Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music,[1][2][3] refers to the classical music of Iran (also known as Persia). It consists of characteristics developed through the country's classical, medieval, and contemporary eras. It also influenced areas and regions that are considered part of Greater Iran.[4]

Iran's classical art music continues to function as a spiritual tool, as it has throughout history, and much less of a recreational activity. It belongs, for the most part, to the social elite, as opposed to the folkloric and popular music, in which the society as a whole participates. However, components of Iran's classical music have also been incorporated into folk and pop music compositions.[4]


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The history of musical development in Iran dates back thousands of years. Archaeological records attributed to "pre-Iranian" civilizations, such as those of Elam in the southwest and of Oxus in the northeast, demonstrate musical traditions in prehistoric times.[5]

Little is known about the music of the classical Iranian empires of the Medes, the Achaemenids, and the Parthians. However, an elaborate musical scene is revealed through various fragmentary documents, including those that were observed at the court[5][6] and in public theaters[7] and those that accompanied religious rituals and battle preparations.[5] Jamshid, a king in Iranian mythology, is credited with the "invention" of music.[8]

The history of Sasanian music is better documented than the earlier periods, and the names of various instruments and court musicians from the reign of the Sasanians have been attested. Under the Sasanian rule, modal music was developed by a highly celebrated poet-musician of the court named Barbad, who is remembered in many documents.[9] He may have invented the lute and the musical tradition that was to transform into the forms of dastgah and maqam. He has been credited to have organized a musical system consisting of seven "royal modes" (xosrovni), 30 derived modes (nav),[10] and 360 melodies (dstn).[5]

Khosrau II was a great patron of music, and his most famous court musician, Barbod, was said to have developed a musical system with seven modal structures (known as the Royal Modes), thirty derivative modes, and 365 melodies, associated with the days of the week, month and year"[17].

Iran's academic classical music, in addition to preserving melody types attributed to Sasanian musicians, is based on the theories of sonic aesthetics as expounded by the likes of Iranian musical theorists in the early centuries of after the Muslim conquest of the Sasanian Empire, most notably Avicenna, Farabi, Qotb-ed-Din Shirazi, and Safi-ed-Din Urmawi.[4]

The introduction and popularity of western musical influences in the early contemporary era was criticized by traditionalists, who felt that traditional music was becoming endangered. It was prior to the 1950s that Iran's music industry was dominated by classical musicians.[13] In 1968, Dariush Safvat and Nur-Ali Borumand[14] helped form an institution called the Center for Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music, with the help of Reza Ghotbi, director of the National Iranian Radio and Television, an act that is credited with saving traditional music in the 1970s.[citation needed]

The "Radif of Iranian music" was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, described as "the traditional repertoire of the classical music of Iran".[15][16]

Iran's classical art music relies on both improvisation and composition, and is based on a series of modal scales and tunes including twelve Dastgahs and Avazes.[17] Compositions can vary immensely from start to finish, usually alternating between low, contemplative pieces and athletic displays of musicianship called tahrir. The common repertoire consists of more than 200 short melodic motions (gue), which are classified into seven modes (dastgh). Two of these modes have secondary modes branching from them that are called vz. This whole body is called radif, of which there are several versions, each in accordance with the teachings of a particular master (ostd).

By the end of the Safavid Empire, more complex musical movements in 10, 14, and 16 beats stopped being performed. In the early Qajar era, the rhythmic cycles (osul) were replaced by a meter based on the qazal, and the maqam system of classification was reconstructed into the radif system. Today, rhythmic pieces are performed in beats of 2 to 7, with some exceptions. The reng are always in a 6/8 time frame.[citation needed]

Iran's classical art music is vocal based, and the vocalist plays a crucial role, as he or she decides what mood to express and which dastgah relates to that mood. In many cases, the vocalist is also responsible for choosing the lyrics. If the performance requires a singer, the singer is accompanied by at least one wind or string instrument, and at least one type of percussion. There could be an ensemble of instruments, though the primary vocalist must maintain his or her role. In some tasnif songs, the musicians may accompany the singer by singing along several verses.[citation needed]

Indigenous Iranian musical instruments used in the traditional music include string instruments such as the chang (harp), qanun, santur, rud (oud, barbat), tar, dotar, setar, tanbur, and kamanche, wind instruments such as the sorna (zurna, karna), ney, and neyanban, and percussion instruments such as the tombak, kus, daf (dayere), naqare, and dohol.[citation needed]

Some instruments, such as the sorna, neyanban, dohol, and naqare, are usually not used in the classical repertoire, but are used in the folk music. Up until the middle of the Safavid Empire, the chang was an important part of Iranian music. It was then replaced by the qanun (zither), and later by the western piano. The tar functions as the primary string instrument in a performance. The setar is especially common among Sufi musicians. The western violin is also used, with an alternative tuning preferred by Iranian musicians. The ghaychak, that is a type of fiddle, is being re-introduced to the classical music after many years of exclusion.[citation needed]

The following articles on the Persian Wikipedia (easily translated with a browser such as Chrome) cover material not yet included in the English Wikipedia. It is easy to gloss over rhythm, instrument and song as having the same meanings that they have in western musical theory, when they have specific meanings in Persian musical theory.

The Oud disappeared from Persian music at some point and the legacy of long necked lutes continued in Iran and Central Asia during the medieval period until the 20th century when the Oud was revived in Iran.

After studying the Oud/Barbat with Hossein Behroozinia, and performing Barbat with various Persian ensembles, I started to become disenchanted with certain obstacles the Oud had in the context of Persian music. Keep reading for the details.

The Persian music we have today was truly formulated and established from the 18th-19th centuries in Persia. This period would have encompassed the Zand and Qajar dynasties. During this period and prior, Persian music was dominated by long-necked, fretted lutes like Dutar, Kurdish Tanbour, Setar, Robab, and subsequently Tar.

We do not know much about the origin of the Tar, but it soon became the foundation of Persian music. One of the important features of Iranic instruments from Kurdistan to Tajikistan is the presence of moveable, gut frets.

Another thing I started to realize was that playing the Oud was becoming very awkward. The sympathetic resonance and the tuning of the open strings often clashes with the Dastgah being played. The fundamental and tonic and particular sound of the open strings is carefully programmed into Tar and Setar tunings. And this sound was imprinted in my heart from childhood listening to Persian music. Not being able to hear the same sound while playing the Oud was confusing and disappointing.

This is common in modal music from Kurdistan to India, and Turkish Central Asia. You often play one mode for a certain period of time, and rarely modulate. Playing a different mode often requires re-tuning. While there are limitations in this versatility, it was rarely important in ancient music.

Arabic and Turkish music modulates often and quickly, the tonal center can change easily. The Oud achieves this effortlessly. This is what I think is the main strength of the Oud. In addition, Arabic and Turkish melodies are more dynamic and move around. They do not rest on the tonal center as long as in Persian music. This creates less need to have a certain resonance echoing through the instrument.

In essence, the Radif is a collection of predominantly non-rhythmical melodic compositions that encompass the range of melodic systems (dastgah). Each piece represents a niche (gusheh) within the system (dastgah). A niche develops the scale either by focusing on a certain note in the scale, by establishing a specific musical phraseology, or by modulating to a sub-scale within the system. A niche can also contain some or all of these features.

Fourth, there are several Radif which are studied and memorized by students of Persian music. Each Radif has some overlapping gusheh, and some have unique gusheh. But the most important gusheh usually overlap in its overall character.

In practice, most masters of Persian music know these gusheh intimately if not memorized by heart. They take the general forms of these gusheh and develop melodies based on their general feeling and character either when composing or improvising. These systems and niches are the building blocks of what is Persian music, you will even hear aspects of radif in Persian pop music. 0852c4b9a8

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