Classical Persian music is
an ancient art form and one of the earliest musical traditions known
today. Because of the geographic location and sociopolitical role of
the ancient Persian empire, Persian music and culture has contributed
enormously to the foundation of many other musical traditions in
Central Asia, Asia Minor, China and North India. Since becoming
associated with Islamic culture after the Arab invasion (7th century
AD), it has traveled throughout the Middle East, North Africa and the
Mediterranean. The classical music of Iran is in some ways similar
and analogous to the classical musics of the Arabic world, Turkey and
even India, but it is also a self-contained system more or less
independent of its neighbors. In the twelfth century, a second system,
that of Western classical music, has grown up parallel to that of the
Persian art , and today the two coexist, largely leaving each other
alone but in various ways cross-fertilizing each other.
The history of Persian music in the twentieth century has seen the
development of strategies for survival in the face of Western music,
and these strategies often involved borrowing from those elements in
which Western music is strong. For example, Western notation has been
adapted to Persian music and while it has done its share to change the
character of Persian music, it has also increased the degree to which
Iranian music students are willing to learn their tradition.
Persian music is mainly melodic. It makes almost no use of harmony, and
its performance is most typically solo, although sometimes a soloist is
accompanied by an instrument which echoes and recapitulates each phrase
as the artist performs it, a technique also widely used in Arabic,
Turkish and Indian music. Its essence is neither the dramatic nor is it
the intellectual or cerebral, but rather its quality is mystical and
contemplative. Persian musicians recognize this, for in speaking of
their music they never fail to relate it to the great lyrical tradition
of Persian literature and to Sufism, the mystical movement of Islam
whose special home is Iran.
Much of the music has no meter, no beat, but proceeds with a rhythm
akin to that of speech. Its rhythmic structure is surely related to the
rhythms of Persian poetry. Nevertheless, there is also a great deal of
metric music, and this, normally accompanied by a drum.
Improvisation is the most important tenet of classical music of Iran.
The musician creates in the moment and simultaneously performs for the
audience. The presence and spirit of the audience plays an important
role in the feeling and the creative process of the improvisation. The
improviser combines creativity and technique with the internalized
melodies and rhythms to express his or her individual feelings. To
become an improviser is to reach the ultimate stage in the musician's
creative development. To reach such a level of mastery the musician
must be rich in technique, emotions, innovation, experience and
knowledge. The musician becomes a master once he or she has achieved
such a level of virtuosity and has cultivated the art of performance
and teaching.
The collection of melodies in Persian classical music called Radif is
organized into twelve modes. Seven larger ones called dastgahs (Mahour,
Shour, Nava, Rast Panj-gah, Homayoun, Segah, Chahargah) and five
smaller sub-sets to these called avaz or maqam (Abu-Ata, Bayat-E-Zand
or Bayat-E-Tork, Dashti, Afshari, Bayat-E-Isfahan). Each of these modes
are divided into smaller melodic forms called gushehs, which vary in
terms of meter, length, expression and importance.
Each dastgah is thought to have a specific character and mood. The
material of the dastagh is, then, the basis for actual performance.
During the early part of the twentieth century, a model for what might
be called a complete performance evolved. It consists of five parts,
all cast in one dastgah, but, in fact, not all of them need appear and
it is quite common to hear one or two of them used alone. These five
pieces are: pishdaramad, chahar mezrab, avaz, tasnif, and reng. The
Radif is memorized by musicians and students, which is how the
repertoire has been preserved throughout the ages. The Radif also
serves as a musical vehicle to teach, and as a reference point for
improvisation.
