Qānūn [kanun, k‘anon, kanonaki].

Plucked box zither or psaltery of the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia; it is trapeziform in shape, two of the sides forming a right angle. It is a classical instrument of the Arab world and Turkey (kanun), known in both oral and written traditions. The instrument’s dispersal in the Arab world does not seem to go back beyond the 19th century. It was introduced in Algeria in 1835, in Morocco by 1916 and in Iran at the beginning of the 20th century. Turkish writers agree that the qānūn in its present form was introduced into their country during the reign of Mahmud II (1785–1839) by a Syrian immigrant, Ümer Effendi, from Cairo. It would thus seem that the instrument was diffused from the area of Egypt and Syria. Although it was known in Iraq, it was less popular there and supplanted by the santūr. There is no case, least of all organological, for a Tunisian (or Andalusian) origin. It is difficult to follow the evolution of the qānūn; probably it had gradually faded from use and was then revived and spread from Syria and Egypt, through Istanbul. The interactions are such that the Arab qānūn and the Turkish kanun cannot be considered separately.

The more recent history of the qānūn resumes at the time of the technical revolution that reached Istanbul in 1876. There is a gulf between the old qānūn and the new, the earliest examples of which were made by the Istanbul instrument maker Mahmut Usta. The older type did not immediately disappear, however; the Arab Music Congress at Cairo in 1932 noted the existence of two types, the newer marked by the use of small brass levers on the (player’s) left of the case close to the pegbox. There are two to five for every three strings on the modern Arab qānūn, five to nine on those from Turkey and ten on those from Aleppo (Armenian models never have more than two). Intervals can be minutely adjusted by rotating the levers, which control the tension of the strings; this permits a full range of keys. On the older model, the tension controls the tuning. The introduction of the levers, with their characteristic noise when raised or lowered, encouraged the construction of larger instruments. A less obvious innovation in the Turkish models was the modification of the bridge. In earlier examples the bridge rested directly on the resonator. On the modern Arab qānūn manufactured in Egypt, it is supported at a height of about 5 cm by five feet placed at intervals across the width of the instrument; the Turkish kanun has only four feet.

The instrument consists of a flat box, 3 to 6 cm (or even 10 cm) thick, made of walnut or maple wood (formerly mahogany or plum). The Turkish kanun is made of walnut, plane, pine or ebony. The longer side varies in length between 75 and 100 cm (some models are as large as 120 cm); in the past, before the invention of levers, a length of 60 cm was known for the Turkish instrument. The short side is between 25 and 45 cm and the width ranges from 32 to 44 cm. The perpendicular section is always on the player’s right. About one-fifth of the surface consists of a narrow section covered in skin (formerly fishskin, now sheepskin or more often an artificial fabric) which runs the length of the instrument. On the left, the soundboard has a number of round soundholes and an Indian motif representing the ‘leaf of life’ (see illustration). In order to the left follow the levers, nut, pins and pegbox, which is affixed to the soundbox. The number of strings – once of gut, now of nylon – has always varied. Although courses are generally of three strings, some instruments have a single string at the bottom and then paired strings. Nowadays the number of strings has stabilized at about 78 strings for the Egyptian type of qānūn and 72 to 75 for the Turkish. For playing, the instrument is rested on the player’s knees or on a table.

The strings are plucked by ring-shaped plectra placed on the index fingers. Arab performers play in octaves or double octaves. The right hand is notated in the treble clef and the left in the bass, as for the piano; in Turkey, however, the treble clef is exclusively used. There is a minute delay in attack between the two hands in playing unison passages, the elaboration of ornamental passages leading to a sense of space. The range of the qānūn varies between three and four octaves, those with the larger compass being the most recent models, especially those in Egypt. There are two different methods of tuning: one, the method of the late 19th century, followed in Turkey, proceeds by descending 4ths and rising octaves; the second, described in Syria, starts with the highest string and descends gradually, depending much on the player’s auditory keenness. The method of adjusting the intervals is a matter of dispute among Arab musicians, but nowadays Western tempered tuning is more or less general.

The technique and playing style of the qānūn seem to be the product of continuous evolution over a long period. In the classical epoch, the term is first mentioned in the story of A Thousand and One Nights, under the title qānūn or qānūn misrī. Contemporary iconography confirms that the instrument was almost certainly held vertically. Two determining factors of the qānūn – a trapezium with a right angle and a horizontal position – are recent. Before the invention of the levers, the left hand could move the entire length of the string, in the style of the Japanese koto. This technique did not allow for any great virtuosity and precluded anything but monodic playing. The freeing of the left hand from this constraint at the end of the 19th century encouraged the development of virtuoso technique and also facilitated the application of harmonic and polyphonic textures.

These developments can be seen in the qānūn concerto (1944) by the Turkish composer Hasan Ferit Alnar (1906–78) and in the three Suites folkloriques libanaises for solo qānūn by Toufic Succar (b 1925). Concern for the renewal of tradition has brought several players of the instrument into prominence, including the Egyptian Sulaymān Gamīl and the Tunisian Hasan al-Gharbī. Among all the Arab instruments, the qānūn is the best suited to modernization. Nevertheless, those who passed on the older tradition should not be overlooked. In Egypt, these include Muhammad al-‘Aqqād (1850–1930), Mustafā Ridā (1890–c1952; author of the first method, c1934) and Ibrāhīm al-‘Aryān (1898–1953; noted for his many compositions in the Ottoman style). Others of note are the Syrians Fawzī al-Qaltaqī and (more recently) Sajīm Sarwa, the Turks Haci Ârif Bey (1831–85) and Vecîhe Daryal (1908–70) and the Armenian Elia Pehlivanian. Although a soloist’s instrument, the qānūn is rarely heard alone; it is a member of an ensemble, where its metallic sound is never masked. Increasing numbers of qānūn have been used in Egyptian groups since 1930, as in the ensemble of Muhammad al-‘Aqqād’s son.

Outside the Arab countries, the k‘anon is particularly important in Armenia, where it is used as a solo instrument or in ensembles; nowadays there are k‘anon trios and quartets. The instrument has 24 triple courses of gut strings tuned to a diatonic scale of D major. The kanun is also popular as an accompanying instrument in the čalgije ensembles of Macedonia and Kosovo. It has 80 strings which are plucked by the fingers of both hands; metal or bone plectra are used. The instrument is found in Greece (kanonaki), in the populous parts of eastern Thrace, and is used to accompany table songs. In the 19th century, it was also played in India (qanūn).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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CHRISTIAN POCHÉ