Sadigjan

Mirza Sadig (Azerbaijani: Sadıqcan), born Sadig Asadoglu (1846, Shusha – 1902, Shusha), was an Azerbaijani tar-player (sazanda) known for developing the Azerbaijani tar (or Caucasus tar or 11 string tar) from the Iranian tar.[1]

Sadig
Background information
Birth nameMirza Sadig
Born1846
Shusha, Russian Empire
OriginShusha, Karabakh, Azerbaijan
Died1902
GenresAzerbaijani Folk Music, Mugham
InstrumentsPrimary:
Tar

Life and fame

Sadig was born to a poor family of a watchman in Shusha. As a teenager, he took vocal lessons but lost his voice at the age of 18. He then took up pipe, kamancheh and eventually tar. By his mid-20s he was already a well-known tar player in South Caucasus and the neighbouring regions. In the 1890s he founded a musical ensemble which included prominent folk singers and musicians performing Azeri, Armenian and Georgian folk songs.[2]

Developing the Azerbaijani tar

During the early 1870s, Sadig used the traditional Persian tar to develop the new version of this instrument, which later became known as the Azerbaijani tar or the Caucasus tar. The Persian tar has 6 steel strings in 3 double-courses (the low one in octave). The Azerbaijani tar invented by Sadig has further one extra bass-string on the side, on a raised nut, and usually 2 double resonance strings via small metal nuts halfway the neck. All these strings are running next to the main strings over the bridge and are fixed to a string-holder and the edge of the body.[1] Overall the Azerbaijani tar has 11 strings and 17 tones.

Early tar players held the instrument to their knees. Sadig developed a new manner by reducing the size of the instrument, and for the first time presented the play on a tar nestled to the chest. The Azerbaijani tar became a symbol of Azerbaijani music in the 20th century.

A tar is depicted on the obverse of the Azerbaijani 1 manat banknote issued in 2006.[3]

References
  1. Atlas of Plucked Instruments - Middle East
  2. (in Russian) Sadigjan (1846–1902) Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. Axtar.az
  3. National Bank of Azerbaijan Archived 2007-05-16 at the Wayback Machine. National currency: 1 manat. – Retrieved on 27 March 2009.


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