Mystical origin of the Dutar

Dr Razia Sultanova, University of Cambridge

" The Uzbek Dutar and its identity in Central Asia traditional culture”

1. Two main lutes of Uzbek traditional music: Tanbur and Dutar

Uzbek musicians admit that the two long-necked fretted lutes form the main basis of Uzbek traditional music: theTanbur, which has three strings and is played with a brass plectrum, and the Dutar, long necked plucked lute with two silken strings. Their musical relationship is unequal, with the Tanbur as a dominant and leading instrument and the Dutar in an accompanying role.

According to the local concept, the Dutar is the shadow of the Tanbur, and its follower and accompanist. It is equated with the female role, which entails being secluded and occupying a position in the background. The Dutar’s silk strings and soft whispering tone give it a gentle sound corresponding with idealised expectations of female behaviour, whereas the Tanbur has a lower, louder and brighter sound which equates with male dominance and authority. To a certain extent, the Tanbur and Dutar represent two prototypes of the same instrument.

Mystical origin of the Dutar

As the Uzbek legend narrates, the inventor of the Dutar was the Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose name, as Arastu, is well known in Uzbekistan. (He was the tutor of Alexander the Great, who conquered the lands of Central Asia in 330–27 BCE.) Rihzhon Hodjahanov (1927-2008), a well-known Tashkent Dutar-maker, recounted in 1999 the legend to me (Interview with Rihzhon Hodjahanov: Tashkent, November,1999).

The story says that Aristotle’s teacherPlatoinvented the Tanbur, which he often played for his own pleasure. He kept his invention secret, jealously hiding it from the world, and he would play it for hours in the privacy of his terrace. However, the Tanbur’s wondrous sounds attracted the attention and curiosity of his pupil Aristotle, who approached the house in search of a clue about the instrument’s identity. There he saw a vivid shadow of the performer and instrument. With the imprint of this image in his mind, Aristotle attempted to reproduce the instrument – with a pear-shaped body and long neck along, on which were stretched the strings. However, this resulted in a totally new instrument: the Dutar, with its slightly larger body and softer voice. As we can see this myth of origin alludes to the traditional Central –Asian master-pupil relationship and the idealised submissiveness and respect of the pupil for his master (Photo).

The evidence for the mystical origin of the Dutar is reflected in other local myths and legends, such as the following. Once upon a time, Hazrat Ali (a cousin and son- in-law of the Prophet Muhammad) noticed that his favourite horse Dyul-Dyul was gradually getting sicker and sicker, and he became increasingly worried. One day, entering the stables he noticed that his groom Baba Kambar was playing a strange instrument - a long necked lute. Seeing that he had been caught in action, Baba Kambar was so frightened that he wanted to break the instrument into pieces, but Hazrat-Ali stopped him and asked what kind of instrument it was. Baba Kambar told him that he had made the Dutar out of the mulberry tree but that the instrument was voiceless. Then Baba- Kambar called for devil’s help who given the Dutar this beautiful voice. After that, the Dutar acquired the intriguing/evoking/haunting voice that had made the horse sick (Djumaev 2004:12). In different sources, Baba-Kambar appears also as the inventor of Dutar or even as a female saint (Kambar -Ana).

According to another legend, Plato wanted to invent the instrument with sounds like a peacock wings. He investigated the nature of that sacred bird’s wings and then made the Dutar, which sounded amazingly mysterious , similar to the sounds of her wings (Uspenskyi and Belyaev 1979:61-62). An interesting observation on Dutar’s association with Sufi tradition was made by great Uzbek musician Turghun Alimatov, who confirmed: “There is something spiritual/divine in Dutar! Sometimes you can hear the music of the universe throughout its tender harmonics. Also as your colleagues/musicians claim you can keep it playing while you sleep! They swear they heard me snoring and playing at the same time! The most spiritual piece of Dutar music related to the old Sufi tradition is certainly Tanovar where the weeping sound set on regular rhythm is reminiscent of the inhale- out-hale breathing nature of Sufi Zikr (Interview with Turghun Alimatov, April 2007, Tashkent)

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1235