Hrant Kenkulian
Udi Hrant Kenkulian (Armenian: Հրանդ Քենքուլեան; Turkish: Hrant Kenkülyan; 1901 – August 29, 1978), often referred to as Udi Hrant (lit. "oud-player Hrant") or as Hrant Emre ("Hrant of the soul") was an oud player of Turkish classical music, and a key transitional figure in its transformation into a contemporary style of popular music. He was an ethnic Armenian citizen of Turkey who spent most of his life in Turkey and wrote most of his lyrics in Turkish. He concurrently composed and performed in Armenian as well, although to a much lesser degree. Kenkulian recorded numerous sides in the United States and Europe during his travels in the mid-20th century. As an oud player, he was a major innovator, introducing left-hand pizzicato, bidirectional picking (the tradition had been to use the pick only on the downstroke), double stops, and novel tunings (sometimes using open tunings or tuning the paired strings in octaves instead of to a single note). According to Harold G. Hagopian, he was most respected for his improvisational taksim. |
Birth and Death Data: Born 1901 (Adapazarı), Died August 29, 1978
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1936 - 1937
Roles Represented in DAHR: oud, composer
Notes: Also known as Udi Hrant.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gramophone | 0TB273 | 10-in. | either 1935 or 1936 | Hicaz taksim | Udi Hrant | Oud solo | instrumentalist, oud | |
Gramophone | 0TB274 | 10-in. | before 3/30/1937 | Ask de nilen cellata | Afitap | Female vocal solo | composer | |
Gramophone | 0TB349 | 10-in. | before 6/9/1936 | Hijaz taksim, oud ile | Udi Hrant | Oud solo | instrumentalist, oud | |
Gramophone | 0TB552 | 10-in. | before 3/30/1937 | Huseyni taksim, ut ile | Udi Hrant | Oud solo | instrumentalist, oud, composer | |
Gramophone | 0TB554 | 10-in. | before 3/30/1937 | Kürdili hicazkar taxsim | Udi Hrant | Oud solo | instrumentalist, oud, composer | |
Gramophone | 0TB588 | 10-in. | approximately 1936 | Gifte telli ut ile | Udi Hrant | Oud solo, with qanun and darbuka | instrumentalist, oud |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kenkulian, Hrant," accessed November 7, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/116634.
Kenkulian, Hrant. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 7, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/116634.
"Kenkulian, Hrant." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 7 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Kenkulian, Hrant, 1901-1978 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr95040685
Wikidata: Udi Hrant Kenkulian - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7877223
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/237774600
MusicBrainz: Udi Hrant Kenkulian - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/90b1ad62-d0e1-4cb9-bd18-d8f69e5029b1
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