Classical Persian Music: Its Representation to the Iranian People

Introduction 

Music has the capability of reaching across all cultures and transmitting a sense of emotion, history, and culture. Even if the language used to compose the lyrics provides something of a barrier, the vehicle of music has been used across the centuries to communicate emotions across time, space, and culture. Music has been used to communicate religious history and values, in the context of praising the higher power of that religion and fostering a sense of reverence among worshippers. Music has also been useful to preserve key details of the time, such as music from the pioneer days in North America. Music has the unique opportunity of transmitting untold reams of information because it is mostly composed with the present in mind. If someone was a famous composer, they would utilize the formats typical of that time when it came to writing down their music. Today, that has the potential to tell us a great deal about musical composition practices at the time the piece was created. In this way, music is a rich minefield of resources for scholars who are interested in discovering cultural values and characteristics of the people group that they are studying, no matter what the geographical location or time period. 

Every country has some sense of rich musical history. In the United States, our cultural heritage began with folk ballads and gradually morphed into a breeding ground for country music, grunge, and the rock ‘n’ roll scene. In Persia, their music encapsulated their culture and provided a sense of rich artistic culture that gave the Iranian people strength to resist systematic oppression over the years that was caused by both imperialism and internal warfare. By examining the background of Persian music in the light of their culture, providing musical examples and lyrics that have shaped the Iranian identity in the face of occupation and expression, and reflecting on these facts to add personal resonance, the shaping qualities of Iranian music can be discussed. 

Background

Persia is an ancient empire that roughly centered around where modern-day Iran is today. Back in the time chronicled by the prophet Daniel in the Christian Bible, Persia was a massive empire that had toppled many others and made way for itself. As is customary in history, Persia eventually fell with the conquest of Alexander of the Great. However, it had developed such a rich and centralized culture that it would specifically affect the cultural and social development of the Iranian people well into the twenty-first century. 

Not much is known about Persian music in the ancient world, especially about the music of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great is said to have witnessed many melodies and instruments upon his invasion, and music played an important role in religious affairs. Music played an important role in the courts of Sassanid kings in the much later Sassanid Empire. Of this period, we know the names of various court musicians like Barbad and the types of various instruments that were used like harps, lutes, flutes, bagpipes, and others … While today’s classical music tradition in Iran bears some of the names of some of the modes of that era it is impossible to know if they sound the same because there is no evidence of musical notation from the Sassanid period (Mirrazavi 3)

As usual, the development of religion heavily influenced how music developed. In the case of the Christian church, the style of communal choruses that were led by a central religious figure, such as a priest, and echoed by the congregation, caused the development of a highly specific musical style. In the case of the Persian people, their culture developed into two distinct halves: before Islam, and after Islam. While both periods were equally important, their music-making before Islam developed was highly similar to other cultures of the time, with musical instruments that were common in that period of human history and in that time, used for both religious and celebratory purposes. 

As mentioned in the quotation above, many court rituals are centered around music. It provides a common fabric of emotion and pomp for the rituals of the time. This sense of dignity and skill helps keep rituals together. Rituals give people a sense of belonging and a context of meaning for their everyday lives—a sense of stability that cannot be overemphasized. However, the constant historical cycle of kingdoms falling and rising in their own small corner of the world, without causing a ripple effect, could not last long. The quote above mentioned Alexander the Great noting various musical instruments, ones different than the ones he was used to in Macedonia when he conquered Persia. This was the case with all types of music. Music has a way of blending as cultures, religions, and kingdoms blend together through intermarriage or geographic proximity. However, in the case of the Persian people, they could only lend so much cultural and artistic genius to the world. Like many other peoples—the Jewish people, for instance, with the unique musical cadences of prayers sung at their synagogues every Saturday—they retained specific musical forms as a way of maintaining their identity in a hostile world. Many despots have missed the fact that resistance is not only executed with bombs and guns. It is also done through art. If people have a means of self-expression that they feel succinctly expresses their identity, then they will have a better chance of separating themselves from cultures that are taking them over. Art provides a niche for people to maintain a separate identity that will allow them to maintain their culture, in a way that is personally important to them in a highly visible, emotional way. 

Culture

Music is a very touchy thing. Art usually is. The way that it is expressed reflects whether it is categorized into high or low-brow entertainment, whether it is thought worthy of payment, or languishes in the attic of some aspiring artist that never ‘made it big’. Cultures are usually defined, to whatever extent, by some form, by the artificial divisions that are instituted by their categorizations and the monetary wealth that is assigned to them, something that has plagued ‘starving artists’ for decades. 

A further consequence of music's losing its former scholarly and scientific status was that it became the property of musical "illiterates" - i.e. of musicians who could neither understand nor explain what they were doing. In short, music became an art of performance based on oral tradition. The separation of theory from performance has been a strong conditioning factor in Persian music. Whereas most of the Arab world possesses a large repertoire of composed traditional music, Iran has only fairly recently begun to acquire such a repertoire ... As music was under strong social pressure, the art of improvisation declined accordingly; musicians no longer composed pieces in definite, fixed modes, capable of being played for a satisfactory length of time such as an hour or an hour and a half (Farhat 109-110).

In this case, the music that was approved by the government at the time would have been highly definitive. Additionally, music that is practiced in the streets might sound and be looked upon very differently than the type of music that is played at a fancy classical concert. Additionally, musicians who are signed with official record labels and have a venue to distribute their music are often far more influential than musicians that never have more than a tiny following to show their new musical developments in the field. Additionally, music practiced by those who have had no formal training will sound very different than those who have been trained formally for many years. There is one more factor that distinguishes types of music—perhaps the most important. This is the type of music that is expressive of the type of feeling that is rampant in the country at the time. In America, examples of these types of songs would be ones that vehemently express anti-Vietnam sentiments, from musicians who highly disapproved of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In the case of the Iranian people, some of their most powerful, haunting songs have encapsulated their emotions regarding the effects of imperialism and oppression that has crushed them for decades. Conflicts, both secular and religious, have marred their national life for decades. The work and influence of cruel, bloodthirsty dictators have also had their effects. However, by examining the global nature of music, no matter what region-specific conflicts are going on, the barrier-breaching nature of music can be emphasized as something beautiful and wonderful. The nature of human emotion staying the same in any culture is what emphasizes the impact of viewing all cultures as diverse and equal, something that is lost when cultural barriers are allowed to block appreciation and respect for cultures that are not one’s own. 

Musical Examples

A musician by the name of Marjan Farsad wrote and performed a song called Dishab. Translated on Youtube into both English and Persian lyrics, the universal nature of music is fascinating and is likely to stand the test of time. What are the primary features of most love songs in English? They usually have to do with ambivalent dreams while sleeping of said person, vague comments on the romantic nature of moonlight, comments of loneliness, and fascination with said person, no matter how distant they are. Farsad’s song Dishab is no different. While it expresses some different sentiments in different ways than the typical American love song, it expresses similar thoughts, too. “I missed our laughter, your voice comes from our memories, A wind came with a dandelion, He sat beside me until my crying stopped, He said ‘last night you slept quietly, a sleep in which you saw seven kings,’ I miss our moments together (Farsad). Such powerful nature imagery is not as common in romantic American songs, but the core themes are the same. However, the Iranian identity—while of course, centered around such global experiences as romance and falling in love, pining for someone and trying to cope with loneliness, as Farsad’s song talks about—it has been undeniably forged from constant experiments in expression underneath occupying forces. “The oldest and most influential cultural traditions in the Middle East” (Smithsonian Folkways 1) are wrapped up in Persian music, and should be explored as such. 

Iranian Identity

Globalization has interesting effects on culture. Instead of cultures developing in geographically distinct areas, having only the effects that are possible in a direct area. In today’s world, cultures from all over the world can impact each other. Through technology and ease of travel, information access, and communication, the world has suddenly become a much smaller place. The Western influence on Iran and its’ people has cropped up in its music. In an article by Oxford University Press, the impact of culture changing based on its’ influences and the time period is discussed, relative to important societal factors and external versus internal views of the culture itself:

Zonis points to the "popularization of culture" as an important factor in both types of change, a question more of "modernization" than of "westernization." She mentions the new role of government ministries as patrons of musicians and arbiters of change, wisely observing that the intervention of the government has caused inhibiting and standardizing effects upon musical life. Yet her book as a whole seems to lack critical perspective upon the social constraints which led such musicians as Khaleqi to elaborate a rather standardized system of verbal theory along pseudo-Western lines. The very first sentence states flatly that "the spirit of Persia has nearly vanished from modern Iran," and Zonis goes on to speak of the "pervasive sadness" and the "religious spirit" said (by Kha leqi among others) to characterize classical Persian music. But the historical process through which these or other stereotypes have been formed by European travelers and orientalists, and adapted in one way or another by some Iranians, is left unexamined ... Yet Persian culture has not retained a stable identity over the centuries, and an introductory survey which alludes to the "pervasive sadness" and "religious spirit" of classical music should at least outline the major formative stages of, say, Iranian religious practices. (Oxford University Press 1). 

The impact of this information, that Iranian scholars themselves are concerned about losing a definitive national spirit, is somewhat concerning. The influence of people being aware of this type of cultural change can be emphasized in an interview with Bruno Nettl, a highly influential man in the field of Persian music. 

Interview

If nothing else, Bruno Nettl is a man of many interests. He has conducted both field and academic work on Native American cultures and Iranian cultures, and his interests range from music to anthropology to semantics. (Nettl 1). These diverse interests have led to his well-tested and varied opinions on the development of Iranian music in Persia. He is especially passionate about the pursuit of world music in education, something that is necessary in music classes where undue weight is given to the Western perspective of music, a perspective that can be dangerously limiting if it is not expanded at some point in time. Nettl suggests such easily implemented, yet revolutionary concepts as categorizing music by genre and concept within music classes. For instance, America is not the only country that developed jazz. While New Orleans is rightly called the birthplace of jazz, it is extremely limiting to only explore the particularly Westernized brand of jazz that has been produced in the Western world since it’s beginning. 

Reflections and Conclusion 

Music has the power to influence people in powerful ways that they did not previously consider or take into account. The power of music in Persia to give the Iranian people a sense of national identity and purpose in the face of crippling oppression is an adaptation and survival mechanism that has been adopted by other oppressed peoples in the face of occupation and imperialism for decades. The unique beauty of Iranian music, expressing emotionally universal themes in a language that is foreign to Westerners, is something that should be appreciated in both a recreational and academic context.

Works Cited

Farhat, Hormoz. "Form and Style in Persian Music." The World of Music, vol. 20, no. 2, 2018, Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.

Farsad, Marjan. "Dishab - Marjan Farsad - Persian and English Lyrics." YouTube, 30 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVxFigJed58.

Mirrazavi, Firouzeh. "Persian Traditional Music." Iran Review, 2010, www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Persian_Traditional_Music.htm.

Nettl, Bruno. Personal Interview. 2018.

Oxford University Press. "Classical Persian Music: An Introduction by Ella Zonis." The Musical Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, 2018, Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.

Smithsonian Folkways. "Folk Songs and Dances of Iran | Smithsonian Folkways." Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, folkways.si.edu/folk-songs-and-dances-of-iran/central-asia-islamica-world/music/album/smithsonian.