The Traditional Kurdish Art of Hooreh - A recounting of ancient...

Ardishir Rashidi-Kalhur | Exclusive to iKurd.net
President of Kurdish American Education Society, Los Angeles.

The development of Human civilization and cultures is slow and yet undergoes a cyclical, salient process. It can much be likened to a flourishing tree, which, during the spring time, showing off burgeoning blooms, spreads its blossoming flowers for all to enjoy. Then like all deciduous trees, it eventually sheds its lifegiving foliage during the cold climes of winter or even somehow miraculously withstanding the scourge of fire, and yet it still survives to bloom once again.

Our Kurdish culture is of course no exception to surviving these extreme social and historical conditions. We too experience the timeless cycles of rebirth and regeneration, from thriving, to dying and then back again to a zestful and healthy vigorous revival. Over many long and hard decades, we have found it within ourselves to be resilient, even amidst omnidirectional genocidal attacks on our Kurdish life and culture.

Hooreh (pronounced Huerah) is the name that has been given has been to our method of vocal recitation since the beginning of our culture thousands of years ago, a word which literally means the retelling of memory. Hooreh is an emotional recounting of the sad times, as well as the happy memories of all of our major historical events, both the long past and even the recent present. It consists of an unique and ancient form of linguistic phonetics that uses the glottal stop to delicately convey a bevy of complex emotions. It is essentially a pre-Homeric recitation of poetry, a type of intricate storytelling through memorization and discourse.

In the heart of Kalhur Region of Kurdistan with its Capital City, Kermanshah, the one important key factor that has contributed to the continued survival of our beloved Kurdish world view and way of life, is the sacred tradition of a masterful Hooreh recitation by an accomplished reciter simply known as the Hooreh Cherr. What he accomplishes is a telling of the most original and authentic traditional Kurdish folk songs covering a wide range of topics that can be simultaneously sublime, spiritual, poetic, adventure, whimsical, philosophical, romantic, and always dramatic stories, though sometimes they can be ordinary stories composed of ordinary human experience and your daily average living conditions but with a wry commentary included.

The etymology of the word Hooreh is derived from the root word “Huyr”, a word which means memory. Searching for the deeper roots of the word takes us back finding the ancient text called “Book of Gathas” by Zurr-Astare, a.k.a. Zoroaster, a.k.a the Golden Star and are otherwise known as the “Avestan Hymns”. The word Gatha, is the plural form of the Kurdish word Gwet which means “that which is said”. The given title of the book “Gathas of Zarathustra” therefore simply means the sayings/hymns of Zarathustra, and in a way, is comparable to the idea of the biblical “Psalms of David”. A fun and linguistically interesting coincidence can be seen in that in Kurdish, the phrase “Hym-Hymeh”, means a singing of a soft song to oneself, meaning much the same thing as humming to oneself; we are after all really just one big human family, a singular current in the river of life.

The Highest and most Sublime Spirit in the Zoroastrian faith is called Ahoor-ai-Mazan, which in the Kurdish language means Memory of the Grand Creator. This divine being is also known by the name Ahura Mazda by the Persian peoples. This “memory” has passed on through the Zoroastrian Gathas and through oral tradition of Hooreh. It can be argued that the memorization of every word in the Hebrew Bible in repeated fashion has its roots in the practice of Hooreh. To memorize and remember only by oral recitation, is a daunting momentous task undertaken by only the bravest of souls as being one who would hold the weight of history on their shoulders. In Judaism, they have codified their knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, putting down their divinely inspired words and Hymns in a collection known to all as the Old Testament.

Similarly, there is recitation of the book known as the Quran, and could be said to be another form of the art of Hooreh. In the modern day Kurdish world, Hooreh, in addition to the original and ancient spiritual usages, has also led to other forms of storytelling, be it love songs, action sagas, even commercialized music.

Hooreh originates from within the Kalhur region, just inside of Greater Kurdistan, and is always recited in the Southern-Kurdish dialect spoken throughout the Kermanshah areas, which are the regions of Ilam, Lakestan, and Luristan. A variation of the Hooreh recital with a slight variation on the vocal inflections has transitioned itself, filtering into the songs of the Guran and the Hawram regions and even being found as far as in the Kermanji Kurdish regions in South-Eastern Anatolia where they are known as the “Deng-Beji”, or, vocal recitals.

As previously mentioned, In the Kalhur region, the greatest vocal recitalists of this ancient folk-music form are known as the “Hooreh-Cherrs’. One of the most famous “Hooreh Cherr” was a man called Ali-Nazar who hailed from deep within the Kalhur region. His deep voice, warm tone, and the dexterous inflections of his acrobatic vocals, echoed Kudistan’s colorful history, resembling the calls of a Chukker partridge, which is still the national bird of Kurdistan. Like smoke signals borne of fire, passed from mountain top to mountain top as the preeminent form of ancient long distance communication, so too does Hooreh Cherr, passes on to us the distant memories of past generations.

Sadly, like the Hoore Cherrs themselves, these colorful neck ringed partridges of the Zagros Mountains, are fast becoming a nearly extinct breed. Due to unsustainable hunting practices, the Kurdish mountains are in danger of losing these beautiful singing souls. Should the soothing, inviting and echoing calls of these beautiful birds disappear, a great treasure will be forever lost. I remember long ago their favorite trees to perch in and feed upon were the wild figs and lush pear trees found throughout all the Zagros mountain; I’ve heard that is no longer the case as encountering them is now a rare treat.

The influence of the practice of Hoore upon Persian music can be seen in the passionately emotional Persian songs that are sung by contemporary Persian singers like Delkash, Iraj and even the nomadic shepherds of Persia living near Tehran and the Zagros range near Shiraz. It is expressed in form of ChahChah. These are just a few examples of the transformation of the art of Hooreh into its modern forms.

One variation of Hooreh is known as Chamareh, or Chamari, which are woeful songs of mournful lament over the loss of a loved one, much like a Celtic dirge, requiem, or threnody. It is an integral part of a traditional Kurdish funeral precession, generally held in public, in which the horse of the warrior or the deceased naobleman, praised for his bravery in battle or standing in the community, is decorated with locks of hair contributed by his widow and romantic would’ve beens. The gallant steed is typically flanked by two poets recounting and reciting the memory of the life and deeds of the deceased in a Tragic display of art, poetry and mourning known as Chamari.

As mentioned above, Ali Nazar was from the Kalhur region, and was the most famous among the known Hoore Cherrs. He did not have a formal education but he was blessed with a timeless voice, was a gifted lyricist, and had an incredible memory, all important ingredients of a venerable and distinguished Hooreh Cherr.

The following is a sample translation of the “his Hooreh”

Lyrics In Kurdish:

Layreh ta awreh, ye chani dureh, Kelegik Kaghezh, poose Samureh Na kaghez dyrim, na ghalim dewatt Ta raze delegam, benussim errat

The English translation reads:

The distance between us is so unbearably long And a piece of paper is as rare as a piece of mink’s skin

I do not have a quill Neither do I have an inkwell To write you the secrets from The well of my heart

Following is a YouTube link to one of Ali Nazar Hooreh.

In the Hawraman region of Kurdistan, the prelude to the following song is a form of Hooreh.

Ardishir Rashidi-Kalhur, the President of Kurdish American Education Society, Los Angeles, U.S.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.