Reid Lunch-hour Concert

Music for the Afgan Rubâb

The Afghan rubâb is a double-chested plucked lute with sets of drone and sympathetic strings.  It is considered by Afghans to be their national instrument.  In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a distinct classical repertoire for the rubâb was cultivated in Kabul, particularly in the context of the court, the rulers of Afghanistan being well-known as eager patrons of music.  Two genres of instrumental piece date from that period, the nahma-ye kashal, the 'extended instrumental piece' and the naghma-ye klasik or 'classical instrumental piece'.  The first is distinctly Afghan, while the second displays close connections with the instrumental music of North India.  In playing the repertoire the rubâb is usually accompanied by the tabla drum pair, which have been played in Kabul since the mid-nineteenth century.