Santur

Overview

The santur is a Persian trapezoidal hammered dulcimer with 72 metal strings stretched in groups of four across two rows of small movable wooden bridges. It is one of the four core melodic instruments of Persian classical music — alongside the tar, the setar and the kamancheh — and the most likely original ancestor of the wider hammered-dulcimer family that now spans Eurasia from China to America.

The instrument’s name connects to a wide circle of regional variants. The Indian santoor, the Iraqi santur and the Turkish santir all descend from the Persian original, with the Chinese yangqin, the Hungarian cimbalom, the German hackbrett and the American hammered dulcimer all sharing the same broader design heritage.

Origin & History

The santur’s earliest documented references appear in Mesopotamian and Persian textual sources, with depictions of similar instruments on Assyrian reliefs from around the 9th century BCE. Whether the modern Persian santur descends in unbroken continuity from these ancient instruments is unclear, but the instrument is well documented in Persian musical practice from at least the medieval period and has been continuously played in Iran ever since.

The Metropolitan Museum’s collection holds a late-19th-century Santir from Turkey (MET object 500992), in wood, in its Musical Instruments department. The Turkish form is one of several closely related regional variants — the Iranian instrument differs in size, tuning conventions and stringing pattern but is recognisably the same family.

The instrument’s spread across Eurasia took two main paths. Eastward through India and along the Silk Road into China, it became the santoor and the yangqin respectively. Westward across the Mediterranean and into central Europe, it became the cimbalom, the hackbrett and various other regional forms. By the 19th century the family was firmly established across most of Eurasia.

In the 20th century the santur experienced a major revival in Iran through the work of Faramarz Payvar (1933-2009), who codified the modern repertoire, developed extended techniques, and wrote an influential method that remains the foundation of conservatory teaching. Payvar’s recordings and his students — particularly Parviz Meshkatian (1955-2009) — established the santur’s modern profile.

Construction & Materials

The Hornbostel-Sachs system places the santur in 314.122 (struck box zithers). The body is a flat, trapezoidal wooden box with a soundboard of walnut or other hardwood. Strings are arranged in two rows of bridges, with each bridge supporting four strings of the same pitch (one course per pitch). The standard Persian instrument has 72 strings (18 courses on each side), giving a chromatic range of about three octaves.

Strings are usually steel for the higher pitches and brass-wound for the lower. The two hammers (mezrab) are slim flexible strips of wood, traditionally walnut or boxwood, sometimes wrapped at the striking end with cloth or leather for a softer attack. The MET’s late-19th-century Turkish santir (object 500992) is plain wood and represents the simpler workshop tradition before the 20th-century Iranian standardisation.

Tuning is to a specific Persian dastgāh (modal system) for each performance. Players retune individual courses between pieces — by moving the bridges or by adjusting the tuning pins — to suit the specific dastgāh being performed.

How It’s Played

The player sits on the floor or on a low chair behind the instrument, with the santur tilted slightly toward the body. Both hands hold one mezrab each, between the index and middle fingers, and strike the strings in rapid alternating patterns. The mezrab’s flexibility allows it to bounce naturally off the string, which makes possible the very fast tremolos characteristic of santur technique.

Damping is done by hand or by lifting the previous mezrab quickly before striking the next note. Persian classical performance emphasises long sustained melodic lines with carefully shaped ornamentation rather than the rapid figuration favoured in some other branches of the family.

Cultural Significance

The santur is one of the four core melodic instruments of Persian classical music — the others being the tar (plucked long-necked lute), the setar (smaller plucked long-necked lute) and the kamancheh (bowed spike fiddle). Together these instruments perform the radif, the codified repertoire of Persian art music that students must memorise as the foundation of the tradition.

The santur also carries an important role in popular and devotional Persian music, in Iraqi maqam (where it is similarly central), and in the Indian classical world through the work of the Kashmiri family of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma — who, in the late 20th century, single-handedly elevated the santoor from a regional Kashmiri folk instrument to a major Hindustani classical concert instrument.

Notable Examples & Recordings

The MET’s late-19th-century Turkish santir (object 500992) documents the closely related Anatolian branch of the family. For listening, recordings by Faramarz Payvar and Parviz Meshkatian provide the foundation of the modern Persian repertoire. The Iraqi santur tradition is documented through recordings by Hassan Erraji and Saad Mahmood Jawad. The Indian santoor is best approached through Pandit Shivkumar Sharma’s many recordings, particularly The Inner Path and Call of the Valley.

Related Instruments

• Yangqin – the Chinese branch of the same family
• Hammered Dulcimer – the broader Eurasian family the santur founded
• Cimbalom – the Hungarian concert form with damper pedal
• Tar – the Persian plucked long-necked lute, partner instrument in the radif tradition
• Kamancheh – the Persian bowed spike fiddle, partner instrument in the radif tradition

Where to Hear It

Persian classical concerts in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz feature the santur regularly, both as solo instrument and in ensemble. The Vahdat Hall in Tehran and the Niavaran Cultural Center are major regular venues. Diaspora concerts in Los Angeles, London, Toronto and Stockholm bring the instrument to international audiences. Indian classical concerts in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata feature the Hindustani santoor. The Wikimedia Commons category collects images and audio.

• Wikipedia: Santur
• The MET: Santir (object 500992)
• Wikimedia Commons: Santur

Learning Resources

Serious santur study in the Persian classical tradition is most easily pursued through the Faramarz Payvar method (the standard conservatory text) and through study with a teacher in the radif tradition. The Tehran Conservatory and the College of Persian Music in Tehran both offer formal training. Outside Iran, instruction is available through Persian cultural centres in Los Angeles, Toronto, Stockholm and Berlin, and increasingly through online lessons. For the Indian santoor, study with a teacher in the Pandit Shivkumar Sharma lineage is the standard route.

Frequently Asked Questions

What family is the santur in?
It is a struck box zither, classed as 314.122 in the Hornbostel-Sachs system.

Where did the santur originate?
In ancient Mesopotamia and Persia, with depictions of similar instruments on Assyrian reliefs from around the 9th century BCE. The instrument has been continuously played in Iran since at least the medieval period.

Is the santur the ancestor of other hammered dulcimers?
The Persian santur is widely accepted as the original ancestor of the broader Eurasian hammered-dulcimer family — including the Chinese yangqin, the Hungarian cimbalom, the German hackbrett, the Indian santoor and the American hammered dulcimer.

Are old santurs in museums?
Yes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a late-19th-century Turkish santir (object 500992) in its Musical Instruments department, representing the closely related Anatolian branch of the family.

What is the difference between Persian santur and Indian santoor?
The two are members of the same family. The Persian santur is tuned to a specific dastgāh for each piece and used in classical Iranian art music. The Indian santoor — particularly as developed by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma — uses different tunings, repertoire and ornamentation styles drawn from Hindustani classical music.

Is the santur difficult to learn?
Basic two-handed mallet technique is approachable in the early stages. The microtonal tunings of Persian classical music, the rapid tremolo technique, and the deep memorisation of the radif repertoire all take years of disciplined study.