THE DUTAR’S VOICE AS MELODY AND METAPHOR IN UZBEK MUSICAL THOUGHT

Abstract

This article explores the profound symbiosis between the sonic character of the Uzbek dutar and the conceptual frameworks that define Uzbek musical and poetic aesthetics. It posits that the dutar is not merely an instrument for producing melody but is itself a central metaphor - a sounding object of thought - within Uzbek cultural philosophy. The analysis moves beyond organological description to investigate how the instrument’s physical and acoustic properties - its fretless neck, its pair of melody strings, its chorus of sympathetic strings, and its warm, vocal timbre - directly shape and express core concepts in maqom theory, poetry, and spiritual practice. The argument is structured in three interrelated domains. First, it examines how the dutar’s fretlessness facilitates the realization of maqom as a fluid, affective landscape of pitch, making the instrument a primary tool for conceptualizing modal nuance. Second, it analyzes the instrument as a metaphorical “voice,” arguing that its technique and repertoire are designed to emulate and converse with the human voice, thus blurring the line between instrumental and vocal expression in the performance of classical poetry. Finally, the article considers the dutar’s dual-stringed nature and resonant body as metaphors for dialogue, companionship, and cosmic harmony, reflecting deeper cultural values of balance and interconnectedness. This study concludes that in Uzbek musical thought, the dutar is both a tool for making music and a material articulation of the very principles that make that music meaningful, serving as an essential key to understanding the interrelation of sound, sentiment, and cosmology in Central Asian culture.