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The artistic gift of the
Persian people has produced a staggering literary
heritage, an exquisite tradition of decorative arts and
handicrafts, a superb legacy in architecture, and a
refined musical culture whose influence is evidence as far
away as Spain and Japan.
 Historic
Retrospective
The history of musical
development in Iran [Persia] dates back to the prehistoric
era. The great legendary king, Jamshid, is credited with
the Invention of music. Fragmentary documents from various
periods of the country's history establish that the
ancient Persians possessed an elaborate musical culture.
The Sassanian period (A.D. 226-651), in particular, has
left us ample evidence pointing to the existence of a
lively musical life in Persia. The names of some important
musicians such as Barbod, Nakissa and Ramtin, and titles
of some of their works have survived. With the advent of
Islam in the 7th century A.D. Persian music, as well as
other Persian cultural traints, became the main formative
element in what has, ever since, been known as "Islamic
civilization. Persian musicians and musicologists
overwhelmingly dominated the musical life of the Eastern
Moslem Empire. Farabi (d. 950), Ebne Sina (d. 1037), Razi
(d. 1209), Ormavi (d. 1294), Shirazi (d. 1310), and Maraqi
(d. 1432) are but a few among the array of outstanding
Persian musical scholars in the early Islamic period. In
the 16th century, a new "golden age" of Persian
civilization dawned under the rule of the Safavid dynasty
(1499-1746). However, from that time until the third
decade of the 20th century Persian music became gradually
relegated to a mere decorative and interpretive art, where
neither creative growth, nor scholarly research found much
room to flourish. Since the early 20™s, once again,
Persian music began to find broader dimensions. An urge to
create rather than merely perpetuate the known tradition,
and an interest to investigate the structural elements,
has emerged. Fundamentally, however, what can be still
recognized as the national music of Iran [Persia] is the
tradition of the past with marked imprints of 19th century
performance practices. This traditional or classical music
represents a highly ornate and sophisticated art whose
protagonists are professional city musicians. Prior to the
present century, such musicians were patronized by the
nobility. Today, in a progressively modernizing society,
they are generally engaged by broad casting and television
media. They are also active as teachers both privately and
at the various scholars and conservatories of music.
Structures
Perpetuated through an oral
tradition, the classical repertoire encompasses a body of
ancient pieces collectively known as the RADIF of Persian
music. These pieces are organized into twelve groupings,
seven of which are known as basic modal structures and are
called the seven DASTGAH (systems). They are: Shour,
Homayoun, Segah, Chahargah, Mahour, Rast-Panjgah, and
Nava. The remaining five are commonly accepted as
secondary or derivative Dastgahs. Four of them: Abouata,
Dashti, Bayat-e Tork and Afshari are considered to be
derivatives of Shour; and, Bayat-e Esfahan is regarded to
be a sub-dastgah of Homayoun. The individual pieces in
each of the twelve groupings are generally called GOUSHEH,
but each gousheh has a specific and often descriptive
title. A gousheh is not a clearly defined musical
composition; rather, it represents modal, melodic, and
occasionally rhythmic skeletal formulae upon which the
performer is expected to improvise. Thus, the radif
submits an infinite source of musical expression. The
flexibility of the basic material and the extent of the
improvisatory freedom is such that a piece played twice by
the same performer, at the same sitting, will be different
in melodic composition, form, duration and emotional
impact. The principle involved in the construction of
Persian modes is based on the concept of conjunct and
disjunct tetra chords comparable to the ancient Greek
system. Chromaticism is not used and an octave never
contains more or less than seven principal tones. Contrary
to a persistent popular notion no such a thing as a
quartertone exists in Persian [Iranian] music. A very
characteristic interval, however, is the neutral, second.
This is a highly flexible interval; but, in all its
variations, it is noticeably larger than the minor second
(half-step) and smaller than the major second
(whole-step). Another interval peculiar to some of the
modes is an interval which is larger than the major
second, but not sufficiently large to be an augmented
second. In authentic Persian music the western augmented
second is not used. Rhythmically, the majority of gushes
are flexible and free and cannot be assigned to a stable
metric order. However, in every dastgah, there are a
number of metrically regulated gushes which are played
among the free meter pieces in order to provide periodic
variety in rhythmic effects. Both, double and triple
meters are common; asymmetric meters, found in the folk
music of certain regions, are rare in the classical music.
As in the case of many non-western musical cultures,
Persian music has not evolved a systematic harmonic
practice. The development of this music has been primarily
melodic. As such it has attained a far greater measure of
melodic refinement and subtlety western music.
Instruments
The musical instruments which
have been known in the long history of Iran (Persia) are
too numerous to name here. The following are those
instruments, which are widely used at the present time:
Tar:
A plucked string instrument with six strings and a range
of two octaves and fifth.
Setar:
An instrument related to the tar with
the same range, but with four strings. The setar is
strummed by the nail of the right index finger.
Oud:
The Arabian name for the ancient Persian instrument called
barbat. It is also a plucked string instrument with nine
to eleven strings. The European lute is a derivative of
the Oud.
Kamancheh:
A bowed instrument with four
strings, played in the fashion of the violoncello, but
with a size and tone range comparable to the violin.
Santour:
A dulcimer played with delicate wooden
mallets, with a range exceeding three octaves.
Ney:
Generic name for numerous verities of flutes.
Tombak (Tumbak ~ Tunbak ~ Zarb):
The principal
percussion instrument in the [Persian] classical music. It
is vase shaped drum open on the narrow and end covered
with a tightly stretched skin on the other side.
Dayereh: Tambourine.
Folk and
Popular Music
The modal concepts in Persian
folk music are directly linked with that of the classical
music. However, improvisation plays a minor role as folk
tunes are characterized by relatively clear-cut melodic
and rhythmic properties. The function of each folk melody
determines its mood. The varying aesthetic requirements of
wedding songs, lullabies, love songs, harvest songs, dance
pieces, etc., are met with transparent and appropriate
simplicity. The majority of the classical instruments are
too elaborate and difficult for the folk musicians.
Instead, there are literally dozens of musical instruments
of various sorts found among the rural people. In fact,
each region of the country can boast instruments peculiar
to itself. Three types of instruments, however, are common
to all parts of the country. They are, a kind of shawm
called Surnay (or Sorna ~ Zorna), the various types of Ney
(flute), and the Dohol, a doubleheader drum. A discussion
of Persian music must necessarily include the new hybrid
of mixed Persian-Western music which is functioning as a
popular-commercial music. The use of western popular
rhythms, an elementary harmonic superimposition, and
relatively large ensembles composed of mostly western
instruments, characterize this music. The melodic and
modal aspects of these compositions maintain basically
Persian elements. On the whole, it would be something of
an understatement to say that the artistic merit of such a
melange as this is rather questionable.
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