Studying the Hawrâmân Chapla Form from the Perspective of the Relationship between Music and Texts

Kurdish people are Arian tribes living in the west of the Iranian Plateau along Zagros Mountains. They, despite the unity of origin and language, have formed some subcultures which are distinguished with regards to language, traditional music, clothes, folklore, and social life.  These subcultures are part of the criteria through which the area is divided and recognized. One of the well-known subcultures in the area is those of Hurami’s whose place of living is called Hawraman. Hawraman is spread both in Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan. In Iran, it is extended from western and southwestern of Kurdistan Province to northwestern Kermanshah province while it is located in a city of Iraq called Byara. Hurami language, despite its low number of speakers, is among one of the four original Kurdish Languages. Hawraman music, due to its unique and significant characteristics, is of great prestige which is closely associated with the following: The music is completely vocal which is not accompanied by any instruments. The range of the voices used is limited to two, three or at most four. The voice is associated with vibration and sound creation in the larynx, mouth, and sinus. The features mentioned above are all crystal clear in the production of vowels. Hawraman music and its examination is of great importance as it has influenced a numerous musical forms in both southern and western parts of Kurdistan province and north and west of Kermanshah province. The music has also had an impact on some musical forms of followers of the Yarsan ritual in the Goran region, and other major cities such as Sanandaj and Kermanshah. This study examines the Chapla which is a type of Hawraman music. The main purpose of the study is to examine the influence of poems, lyrics, and music on the form of Chapla. In other words, what is the relation between lyrics or words’ structure and music in Chapla and how does it influences the form. In pursuit of answering these questions, 118 unique Chapla were selected and then analyzed and transcribed so that the relation of the lyrics or words’ structure and the music be revealed. After transcription of Chaplas, units of words, rhythmic patterns, and melodic sentences were extracted as the basic vocal elements of Chapla. Then, the patterns of convergence and integration of these three elements were studied and classified. According to the results, each Chapla’s hemistich, based on its stress, consists of twenty or twenty eight syllable which once being sung is divided into four parts of five-syllable units if totally twenty and seven-syllable if totally twenty eight. Each of these four units, being called “khesht” in this article, is a quadruple. The inner rhythm of this quadruple is of 19 patterns. Each rhythm causes the Chaplas to be of 1, 2 or 4 “khesht”. Hence, based on the relation of the lyrics and the music, the Chaplas are divided into four groups: one sentence on “khesht”, one sentence two “khesht”, one sentence four “khesht”, and two sentences.