Santur

The santur (pers. santur سنتور ) is related to the psaltery and has the shape of an isosceles trapezoid. He is in the Iraqi classical music (al- Maqām al-' Iraqi ) and in Persian music, but also in Kashmir ( sūfiyāna Kalam ) and played from there starting in Indian art music. The name derives from the ancient Greek psalterion ( psaltery ) and arrived on the Aramaic psantrīn into Arabic: santir / Santoor / Santur / سنطير / سنطور / سنتور. He belongs to a family of instruments, which by Western Europe ( dulcimer) on the Middle East to China (Yang Qin ) is common.

The pegs are attached to the sides of the trapezoidal box. For every sound there are three or four strings and a single web. This makes it possible to retune individual notes for the part played mode. The santur is played with light wooden mallets.

The santur is played in an ensemble or soloist. In Iraq, as in Iran the santur is an important instrument in the classical virtuoso art music. There is a chamber musical, very intimate tradition.

In India it was introduced only in the 20th century in the art music of North India and was originally derived from the Persian -influenced music of Kashmir. This variant of the santur has 15 bridges and choruses on each side. The strings are played in contrast to other types dulcimer, only on one side of the ridge. So he has 30 tones. These are diatonic tuning in the chosen raga. The most important Indian Shiv Kumar Sharma is Santurspieler.

707332
de