A sazanda or sazandar is one of the three musicians in the traditional ensemble of instrumentalists performing mugham

Mugham

Mugam also known as Azerbaijani Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs. Mugam draws on Iranian-Arabic-Turkish Maqam....

 (an Azeri

Culture of Azerbaijan

Following their ambiguous geographic location, the Azerbaijani culture has developed under influence under both Islamic and European cultures, including its Persian, Caucasus and Turkic heritage as well as Russian influences due to its former status as a Soviet republic...

 folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 genre) along with a singer (khananda

Khananda

A khananda is a name generally given to singers of mugham, an Azeri folk music genre. The word is of Persian origin and means "singer"...

). The word means "builder" in Persian. The trio consists of a tarist

Tar (lute)

The tār is a long-necked, waisted Iranian instrument. It has been adopted by other cultures and Azerbaijan. The word tar itself means "string" in Persian, though it might have the same meaning in languages influenced by Persian or any other branches of Iranian languages like Kurdish...

, a kamanchist

Kamancheh

The kamānche or kamāncha is a Persian bowed string instrument related to the bowed rebab, the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and also to the bowed lira of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of the European violin family. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow: the word "kamancheh"...

 and a daf

Daf

A daf is a frame drum used as a musical instrument in popular and classical music. The term daf is used in Iran / Kurdistan for a large drum that has a series of four interlinked rings in the frame. Daf is mostly used in Middle East, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and ...

-player.

History and development

Historically the word sazanda also applied to any musician from Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

, the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 or Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, who played a folk instrument.

The tradition of a musical trio of sazandas playing the aforementioned instruments did not originate until the beginning of the 20th century. According to Jabbar Garyagdioglu

Jabbar Garyagdioglu

Jabbar Garyagdioglu or Garyaghdyoglu was an Azerbaijani folk singer . He is known as the first khananda to perform mughamats in the Azeri language.-Rise to prominence:...

, the mugham ensembles of the early 19th century consisted of three musicians playing the tar, the kamancheh and the balaban. In the late 19th-century, the latter was replaced by gosha-naghara

Naqareh

The naqqāra is a drum with a rounded back and a hide head. It is thus a membranophone.The term naqqāra , also naqqarat, naqqarah, naqqåre, nakkare, nagora comes from the Arabic verb naqr- that means "to strike, beat".-Construction:The rounded section of a naqqara is made of baked clay, while the...

. Nowadays the traditional variety of tambourine called daf is used and is often played by the singers themselves.

Similar to the ensembles, the instruments have gone through changes in structure as well. Kamancheh has gone from having 2 string

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

s to having 3, 4 or even 5. Prominent Azeri

Azerbaijani people

The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...

 sazanda Sadigjan

Sadigjan

Sadigjan , also spelled Sadikhjan or Sadiqjan, born Sadig Asadoglu , was an Azerbaijani tar-player known for developing the Azeri tar from the Iranian tar.-Life and Fame:...

 developed a new version of tar (nowadays known as the Azeri tar or the Caucasus tar) by adding one more string to this once 6-string instrument and improving it with a number of new features. After Sadigjan, the tar has been played nestled to the chest rather than held vertically during mugham performances.

The prominence of sazandas was seen by the physical appearance of their instruments. Some would decorate them with precious metals and gems

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

. Sadigjan himself was reported of having decorated his tar with gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 and nacre

Nacre

Nacre , also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up pearls. It is very strong, resilient, and iridescent....

.