Persian Music Through Time: Changes and Continuities

Persian Music in History

Persian music, like the ancient and glorious Persian empire, has a long and colorful

history and tradition. Its evolution through the centuries reflect the dynamism of Persian culture.

Persian music’s character is a product of its history and experiences as a society. Moreover, the

ways in which Persian music is researched, studied, and historicized vary depending on

perspective employed by authors, and by the purpose that they have in the undertaking of their

studies. Nevertheless, one undisputed fact about Persian music is that it has existed for many

years and has been central in the Persian culture.

As early as the classical antiquity, Greek historians already noted the existence of Persian

musical performance in their chronicles. Despite being mentioned in passing and as appendages

to the events that they intent to write about, these are empirical evidence to the significance of

music in the old Persian culture that pre-dated the Islamic rule that would dominate the region in

the centuries that followed. For example, Herodotus recorded about the way in which Persian

priests sang in the conduct of sacrificial rituals. The passing on of narratives and tales about

heroes and noblemen were also done through singing. Zoroastrianist societies also put music at

the center of their faith[ CITATION Law16 \l 1033 ].

Through the medieval period, Persian music would go through what historians of culture

and musicologists dub as the “golden age”[ CITATION Law16 \l 1033 ]. Comparable to the

contemporaneous rise of great musicians in the West during the Renaissance, this age was the

period where great Persian musicians were born. These geniuses include Azad, Sarkash, and

Barbad. Barbad, a musician who was also a prominent man of letters was coveted in most

popular festivals and gatherings. Some historians would even attribute the invention of lute him [
CITATION Law16 \l 1033 ]. The boom and flourishing of the Persian music were evident on the

role played by Iranians in the elaborate musical culture in the then diverse and cosmopolitan

Arab world. Interestingly, the subsequent modern period in the history of Iran would be

characterized as a period of decline and marked changes.

The onset of the Safavid Empire in the sixteenth century was a period of decline due to

the relentless policing of the Shiite clerics [ CITATION Mir10 \l 1033 ]. Musicians during the

Shiite Safavid empire were viewed as suspicious. Music became the affair of the laborers and

commoners. It was removed from the pedestal of urbanism and cosmopolitanism where it was

previously held. During, Miradolbaghi & Safvat (1991) wrote that “professional musician is,

generally speaking, held in relative contempt.” This is despite the fact that music was undeniably

indispensable and appreciated.

This irony placed music in an ambiguous status in the Iranian society and in the whole of

Islamic world [ CITATION Dur91 \l 1033 ]. During, et. al. (1991) relates an observation in Iran

during this period which characterizes the way in which the practice of music was disapproved

albeit its popular impact, and how it was shameful especially for women to engage in musical

performances. Even musicologists who studied in Europe were “held in contempt in (their) own

famil(ies) for having brought back from Europe nothing but a doctorate in deleng-deleng.”

Islamic culture locates music as something that is conducted in royal courts, private

receptions, and cabarets—places that are perceived as a hub of “moral laxity” and “interminable

drinking bouts” [ CITATION Dur91 \l 1033 ]. Hence, Islam, and all other prominent religions at

that period like Judaism and Armenian Christianity always viewed dance and music with utmost

reprobation.
 The decline of the ancient Persian music was said to be the reason why the traditional

Persian music as we know it today greatly differ from one another. By the nineteenth century for

example, the system of music that became prominent in the area was very much distinct from the

ones that were developed by the pantheon of musical geniuses who graced the golden age

[ CITATION Luc19 \l 1033 ]. The Persian or Iranian music as we know it since the nineteenth

century until the present is an entirely different phenomenon from that which emerged during the

ancient and medieval period.

The compelling question is, why? Why did the influential and sophisticated musical

tradition which dates back to the antiquity saw a decline and alteration at the dawn of modernity?

Scholars say that Iranian or the Persian music of today’s modern world is a legacy of the modern

Iranian nation-state—a nation state that was beseeched with political revolutions, dictatorships,

and Shi’a Islamic regime [ CITATION Luc19 \l 1033 ]. Aside from this, the 19th century, was an

age of expanding imperialism from both the European and American shores. Hence, the

emergence of the traditional Persian music was a product of the Iranians’ desire to reassert

indigenous culture as a form or resistance against Western imperialism and cultural assimilation.

The traditional Persian music of the modern period thus, was said to not have been

originated from the great ancient Persian empire and the glorious medieval period, but from the

unique circumstances of the nineteenth century. This proves how cultural phenomena, music

included, are neither stagnant nor static, but a product of historical processes and negotiations of

politics and identities.

However, Lucas (2019) argues that the observation by various historians on the marked

difference between the traditional Persian music of the modern age is not totally true. In fact, the
effort of the Iranians to reassert their indigenous culture actually prompted them to revisit their

ancient culture, even if it meant going back to their pre-Islamic past.

This is interesting, especially from a political point of view because the Shi’a Islamic

regime was anti-empire and devotedly Muslim. Thus, the glorification of the ancient Persian

music can be seen as a negotiation of the modern Iranian identity, that is Muslim but is also a

legatee of the Great Persian Empire of the antiquity.

At the same time, it is also tricky because the Persian music of the ancient times cannot

be claimed as exclusively Iranian in the modern sense of the term, because it has been widely

shared by other empires and society in their region. This is especially true for the aforementioned

musical geniuses who were least concerned of their nationality, who “physically moved between

language groups, with no comment about where they were born or what language they spoke

from birth,” and who “focused their lives on the urban spaces where patrons of their work could

be found… (and) wrote in whatever the lingua franca was in their time and place” [ CITATION

Luc19 \l 1033 ].

In this sense, the music of Persia in the antiquity was indeed distinct from that of the

traditional Persian music of the nineteenth century, which clearly and concretely distinguished

the Iranian music and the aspects of which that is exclusively Iranian like the radif-dastgah

tradition [ CITATION Luc19 \l 1033 ]. From here, we can see that modern nation-states can use

history and cultural expression like music to assert its nationhood. These entities, despite their

overarching ideology, like Islamic ideology, can compartmentalize in the creation of their

narrative. They can separate the fact that the glorious Persian empire of the ancient period was

not Muslim in their narrative of having had a glorious past in facing their Western and European
adversaries. This is crucial especially when placed in the period of Western expansion in the

region.

Consequently, such concession motivated the Iranian state to be more biased for

scholarships dedicated for the study of their ancient history and culture. Thus, it was not

surprising that by the twentieth century, Iranian scholarship would witness several studies on

antiquity, especially those that fit the state’s nationalist narrative. However, researchers who

wanted to look at the Persian music during the ancient period had to rely to the Pahlavi Ministry

of Culture and Ministry of Information for their sources. The state itself became invested in

popularizing “the notions of modern Iran as the heir to the great ancient Persian empires for

several decades” [ CITATION Luc19 \l 1033 ]. It is within this trope of Iranian nationalism that

scholars and researchers of Persian music prolifically wrote the history of music as something

related to the ancient Persian culture. This contradiction was captured by Lucas (2019):

“The Islamic Republic’s influence on music has primarily been directly filtered through

its regulation of music performance, which has altered the nature of current music

practices in novel ways, even as it claims to maintain some type of native purity. Yet

government ideas about what Iran is, where it come from, and what its ideal cultural

essence is change the framework for understandings music far beyond performance (p.

14).”

Persian Music of Today

The state in the aftermath of Islamic Revolution met the musical culture of Iran with a

draconian approach. All institutions that taught music were closed down and important musical

organizations like the Tehran Symphony Orchestra was disbanded. Music was banned at radios.

Stricter measures were taken against pop and love songs. Iranian pop artists would find
themselves seeking refuge in the United States, particularly in California, where Iranian pop

music would boom [ CITATION Mir10 \l 1033 ].

In the later years, these restrictions would eventually loosen up, bans would be lifted and

music are taught and studied again in Iraninian universities, state-funded ones included .At

present, Persian music has turned into an eclectic scene that places traditional music side by side

Western music, and Islamic approved musicians like Arshad Tahmesabi, Davod Ganjeyi, and

Mohammed Reza Lotfi [ CITATION Mir10 \l 1033 ]. Such scene creates an interesting picture that

can serve as proof that culture is dynamic and adapative, and that albeit heavy-handed approach

on its regulation, it always finds a way to survive and manifest itself in different forms.

The general appearance of Persian music at present can be described with several

characteristics. One is the marked absence of women. Persian music after the Islamic revolution

in 1978 can be described as masculine. Pre-revolution female singers faded before the public’s

eye. Most of them emigrated and those who stayed chose to lay low because of government

prohibitions [CITATION Gha11 \l 1033 ]. Another key characteristic is the dominance the

traditional music genre. Since the Islamic regime disapprove of bar and cabaret music, it has

encouraged instead this genre because it perceived it as health music: based from the works of

ancient poets of Iran like Hafiz, Khayyam, and Ferdowsi.

Side by side this raditional music genre were war and revolutionary hymns and religious

music. The former was perceived as important in the years of war of Iran against Iraq, in order to

motivate soldiers [ CITATION Gha11 \l 1033 ]. In other words, music was utilized by state

propaganda. This is crucial in the consolidation of the rule of the then newly installed

revolutionary government.
 Despite these regulations, there are small voices and subtle resistance coming from the

popular sector. There is a continuous patronage to pop music, particularly those that were

produced by pop Iranian musicians who migrated to Los Angeles. Pop artists who start to

flourish in Iran were also influenced by those performing and producing music in L.A. Aside

from this, there are numerous underground music produced by underground bands who play

diverse genres like rap, rock, and metal [ CITATION Gha11 \l 1033 ]. All of these changes and

alteration in the Persian music scene happen while heavy nostalgia on their ancient musical

traditions still persist especially among the masses. This is clearly evident on the way that the

people keep their folklore music as source of fun and enjoyment.

Conclusion

This paper demonstrated how music, as a cultural phenomenon, is shaped by various

historical processes in the society where it was conceived. Persian music is a perpetually

evolving art that was shaped by ancient greatness, religious beliefs, state, regulation, and

persistent resistance. Music is at the soul of the Persian society, and one can learn of the colorful,

glorious, and tumultuous history of the Persian empire and Iranian state and society by listening

to their music. Persian music is undoubtedly an embodiment of a society which has undergone a

lot of adversities, both external and internal, and yet has successfully negotiate and reassert their

unique identity.
 References

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