Music Of Iran Folk Music Mazandaran Pop Music Classical Music

Music (muzik) is often denigrated in Islamic societies including Iran, and as a consequence music is often associated with non-Muslim and Muslim minorities. However, as with the ancient Greeks, music theory is valued, though performance is not, and as a consequence there is a strong and well-respected theoretical tradition. (Nettl, 1989)

The attitudes described above contribute to a difference between the European-influenced concept of music and the Iranian concept (see definitions of music). For example, though to a European-influenced listener Koran chanting, such as the call to prayer or prayer formulas, is "music", it is not considered music in Iranian urban musical culture. From a European influenced musicological analysis Koran chanting is structurally similar to Iranian classical singing (even if on religious texts) that is considered music in Iranian urban musical culture, and thus ethnomusicologists study Koran chanting as music, or rather; they study the musical aspects of Koran chanting. Though musicologists find it convenient to consider Koran chanting music, for Iranians Koran chanting is able to be more highly valued because it is not music (but something better). (Nettl, 1989)

As in European-influenced culture, musical genres are considered to contain varying degrees of "musicness". For example, pop dance music may be considered "entertainment" and thus less musical than the canonical masterpieces of the common practice period. In Iranian culture Koran chanting is not considered music, but classical improvised song, classical instrumental metric composition, and popular dance music are all considered music, in order of increasing "musicality". (Nettl, 1990)

Classical Iranian musical culture is thought to be complete by its participants with new creations being variations and rearrangements of old ones or parts thereof. For example, new dastgahs are not invented. (Nettl, 1989)

1 Folk music

Iran is home to several ethnic groups, including Kurdish, Turkish, Bahktiari and Baluchi peoples. Turkoman epic poets similar to Central Asian music ians are common in Khorasan, while Kurdish music is known for its double-reed duduk and an earthy, dance-oriented sound.

1.1 Mazandaran

The northern province of Mazandaran has a diverse folk music culture that includes songs and instrumental and ritual music. Rhythm is usually simple in songs, which include catouli , which is most common around the town of Aliabad Catoul ; the song is sometimes said to be sung when people take a catouli cow out to graze. Because the song was originally sung while walking and working, it often has syllables like jana, hey or aye added, in order to allow the singer to breath while he was working (a work song). Another kind of song is called kaleh haal (or kal kaal or Leili's lover). The term kaleh haal may refer to its shortness of length (kale haal means short present) or to its common wingers, housewives who sang it while cooking with a kaleh, a type of oven. Amiri songs usually use long poems written by Amir Paazvari , a legendary poety from Mazandaran. There is also a type of song called najma which describes the love between Prince Najmedin of the FarsFars is one of the 28 provinces of Iran. It is in the south of the country. Its center is Shiraz. Roughly, Fars is the original homeland of the Persian people. The native name of the Persian language is Farsi or Parsi''. Persia and Persian both derive fro area and a girl named Ranaa. The najma is popular throughout Iran, adapted for the local cultures. The Charvadars are an ancient class of merchants who sold commodities abroad for a local village; their songs are called charvadari . In contrast to most Mazandarani music, charvadari has a prominent rhythm, which may be because it was often sung on horseback.

2 Pop music

Iran developed its own pop music by the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends, using indigenous instruments and forms and adding electric guitarAn electric guitar is a type of guitar with a solid or semi-solid body that utilizes electromagnetic " pickups" to convert the vibration of the steel-cored strings into electrical current. The current may be electrically altered to achieve various tonal e and other imported characteristics; the most popular musician of this period was Googoosh. Pop music didn't last long, though, and was banned after the 1979 revolution. Many Iranians took to foreign countries, especially Los AngelesThis article is about the city in California. For other uses of 'Los Angeles' see Los Angeles (disambiguation The City of Los Angeles widely known by its abbreviation L. is a large coastal metropolis in Southern California in the western United States. in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, and Iranian-in-exile pop stars include Shahram , Morteza , Hodi , Hayadeh, Homeirah and Mahasti .

3 Classical music

The long-standing Persian Empire produced royal classical music called musiqi-e assil (pure or noble music). Its origins are unknown, and may stretch back thousands of years, though its first documented evidence of existence came much more recently.

Compositions can vary immensely from start to finish, usually alternating between low, contemplative pieces and athletic displays of musicianship called tahrir . Lyrics are largely written by midieval poets, especially HafezKhwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi (also spelled Hafiz ( in Persian) was an Iranian mystic and poet. He was born sometime between the years 1310- 1325 in Shiraz, Iran, of father Baha-ud-Din. Baha-ud-Din was a coal merchant. He died when Hafez w and Jalal-e Din Rumi .

Musiqi-e assil instruments include the bowed spike-fiddle kamanchehThe kamancheh or kamnche is a Persian instrument similar to a violin. Played with a variable-tension bow, the kamancheh consists of a round body made from gourd or wood, which acts as a sound box, covered with a thin sheep or fish skin membrane. Tradition, the goblet drum zarb, the end-blown flute ney, the long-necked lutes tar and setar and the dulcimer santur.

Much of musiqi-e assil is improvised and is based on a series of modal scales and tunes which must be memorized. Apprentices and masters (ostad) have a traditional relationship which has declined during the 20th century as music education moved to universities and conservatoires. A repertoire of more than two hundreed series (radif) are each divided into short melodies called gusheh, which are themselves divided into twelve dastgah. Each gusheh and dastgah have an individual name, and many are related to the maqams of Turkish and Arabic music.

3.1 History

Until the early 20th century, musiqi-e assil was heard almost entirely at the royal courts of the monarchy. The Qajar dynasty ruled until 1925, with their influence declining since the turn of the century. Musiqi-e assil became a more common past-time for the next few decades, especially after cassettes were introduced in the 1960s. Before the 1979 revolution, Iran produced the singing star Gholam Hossein Banan and instrumentalists like Abol Hassan Saba , Ahmad Ebadi and Faramarz Payvar .

The 1979 revolution launched a renaissance in Persian classical music, from which emerged national stars like Parisa , Parviz Meshkatian , Jamshid Andalibi , Kayhan Kalhor , Mohammad Reza Lotfi , Hossein Alizadeh, Shahram Nazeri and, most famously, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian. Though the revolution created classical music's popularity, music and Islam have not always meshed well, and many Iranian conservatives disliked even the simple melodies and lyrics of classical music. The role of women in music was restricted, though they were allowed to continue performing as instrumentalists though not vocalists.

4 Electronic music

Many of the expatriate Iranians in North America or Europe are involved in Electronic music. The best known band is the Washington-based Deep Dish which consists of Ali "Dubfire" and Shahram.

4.1 Known personalities

Deep Dish: Ali "Dubfire" Shirazi and Shahram Tayebi, Washington-DC, USA
DJ Behrouz: Behrouz nazai, San-Fransisco, USA
Fred Maslaki : Washington-DC, USA
Omid 16b : Omid Nourizadeh, London, UK

5 Songs

Ay Iran

6 Further reading

Nooshin, Laudan. "The Art of Ornament". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 355-362. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. BooksEnthsiast.com.
Nettl, Bruno (1989). Blackfoot Musical Thought: Comparative Perspectives. Ohio: The Kent State University Press. BooksEnthsiast.com.

Iranian music

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