The Shashmaqom: Uzbekistan's Classical Music Under Soviet Rule

In this episode of The Story of Uzbekistan, Lucas and Luna explore Shashmaqom, the classical music tradition of Central Asia that has survived centuries of change. From its origins in the courts of Bukhara to its near-erasure under Soviet cultural policy, Shashmaqom represents a living archive of Persian, Turkic, and local influences. Lucas explains the structure of the six maqom modes, the role of instruments like the tanbur and doira, and how master musicians like Yunus Rajabiy and the 'maqomchi' families preserved the repertoire. They also discuss the controversial standardization of Shashmaqom in the Soviet era, the creation of notation systems, and the revival of the tradition after independence. Along the way, they touch on the relationship between Shashmaqom and Sufi poetry, the legacy of the great 19th-century musician Usto Olim Komilov, and how Shashmaqom compares to other maqam traditions in the Islamic world. This episode offers a deep dive into a sound that defined Central Asian courts for centuries and continues to echo in modern Uzbekistan.

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