes out from the brain and pervades the whole of the body," thus filling the artist with profound psycho-physiological satisfaction. The major property of the high songs is the intensity of the emotional saturation the bakhshi should adequately demonstrate using all the means of vocal technique he possesses. It is also the performance of the high songs that involves outstanding opportunities for a bakhshi to earn the reputation of a vocal virtuoso, the quality which is commonly perceived in Turkmenistan to be a token of ecstatic artistic perfection. It should also be noted that the frequent employment of sound effects, non-semantic insertions, exclamations, etc. distorts the transparency of the form built into the poetic texts. The group of high songs which makes up the final part of the bakhshi performance includes a number of pieces acting as a clue to the audience that the concert is definitely hearing the close. Having heard this "coda," the listeners cannot insist on the continuation of the performance. The failure to observe this rule is looked upon as a sign of disrespect for the bakhshi, whose choice to perform one of the "final songs" is intended to signal his fatigue to the listeners.( Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990) [11]

        These three tunings correspond to the three aforementioned zones of the tonal space, the three vocal registers and the three groups of songs performed in the three phases of the bakhshi concert. Just as in the case of the vocal registers, no precise boundaries of the applicability of the individual tunings of the dotār have been established. The tripartite composition of the tonal space and its consequences for the structure of the Turkmen repertoire are reflected in the system of arrangement of the pardes on the dotār's neck. The neck of the instrument has three parts: low, middle and high. The upper boundary of the low part is the fifth (or according to some musicians, the seventh) parde. The upper boundary of the middle part is the seventh (or as other informants insist, the tenth) parde. The remaining pardes belong to the high part.

Corresponding to each part of the neck, i.e. to each group of the pardes, the low, the middle and high are the three corresponding song groups. According to the well-known bakhshi Roshan Golafrouz, the arrangement has the following implication in performing the songs with the low tuning only the first five pardes are used. The next song group requires the use of seven frets. The third group involves the employment of all the pardes with the seven rearmost frets being crucial to the performance.

        II. The Classification of the bakhshi’s Repertory:

      The definition of the location of the songs on the dotār neck represents the final aspect of a general typology devised according to a qualitative criterion which corresponds to the dramatic structuring of the concert. The whole system is concisely represented in figure 2, which features an arrangement of the entire set of bakhshi’s songs reflecting their location in the tonal space. This type of arrangement is undeniably a product of the conceptualization of the expressive qualities rooted in the dynamic process of continuous expansion of pitch. In the Turk tradition this process is looked upon as a correlative of the growth of emotional intensity of the performance. In addition to the division into three zones, the tonal space is divided into three different realms of expression, whose corollaries are the realms of emotion experienced by the artist (Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990)

C O M P L E T I O N

  All this leads one to conclude that the dramatic scenario of the concert of the bakhshi provides for an obligatory progress through three stages or emotional realms that are reflected in the three phases of musical creation. The passage from one phase to the next is gradual and smooth and the boundaries are not clear-cut. In each phase the unfolding mental and emotional state of the bakhshi is conveyed to the listeners by means of music. In turn, the mood of the listeners stimulates the emotional shifts of the artist, which leads one to conclude that the identical perception of the logic of the particular arrangement of the phases of the concert on the part of both the bakhshi and his audience is due to the affective links that emerge between the artist and the listeners. Consequently, the points of passage from one phase to another can hardly be established, for it is the particular musical and emotional context of a particular performance that determines their distribution.

My grandfather (in year 1959) include the following description of a bakhshi concert in a Turkmen Village: ‘’ In the evening all the villagers flock round a bakhshi in the house to which the artist has been invited to perform. Next to him are a kettle and cup of green tea the bakhshi sips during the performance. There are listeners around him sitting in absolute silence and concentration. Sometimes the artist is urged by impatient members of the audience, who shout bashlya-ver ("start playing"). Occasional exclamations are also heard during the concert. Among them: berkelya ("wonderful"), hai (a general expression of approval), chal, chaly-ver ("play, strike the strings"), sag-bol ("thanks"),ya Alla ("oh! Allah") etc. The listeners mood rises to the point of real ecstasy. Shouts and enthusiastic comments mushroom. The listeners keep pouring more and more money onto the carpet on which the bakhshi is sitting, a reward and a sign of the listeners respect for the artist and expression of their contentment.’’

R E F E R E N C E S   C I T E D

Ahmedov A. 1983                    

Dutaryngo vazy-khalkymyng. Ashkhabad, XIX - natchala XX v..Moscow

Albright C.F. 1976                    

The music of professional musicians of Northwest Iran (Azerbaijan),University of Washington, 210-230

Azarpay G. 1983                       

“The Development of the Arts in Transoxiana” , The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3(2), Cambridge University Press: 1130-1148

Baily J. 1976                           

 “Recent Changes in the Dutār of Herāt”, Asian Music, 8(1): 29/64

Blum R. S. 1972                      

  “The Concept of the āsheq in Northern Khorasan”, Asian Music, 4(1):27-47

Slobin, Mark 1976                      

Music in the Culture of Northern Afganistan.. Tucson: Univ. ofArizona Press, 70-85

Zeranska-Kominek S. 1990       

“The Turkmen Bakhshy: Shaman and/or Artist”, VII European Seminar in Ethnomusicology : 497-508