Tehran - Al Jazeera Net
"The Spirit of the Charming East." Thus, the Persian music striking the roots of history, and the ancient carvings and drawings related to multiple civilizations, are only proof of that.
Music in Iran was still one of the main branches of the culture of the people. The Zoroastrians, for example, used to express their religious rites. They were a kind of moral weapon in the battlefields, in the palaces of the kings and their musical performances were expressions of joy and triumph.
Historically Iranian music has undergone three stages: before Islam, after Islam, and contemporary times (from the Qajar era until now).
We have achieved little about the history of music in Iran during the past centuries until the Sassani era, unlike the Islamic era in which Muslim writers wrote several books in different fields, including music.
The most prominent authors of this era are Abu Nasr Al-Farabi with the book "The Great Musician", Abu Al-Faraj Al-Asfahani and his book "The Songs", by Safi Al-Din Armawi and his book "An Honorary Message", Abdul Qadir Al-Maraghi and his book "Makassed Al-Alhan".
Currently, Iranian music is divided into two types, the first known as traditional music or "Santi", a form of authentic music played by traditional Iranian instruments. The second is pop music, whose instruments are all Western-style or a combination of Western and traditional instruments.
Artistically, Persian music is based on seven original works: Shur, Seh Kah, Jahar Kah, Humayun, Mahor, Noa and Rast Bengkha, each of which inspires the listener with a mixture of joy and sadness. And meditation.
Persian music also has five original tones: Abu Atta, Bayat Turk, Bayat Isfahan, Afshari and Dashti. There are 280 denominations of all these denominations and tones in ancient books, but only a few are currently used. All these contemporary divisions and rules arose during the Qajaris (1794-1925).
The Persian music required different and varied instruments, the most famous of which are: Ni, Tar, Duf, Du Tar, Sahar Tar, Kamanjah, Tambak, Law, Sentor, Rabab, Tanpur, Oud, Sarna, Ni Anban, Dahl, Naqara, Dr. , Which are used to this day.
Persian music is interwoven among many cultures combined by one civilization, each using these instruments in folkloric folk songs, and everyone has his own rhythm in use to express his feelings, history and culture.
Kulan and Thalash in the north, Kurdish in the west, Arab in the south-west, Bandariyah on the southern coast, Luria and Bakhtiaria in the center, Baluchi in the south-east, Kharasaniya and Turkmen in the north-east, and Azeri in the north-west.
"The freedom of action and improvisation, which are enjoyed by the composer and the Persian singer, can convey feelings and personal expressions to music," says Jean Dorring, a French orientalist and researcher of Persian literature and author of The Year and the Transformation of Iranian Music. Nice and smooth .. They are features that we see only in Iranian music. "
This diversity of music in Iran allows the majority of the people to enjoy or read verses of poetry to meet his needs to reach his spiritual and material goals, and to express what can not be expressed.
Music and literature An important fabric in the cultural context of Iranian society is more popular than ever, but legal, social and political constraints in Iran have forced some to leave the country and stay abroad to pursue their professional work in this field.
Women in Iran can not sing and perform in front of men, and the same is true for those who criticize the government politically and socially for their songs, or those who violate the standards in force in the country.
In these circumstances, many of them have to walk on a fine line between criticism and censorship, but these measures did not prevent this generation from following music and musicians and their concerts even if they were outside the country.