Culturally, the immediate post-revolutionary period was an extraordinary time, and for classical Iranian music, it was nothing short of a renaissance. The movement was led by a number of mainly younger musicians, many of whom are still active performers and composers.
These musicians were not willing to follow tradition for its own sake and wanted to make classical music relevant to a contemporary audience. They breathed new life into the traditional repertoire. The situation for musicians became particularly difficult during the Iran—Iraq war —88 when it was felt that live musical performance, and the associated expression of joy, was inappropriate.
Since the early s, however, there has been a renewal, with the emergence of many young musicians and an even wider audience for classical music than before. While there was a spirit of optimism surrounding this revival, and opportunities for recording and live performance, it all happened largely in spite of the official policy. Whilst more moderate politicians cautiously welcomed the return to traditional culture, the conservative elements viewed even classical music as a potentially corrupting influence.
Female singers were and still are only allowed to perform to all-female audiences, although there are no such restrictions on female instrumentalists. In recent years, some singers, such as Parisa and Sima Bina , have been given permission to tour and record outside Iran.
Other women work as singing groups which are allowed to perform. Although there have been important female classical singers in the past, the instrumental tradition was almost exclusively a male one. The female singers Parvin Javdan and Zohreh Bayat have performed and recorded with a group of all-female instrumentalists. Another development in the late s was a government satellite television channel, Jaam-e-Jam , broadcasting from Iran to Iranians abroad.
Its programming schedule includes classical music performances. Iranian classical music is largely improvised, and this improvisation is based on a series of modal scales and tunes which musicians spend many years memorizing as part of their long training. During the course of the twentieth century most teaching was taken over by conservatoires and universities.
The music is largely an oral tradition and the emphasis is still on strict rote memorization. A metaphor for this is the nightingale, a bird regularly encountered in the visual arts and poetry of Iran. According to popular belief, the nightingale bolbol has the most beautiful voice on earth as it sings of its unrequited love for the rose gol. Moreover, it is believed that the nightingale never repeats itself in its song. In practice, of course, both nightingales and Iranian musicians do repeat themselves, but the metaphor is important for its ideal.
The repertoire is a collection of some two hundred pieces collectively known as radif series , and the training of a classical musician essentially involves memorizing these pieces precisely. The individual pieces of the radif are known as gusheh corner — a short piece or melody, lasting from as little as fifteen seconds to as long as two minutes, with its own modal identity and often particular turns of phrase.
It is these individual gusheh s that are memorized strictly by musicians and after many years of training form the starting point for creative improvisation in performance.
The gusheh s are in turn arranged into twelve dastgah s systems. These are ordered collections of modally related gusheh s rather like a Baroque suite , and a performance of Iranian classical music will usually be in one of the twelve dastgah s.
Each of the two hundred or so gusheh s and the twelve dastgah s of the complete radif repertoire are individually named.
Some of the names indicate a particular sentiment or emotion while others are names of towns or regions of the country.
Some of these names are also found in the maqam s or makam s of Arabic and Turkish music, the two other important classical traditions of the Middle East. Historical contact between these cultures has resulted in cross-influences in the modes and their names, as well as in instrument types. At the same time, there are significant differences between Iranian classical music and its neighbouring traditions. The other four, including well-known songwriter Roozbeh Bemani, are on bail and awaiting trial.
In contrast to several neighbouring countries where the people are more religious than their governments, the Iranian people in general, and Tehranis in particular, cannot live without their tunes — an observation confirmed over a series of conversations around the capital.
His friend Pejman, 19, finds himself in hip-hop, which he regards as the only true avenue of expression for young people in Iran. His old Renault 5 is equipped with speakers that weigh almost as much as the rest of the car. He also listens to international stars such as Eminem, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg. As with many young Iranians, Pejman's lack of fluency in English doesn't interfere with his love of American music. Some even listen to rap as language lessons. When it comes to such "urban" western genres, there's a clear generational divide.
Gholam Reza, 60, a building superintendent, listens only to Iranian classical and folk music and totally despises rap, calling it "wild and uncontrollable".
Mohammad, a year-old shopkeeper, listens to classical music in his car. His main problem with hip-hop is the volume at which other drivers play it. Shahram, in turn, thinks that the older generation has no taste in music. During Achaemenians, there were three kinds of music in Iran: religious, military and local.
The religious music was a special kind of song called Gatheha sung by priests and was merely vocal, not instrumental. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Popular articles What kind of music are popular in Iran? Popular articles. Esther Fleming June 14, Table of Contents. Previous Article Is Marx toys still in business?
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