Ouds, Guitars, Horses, and Camels

 

The older I get the more I like cowboy movies.  I first noticed and wrote about this trend in 2011:  Old Westerns.

In some of the lighter movies I have watched, I noticed that several of them have the same flaw/dichotomy.  A few drifters or cowboys traveling by horseback make camp and under the starry night in the glow of the campfire, one of the cowboys is playing the guitar and singing for the others.  The flaw?  The dilemma?  Where the heck did the guitar come from?  This guy is traversing the prairie or high desert on horseback in one scene with no guitar visible on any the horses.  The next minute, after dinner one suddenly appears and disappears again when they hit the trail again the next morning.  In some movies, where the cowboys are driving cattle and there is a chuck wagon as part of the crew, I can see where a guitar could make the trip with the pots, pans, and provisions.  

Where did the guitar come from?  The same place the change of clothes come from which I am guessing is the script.  How much stuff can one cowpoke tote along one horse?  The clear answer is not much.  After a bed roll, some food, guns, ammo, maybe a coat… there is no room for a guitar.  I could see a harmonica but not a guitar.  Plus, trail dust, the hot sun and cold nights, rain and snow, and the general jostling about associated with riding horses is not the best environment for a guitar.  I would imagine they would warp, crack, and break quite often. 

 

No matter if it is rooted in reality or Hollywood, the guitar playing cowboy atop a horse is an icon.  Does the same apply to other cultures and eras?  Troubadours certainly travelled with a lyre, fiddle, flute, or lute like instrument.  They might travel by horseback where the main purpose was music not herding cattle, robbing trains, or fighting Indians.  Again, this has been influenced by Hollywood as well.  Think of the Will Scarlett character in Robin Hood (1938) toting a lute like thing around when not engaged in battle.

Does it apply to the Middle East?  Is there any lore, legend, or history of oud players on horse or camelback?  There is none that I know but then I am not well-versed in the films of the region.  If guitars don’t travel well on horseback, the oud being more delicate would be a bigger challenge.  In times of yore, it probably was not the chosen instrument of troubadours who travelled on foot or by donkey, horse, or camel.

I have come acress two photos of Armenians on horseback holding ouds.  One was Lilit Karapetyan (1963-2006) considered the first female oud player in Armenia SSR.  There is a nice biography of her in January 26, 2022 article in The Armenian Weekly:  Armenian Women Artists.  I could only find two clips of her playing.  Both are on Instagram.  These clips are from a concert at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, 1992. The concert was presented in memory of her teacher, Karapet Aristakesyan.  She played classical music in these clips.  The notes in one of the posts claims that the full concert is on YouTube, but I could not find it.  I would love the story of how she came to take that photo with her oud on horseback.

• Clip 1:  Lilit playing the oud using like a classical guitar.
• Clip 2:  Lilit playing "Fantasía" by Anushavan Ter-Ghevondyan.
  

Lastly is my favorite photo. Richard Boyajian uses this very cool photo of him on horseback taken in Montana in 2011 as his Facebook profile photo.  While we are Facebook friends, I do not believe I have ever met him nor have I heard him play the oud.  Why is this my favorite photo?  I am not really sure.  I think I like it because it is cleary Armenian and clearly with an oud, but it is also a cowboy style photo at the same time.