Hawraman Music

Abstract
In this research, “Siawchamana’’, which is one of the Kurdish Hawrami ancient songs, is investigated.
Fortunately, Hawrami people are still singing the contemporary songs. Therefore, they are available to be
studied. Transcriptions are categorized in seven items and the poems were translated; different kinds of
musical components such as dynamics, tempo, meter and intervals were also studied. Hawraman is located
in south-west of Kurdistan and north-west of the Kermanshah provinces in Iran, and also some part of the
Iraqi border is considered to be a part of this area. People, in this region, speak Hawrami, which is a dialect
of the Kurdish language. The Hawrami music and songs are studied by many researchers. These studies
are important and helpful to improve the knowledge about the culture and musicology of the Hawraman
area. In these researche, the Hawraman area was, first, studied in terms of geography, linguistic and culture.
Then, we focused on music of this area. Siawchamana is the main subject of the discussion. To realize
the culture and the music of Hawraman, it is necessary to study their geographical, religious and literal
characteristics as well as their customs such as dances or funerals. Since Siawchamana has multi aspect
characteristics, this kind of study is inevitable. In this article different subjects as background of this music
and its relation to ancient music, meanings of “Siawchamana” ,musical forms, possibility of performing
Siawchamana with an instrument, the role of customs and musical rituals of Hawraman, poetry and
instruments in Hawraman music and the relation of poetry and music have been studied. “Hawrami Music”
is full of ritual and the unique sounds. Understanding of this kind of music needs to understand the content
of the Code and make it real. Hawrami doesn’t play music and it is singing simply because it doesn’t need
instruments for survival. Shemshal is the only instrument that is near to essence of Hawrami’s music. The
use of the songs and the relationship between them and the events and celebrations are explained. The
Siawchamana songs and their transcription are analyzed and classified in different types. Some songs from
maestro Osman Keimnei, a well known Kurdish Hawrami singer, are given at the end