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. 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 March 18, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116634.

Kenkulian, Hrant. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116634.

"Kenkulian, Hrant." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 18 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116634

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