Leylî Çûye Humam - Hesen ( 1962 )
Leylî çûye humam
Love song. ( Kurdish Folk Music from Western Iran - Kurdistan )
Recorded at Bawale ( Eastern Kurdistan - Kermanshah ),September 25, ·1962.
Singer: Hasan, 32, peasant from the Bawale region, accompanying himself on the frame drum, daire.
Visual image: Kurdish wall carpet art , form Zakho Southern Kurdistan
This type of song is recognizable by its limited melodic ambitus, the scarcity of melismas, and the strict rhythmic organization. It is very popular in the Kermanshah and Kulyai regions where it is a favorite form of men of the nobility, that is, the land-owning class, who spend the long winter evenings drinking local brandy made by Jews, smoking opium and enjoying this type of music which most of them are able to perform themselves. Here it is regarded as quite fashionable for a nobleman to sing and play the datre, in opposition to the more northern regions where feudal conditions still prevail and the performance of music is generally left to commoners .
The song describes a girl anonymously addressed as Leyla, who is going to the women's bath. First she orders her maid to collect all the necessary toilet articles; then she starts for the bath, which is usually dark, but becomes 'bright like a moonlit night' when she enters. Her clothing and the way she undresses are described. The male interpreter was unable to faithfully translate the text as he was not acquainted with many of the specifically feminine items mentioned in the song.
Kurdish Folk Music from Western Iran
Recorded by Dieter and Nerthus Christensen Kurdish texts translated by Ali Qazi and Dieter Christensen.
Master tapes prepared in the Recording Laboratory of the Archives of Traditional Music by Judy McCulloh.