Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

III. Regional and popular traditions

1. Introduction.

2. Ritual and ceremony.

3. Instruments and ensembles.

4. Sung poetry.

5. Entertainment.

Iran, §III: Islamic

1. Introduction.

Iranian civilization has long been sustained by complex interdependencies among settled and nomadic peoples, cities and their rural hinterlands. As musical instruments, performance genres and melody-types were transported from one environment to another, some were distinguished as ‘regional’, ‘rural’ or ‘tribal’. The names of a great many classical gushehs refer to cities, regions or tribes. Similarly, within regional traditions, the principle of marking musical differences with geographic and ethnic names is widely applied, though on a smaller scale than in the classical radif.

The current political boundaries of Iran separate ethnic groups from their kindred in adjacent nations. The music of Pakistani Baluchistan Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Syria, Armenia and Iraq affords many parallels with that of corresponding groups within Iran. Musical practices in the Gulf region also share many common features, some of African origin (see Arabian Gulf).

Regional musical traditions are closely correlated with differences of language, and many performers have been bilingual or multilingual. Persian (Farsi) is the mother tongue of little more than half Iran’s population, but most people are exposed to it. Sorani Kurdish, Kurmanji Kurdish and Baluchi are the other major Iranian languages. The most important Turkic language spoken in Iran is Azeri (Azerbaijani), dominant in the north-west; others include the language of the nomadic Qashqa’i of Fars province, the Turkmen to the east of the Caspian sea and scattered groups in northern Khorasan. Arabic is widely spoken in the south-west and in towns along the Gulf coast.

In regional traditions, knowledge of repertories and performance techniques is often transmitted from master (morshed or ostād) to pupil (morid: ‘disciple’ or shāgerd: ‘apprentice’) in ways that resemble transmission of the classical radif. This applies both to instrumentalists learning a repertory of melody-types and rhythmic patterns and to singers specializing in some type of sung poetry. One specialist, the naqqāl (fig.13) might spend up to 12 years with an experienced master learning how to sing and recite the epic Shāhnāmeh (‘Book of Kings’) of Ferdawsi, which consists of more than 48,000 distichs. A morshed who recites poetry in a traditional gymnasium (zurkhāneh) acquires his arts of recitation and drumming from a recognized master. Long periods of study are made necessary by the esoteric aspects of much musical knowledge, whether these involve the trade secrets of service professionals or the spiritual insights attained by musicians who take pride in their status as amateurs. The value placed on amateur or semi-professional standing is one consequence of the low social status traditionally assigned to service professionals.

There are several types of singing and instrumental music among the goods and services best provided by specialists from outside the immediate community. In cities, music for weddings and other festivities is often provided by members of religious minorities, notably Jews and Armenians, many of whom are also instrument-makers. Peasants may call upon musicians from nomadic or itinerant groups for entertainment at weddings, and certain villages have a high concentration of musicians available for hire. Within some tribal societies, the responsibility for playing certain instruments and for performing other services is vested in a relatively small endogamous group, e.g. the Tushmāl among the Bakhtiyari and the Ussa or Changiyān among the Qashqa’i. Musicians of many regions have acquired stylistic elements from the music of ‘outsiders’ such as the Godar of eastern Mazanderan (who number about 3000).

Regional differences are most pronounced with respect to instruments and ensembles, the ceremonial uses of voices and instruments, and the performance genres cultivated by specialists. Moreover, each region has several musical publics, and some are suspicious or simply unaware of the activities of others. This situation has limited the scope of information on musical instruments and performance genres given by Iranian and foreign authors. The first comprehensive survey of Iranian instruments was carried out in the 1980s and 90s by Mohammed Reza Darvishi, who is preparing a multi-volume encyclopedia of instruments.

Most Iranian performing arts allow performers to select stylistic options that either intensify or diminish the demands placed on listeners and spectators. The most accessible music has a constant metre, a fixed rhythmic pattern and a narrow melodic range. Performers may invite spectators to clap in rhythm, and in some genres all participants are obliged to sing the refrains. Soloists invariably depart from the simplest forms of any pattern, and then return at appropriate points of the performance.

Iran, §III: Islamic

2. Ritual and ceremony.

Ceremonial uses of voices and instruments vary significantly among the different regions, notably in relation to the functions assigned to specific instruments. Human responsiveness to divine ordinances can be thrown into vivid relief by the absence of instrumental sounds, as in the call to prayer (azān) and recitation or cantillation of the Qur’an. The effective coordination of group movements in a regular sequence can be underscored by use of percussion instruments. The semantic associations of particular instruments can be evoked as appropriate in ceremonial contexts. Instruments may also serve as surrogate voices, or as the primary vehicles for performance of a sacred repertory.

(i) Zekr.

The spiritual assemblies in which members of Sufi orders sing poetry and, in some cases, play instruments have long provided a favourable environment for the cultivation of poetry, music and other arts. In no other type of venue have so many languages and stylistic levels been brought into play, though differences among the orders are expressed, in part, through stylistic preferences and through avoidance of styles deemed inappropriate. The term zekr (literally ‘remembrance’) applies both to whole ceremonies and to short formulae or pieces that are sung or spoken at appropriate points within a ceremony.

The sacred instrument of the Ahl-e Haqq order in southern Kurdistan and Lorestan is the tanbūr (long-necked lute, fig.14; see §3 below). It accompanies the singing of sacred texts (kalām) in the spiritual assembly (jam‘) using modal entities termed maqām (or, more recently, dastgāh) and often named after important figures in the order’s history. Hewrami (considered a form of Kurdish by the Ahl-e Haqq) is the sacred language of the kalām, though other languages (e.g. Lori and Azeri) are also used in ceremonies. The group sits in a circle as zekrs from various sources are performed responsorially, sometimes with instrumental solos on the tanbūr interpolated into the sequence.

By contrast, the zekr ceremony of the Qāderi order in Kurdistan has two phases, during which participants are first seated and meditative then standing and singing as they move rhythmically. To introduce the entire ceremony, and during the ‘standing’ phase (qiyām or here), hymns and zekrs are sung to the accompaniment of large frame drums (daff). The techniques of alternating verses and refrains in a fixed-time cycle and of varying a melody that inexorably returns to its foundation enable singers to activate spiritual energies and to induce states of ecstasy. The purposes of the Qāderi assembly do not require the diversity of melodic resources evident in the rich Ahl-e Haqq tradition.

For further details on zekr (or dhikr) see Islamic religious music, §II, 3.

(ii) Nowheh.

Responsorial singing also binds together the members of groups that have no connection with Sufi orders. In villages and some towns, members of a dasteh or hey’at meet regularly to sing verses (nowheh) that express their anguish over the martyrdom of the Shi‘a imāms. The leader sings to a somewhat variable pulse; this contrasts with the group’s short, more metrical responses (ex.2), which are normally accompanied by rhythmic breast-beating (sinehzani) or by striking the shoulders with small chains (zanjirzani). The tempo gradually quickens as the leader’s singing rises in pitch and his phrase groupings lengthen.



Nowheh sinehzani is often performed during or after a mourning procession commemorating the martyred imāms. For these processions, the most important dates of the Islamic lunar calender are the 9th and 10th of Muhorram (Imām Hossein), the 28th of Safar (Imām Hassan) and the 29th of Safar (Imām Rezā). Men and boys walk in step, as cymbals (senj) and perhaps a drum, even trumpet and piccolo, are played. When the group pauses to sing nowheh, the instruments are silent, unless they relieve the singers with an instrumental rendition of a strophe.

In the city of Mashhad, on the major days of mourning, groups from many regions of Iran form processions that circle the shrine of Imām Rezā. In the city of Bushehr, each residential quarter traditionally mounted its own procession on the 9th of Muharram, accompanied by an ensemble of eight cylindrical double-headed drums (dammām), eight pairs of cymbals and one long serpentine conical trumpet (buq) made of reed, with an animal horn containing a blow-hole attached at the upper end. As processions encountered one another, the buq players were expected to coordinate the rhythms of their ensembles. (See also Iraq, §III, 1(ii).)

In the province of Gilan and parts of Mazanderan, an ensemble of ten long reed trumpets (karnā) performs exclusively in mourning ceremonies and the ta‘ziyeh drama. The lead player thinks of religious verses appropriate to the occasion and imitates their rhythms and melodic contours with the two (occasionally three) pitches; the other nine play different pitches in a loose rhythmic unison as they ‘catch’ the leader’s words.

(iii) Ta‘ziyeh and Rowzeh.

Sung plays (ta‘ziyeh or shabih) depicting events surrounding the martyrdom of Imām Hossein and members of his family (or, less often, the martyrdom of another imām) are performed in most regions of Iran. The ta‘ziyeh reached its highest point of development in the late 19th century, when foreign dignitaries were regularly invited to witness the elaborate performances sponsored by the Qajar court. The efforts of the Pahlavi shahs (ruled 1926–79) to discourage performance of the plays were more successful in the large cities than in towns and villages. Some prominent classical musicians have come from families known for their expertise in ta‘ziyeh performance, and portions of the classical radif may have been adopted from ta‘ziyeh melodies.

The ta‘ziyeh dramas are produced both by circles of devotees and by professional troupes (who interrupt performances at strategic points to solicit donations from spectators). Knowledge of a role (nagsh) is sometimes transmitted orally from father to son, but considerable use is made of manuscript texts, which actors may even read during performance. A curator of texts (noskhe-dār) serves as a highly knowledgable source of assistance to neophyte performers (e.g. Āmirzā Ali Paknefas of Qazvin, d 1994).

The use of singing serves to distinguish between the forces of good and evil. Soloists portraying the martyrs sing their parts, whereas their enemies do not sing but declaim their verses: singing is held to express human emotions that are sorely lacking in these evil characters. Drums and wind instruments often provide appropriate references to the battle between good and evil. Melodic patterns used for sung dialogues have clearly defined tonal functions and allow for interpolation of exclamations (ex.3). The melody of ex.3 changes direction at the caesura following the sixth syllable of each hemistich.



Rowzeh is an extended poetic narrative about the martyred imāms, performed by a specialized singer (rowzehkhān) at devotional gatherings, which are held at any time of the year in private homes, mosques and other public places. Texts are drawn from a large repertory of printed and manuscript collections dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The singer shapes and articulates conventional rhythmic and melodic formulae to elicit highly emotional responses from the listeners, many of whom weep profusely. (For further details on Shi‘a religious music, see Islamic religious music, §III.)

(iv) Daily life.

No form of sound communication is more important to the ordering of Muslim daily life than the call to prayer (azān). Qur’anic recitation and the singing of monājāt (prayers) and other religious verses in the home is an important part of personal religious observance.

Many urban men attend the morning or evening sequence of athletic exercises in a traditional gymnasium (zurkhāneh). These are led by a morshed who sings many types of verse (including short sections of the Shāhnāmeh, accompanying himself on a large earthenware goblet drum (zarb). The exercises are tightly coordinated with the drum rhythms. Late in the sequence a heavy rattle (kabbādeh) is lifted above the head and shaken; it has small metal discs attached to the links of a chain and weighs up to 24 kg.

As in many cities of Central Asia and South Asia, the naqqāreh-khāneh (literally ‘drumhouse’) once played a prominent role in time-keeping. An ensemble of kettledrums (naqqāreh), shawms (sornā) and long brass trumpets (karnā) used to play immediately before sunrise and after sunset from a tower (naqqāreh-khāneh). The institution survives (though without the trumpets) at the shrine of Imām Rezā in Mashhad (fig.15).

All over Iran vocal genres connected with stages in the life-cycle or with everyday activities used to be performed responsorially and antiphonally. Some are now sung by soloists with instrumental accompaniment, e.g. the motk sung by women in Baluchi mourning ceremonies. Singing to coordinate the movements of workers was highly developed in some regions (e.g. Gilan, Lorestan, Bushehr and Hormozgan), but in living memory many such genres have been abandoned.

Instrumental music is far more prominent in marriage celebrations than in funerals. The instrumental voices that best fit both contexts are those of two shawms, the sornā and the larger karnā. In Lorestani mourning ceremonies, melodic formulae played on the karnā (or sāz-e chapi) effectively recall the accomplishments of the dead.

(v) Therapy.

Healing ceremonies in Baluchistan and the Gulf region depend on the participation of skilled instrumentalists. In the Baluchi gwāti ceremony, various tunes are played on the sorud (double-chested fiddle) or doneli (double duct flute) until one pleases the spirit (gwāt) responsible for the patient’s illness. This tune is repeated as the spirit takes full possession of the sufferer. More than one session (le‘b) is usually necessary before the gwāt makes known his demands through the altered voice of the possessed patient. If healing takes place, it is attributed to divine grace, not to the gwāt.

Musical offerings and appeals to spirits are equally important in healing ceremonies of the Gulf region, which inlude the zār, nubān and liwah. The tambire, a bowl lyre with six strings, is the sacred instrument of the nubān on the island of Qeshm and elsewhere in the province of Hormozgan. It is normally accompanied by two large double-headed drums (gap dohol) and a belt-rattle sewn with sheep- and goat-hooves (manjul or manjur).

See also Iraq, §III, 1(iii) and Arabian Gulf.

Iran, §III: Islamic

3. Instruments and ensembles.

Of the six primary instruments of 20th-century Persian classical music, santur (dulcimer), tār (double-chambered long-necked lute), setār (long-necked lute), kamāncheh (spike fiddle), ney (rim-blown flute) and tombak or zarb (goblet drum), all except the setār are also prominent in popular or regional traditions, where they are found in variant forms. In the 1980s and 90s the frame drum (dāyereh or daff) began to reclaim its former place in the classical ensemble, though current playing techniques are rudimentary in comparison to those of the zarb.

Before the 1979 revolution, urban popular musicians (motreb) exploited the virtuoso possibilities of the tār and santur in radio orchestras and entertainment troupes. The violin was readily assimilated in both environments, whereas its suitability for music based on the radif remains a controversial subject. Some urban popular ensembles adopted a santur with 14 quadruple courses of strings rather than the 9–11 courses of the classical instrument. The Azerbaijani tār (tār-e qafqāzi or tār-e torki) had a major role in the radio ensembles called ‘Azerbaijani orchestras’, which were active for several decades. In contrast to the Iranian tār, it is held against the player’s upper chest and has a shallower body, a thicker membrane for the soundtable, 22 rather than 25 frets, and five or six additional sympathetic drone strings (fig.16).

The kamāncheh (spike fiddle) and ney (rim-blown flute) are central instruments within both rural and urban musical practices. The kamāncheh with either three or four strings (fig.17) is found among the Qashqa’i and in Lorestan, Azerbaijan, Gilan, Mazanderan, the Turkmen plain and northern Khorasan. In Gilan and northern Khorasan, it shares a repertory of dance tunes with the sornā, and some musicians are proficient on both instruments.

The ney is commonly called ney-e haftband (ney with seven nodes), but oblique rim-blown flutes have many other regional names. They are virtually ubiquitous (except from Azerbaijan), as is their association with shepherds. The preferred rim-blown flute of a given region often has a substantial repertory. In most areas it is played solo or accompanied by a drum (dāyereh, tombak or occasionally small naqqāreh). Players of rim-blown flutes often hum or sing a fundamental pitch while playing. In the late 19th century, court musicians adopted the Turkmen technique of placing the ney against the upper teeth, using the tip of the tongue to direct the air flow.

The next most common aerophone is the sornā (shawm, often simply called sāz: ‘instrument’). Its wooden body (usually 30–45 cm long) has a cylindrical bore along two-thirds of its length, expanding into a small bell below the lowest finger-hole. Its melodic range rarely exceeds a 12th. The much larger karnā or sāz-e chapi of Lorestan and of the Bakhtiyari and Qashqa’i has a detachable lower section of copper or brass, somewhat longer than the wooden body; the total length of a karnā may reach 90 cm. One sornā or karnā, played with the technique of circular breathing, is normally accompanied by one or more drums, usually the dahol (but dāyereh in western Gilan and naqqāreh in eastern Gilan and Mazanderan). In Azerbaijan a second sornā may provide a continuous drone. The sornā of Minab (Hormozgan), a relatively large instrument with a range of two octaves, is accompanied on festive occasions by two types of dohol (the gap dohol or mārsāz and the smaller jawrre) and perhaps one or two tombak. The combination of sornā or karnā and dohol has long been associated with weddings and circumcisions, acrobatics, wrestling and other games of prowess; it is heard in some ta‘ziyeh performances, e.g. in Hormozgan.

Other aerophones have more limited distribution. The bālābān of Azerbaijan and Kurdistan (also called nerme ney and mey) is a cylindrical pipe of about 30 cm, played with circular breathing (fig.18a). The broad 10-cm double reed produces a warm, pliable tone. When a pair of instruments is used, one musician (the damkesh) plays a continuous drone. The drone function is inherent in the structure of the Baluchi doneli, a double duct flute related to those of the Indian subcontinent. The ‘male’ flute which plays the melody has up to 11 finger-holes, of which only the lower six are used: the ‘female’ has eight holes, some filled with wax to produce the appropriate drone.

Double clarinets are played mainly to accompany dancing, usually with dohol accompaniment. They are found in Khorasan, the Zagros mountains and the Gulf region. Two pipes of equal length (about 15–20 cm) are commonly tuned in approximate unison, but expert players occasionally tune them a 2nd or 3rd apart to raise the energy level of the music; often one pipe acts as a drone. In Khorasan, the qooshmeh, dosāzeh and dobugeh are usually made from bird bones (eagle or crane), having five, six or seven finger-holes. In Kurdistan, Azerbaijan and Lorestan, similar double clarinets are made of reed (duzele: ‘two reeds’; see fig.18b). In the south-west, a similar six-holed reed instrument (ney-jofti, qalam-joftī) takes an important role in religious ceremonies, and it provides accompaniment for sung poetry and dancing. A double clarinet set within a block of wood serves as the chanter of the neyanbān, a bagpipe sharing much of the same repertory.

The cylindrical double-headed drum (dohol) is found in many of the ensembles described above. One skin is normally beaten with a large bent stick (gorz), the other with a thinner, more flexible stick (tarke). The diameter of each membrane invariably exceeds the length of its cylindrical body (e.g. in the ratio of 80:30 cm). In Hormozgan a group of three double-headed drums accompanies the qalam-joftī, entering in a prescribed order: dohol (played on both skins with the hands), pipa (played on one skin with a stick) and the small keser (played on one skin, with the hands, supplying variations of the basic patterns). Ensembles of drums playing complementary parts are highly developed in Baluchistan and the Gulf region, e.g. the Baluchi pair of barrel drums played with the hands (male dorrokor and smaller, female tambuk).

The frame drum (dāyereh or daff) occurs in many sizes, with or without attached metal rings. It has found its way into the most varied social situations, from the Sufi zekr to performances of street entertainers. It never lost its central role in the classical and popular idioms of Azerbaijan, and the best Azeri players display a high level of mastery.

The most important feature distinguishing long-necked lutes is the manner of sounding the strings: they are struck with the fingers of the right hand on the dotār (literally ‘two strings’) and Ahl-e Haqq tanbūr, plucked with a plectrum on the tār and Azerbaijani sāz. These instruments often accompany sung poetry. Every asheq accompanies his songs on the sāz (see §4(ii) below): with the bālābān and qāval (frame drum) or (in the west) solo. In addition to accompanying singing, the dotār has regionally specific functions (e.g. participation in ceremonies of the Sufi Naqshbandi order in Torbat-e Jam). Khorasani players delight in producing dense sonorities, and ensembles of several dotārs have become common. The Turkmen dotār is often played with the Turkmen spike fiddle (qijak).

Various sizes of dotār are played in eastern Mazanderan, on the Turkmen plain and throughout Khorasan. The two strings, tuned a 4th or 5th apart, are often struck simultaneously. Similarly, the Ahl-e Haqq tanbūr has two strings tuned a 4th or 5th apart, the higher pitch doubled by a third string. Most modern dotārs have 14 frets yielding a chromatic scale, but in eastern Khorasan three-quarter-tone intervals are used as well.

Khorasani dotārs (fig.19) are some 100–110 cm in length; Turkmen dotārs are about 85 cm, having more elaborate melodic ornamentation since the frets lie close together. The sāz or bāqlāmā of Azerbaijan (also called chogur) is approximately the same length as the Khorasani dotār, but with a proportionally much larger sound cavity. It has three triple courses of steel strings; the melody is played on the upper course, and the lower two provide a rich drone. The 14 frets produce a chromatic scale with the option of two three-quarter-tone intervals.

Baluchistan has four distinctive chordophones, the most important being the sorud or qheichak, a double-chested fiddle with a skin soundtable over the lower section, four melodic strings and four to ten sympathetic strings (fig.20). Its large solo repertory is partly shared with the doneli flute. Melodies that are highly ornamented on the sorud are rendered in their simplest form on the rubāb, a short-necked waisted lute with a skin soundtable over the lower section, four melodic strings and 10–15 sympathetic strings (see Afghanistan, §I, 6(i)). The sorud is often accompanied by the tanburag (also known as tanbire and setār: ‘three strings’). This instrument is larger than the classical setār (about 125cm long) and has three strings. It is an accompanying instrument, providing a rhythmic drone. The benju is a plucked board zither introduced into South Asia from Japan, one metre long, with a mechanized keyboard. Its four drone strings serve as a substitute for the tanburag, a small plectrum effectively producing ornaments on the two melody strings. (See also Pakistan).

Iran, §III: Islamic

4. Sung poetry.

The ability to sing or recite classical Persian poetry is remarkably widespread and in no sense the exclusive prerogative of specialists. Passages from Ferdawsi’s Shāhnāmeh (‘Book of Kings’) were once sung in many settings: nomad encampments, village social gatherings, teahouses and gymnasiums. Most melody-types used for singing the Shāhnāmeh accommodate two lines, each with two hemistichs of 11 syllables in the quantitative metre – –/– –/– –/–.

(i) Lyric genres.

Singing for oneself, small groups of friends, children and other family members is common in most regions. Inhibitions make many people reluctant to sing in public unless they are recognized as having good voices. Social gatherings in the Mukri region of Kurdistan may include an activity known as gerelawije, in which everyone present takes a turn in offering a song, and in Khorasan the instrumentalists hired to perform at village weddings provide accompaniment for any guest who wishes to sing chāhārbeiti.

Genres of lyric song emphasize such topics as the singer’s loneliness, yearning for home or separation from his or her beloved, themes that are easily extended to praise of the singer’s home, family and beloved. The beauty and unpredictability of nature are also major themes. Lyric genres are aptly sung by someone working or travelling alone, but the same verses remain appropriate when the singer has an audience of a few hundred guests at a village wedding. One of the primary functions of music is to alleviate the pain of the individual’s condition by acknowledging and articulating it.

The literary form known as dobeiti is a couplet with 22 syllables in each line, almost always in the hazaj metre: – – –/– – –/– – (twice). It has a rhyme scheme of AABA or AABB for the four hemistichs and is often called chāhārbeiti (‘quatrain’). Such couplets are usually sung to melody-types that can accommodate one full line, which allows singers to introduce subtle melodic variations in the second line and subsequent couplets (ex.4). A singer strings together a sequence of couplets, repeating lines, inserting refrains ad libitum, and interpolating vocatives and expletives ar various points, often with elaborate ornamentation (tahrir). Most melody-types respect the division of the couplet into four hemistichs of 11 syllables each but do not impose a rhythmic pattern with a regular grouping of beats. Such melodies are sometimes described as ‘non-metric’, despite the fact that the poetic metre acts as a strong constraint, controlling the placement of ornaments and extended durations. In some verses the number of syllables is kept constant with no hint of a quantitative metre. Although instrumental accompaniment is not essential, the dotār, kamāncheh, ney, ney-joftī and ney anbān are capable of playing alternate strophes with ornamentation equivalent to that of the vocalist.

The varieties of dobeiti (or chahārbeiti) have many names, pointing to the subject matter, melody-type or manner of performance. Gharibi, a common term in several regions, emphasizes the singer’s predicament as a stranger far from home. In the Talesh region of Gilan, the generic term is dastun and melody-types bear the names of localities (e.g. kargānrudi, asālmi, māsāli). In Fars and the Gulf region, the most important term is sharve, and many verses are attributed to named poets such as Fāyez Dashtestāni (1834–1911) and Maftun (1897–1962). Singing styles vary with respect to features such as emphasis on, or avoidance of, melodic climaxes in the sharve. In northern Khorasan the āhang-e sarhaddi (‘tune of the Sarhadd region’) is the preferred melody-type. Around Torbat-e Jam some of the same verses are sung in a number of genres, e.g. sarhaddi, jamshidi, hazaregi and kucheh-bāqi. (See Afghanistan, §II, 2(i).)

The quatrains sung in Azerbaijan (bayāti, similar in form to the Turkish māni) usually have seven-syllable lines with the rhyme scheme AABA, as does the ağit, a lament for the dead. Some scholars believe that bayāti and māni derive from a process of interaction between the Persian dobeiti and older forms of Turkic poetry. Qoshma is the other major type of Azerbaijani quatrain: lines of 8 or 11 syllables have the rhyme scheme AAAB and the final line is sometimes a refrain. Rhythmic and melodic considerations occasion the expansion of some lines, elimination of others and addition of refrains or vocables during performances. The qoshma is easily extended into a strophe of five hemistichs with the rhyme scheme AAABB.

In Kurdistan, lyric genres are not arranged in quatrains. The most popular Kurdish songs, known as gorāni or stran, are short and relatively easy to learn. Their refrains are sometimes longer than the verses. Lawik, heyrān and qetar are common genres calling for elaborate ornamentation as the melody gradually descends within an interval of a 4th or (more often) 5th. The distinctive melodic profile of each genre make it easy to recognize in instrumental performances. Singers make extensive use of syllables such as leyley, lolo and loyloy. These genres are often followed by a pashbend (‘suffix’, ‘after-verse’) in a dance rhythm.

Baluchistan, like Kurdistan, is exceptionally rich in lyric genres, which lend themselves to instrumental adaptation. Zahirok and liku, like the Persian gharibi, express yearning for home or anguish at separation from the beloved. The melodies may have a range of two conjunct or disjunct 4ths; they are highly ornamented and avoid any metric regularity. Both genres are often accompanied on the sorud, which provides introductions, interludes and conclusions, plus a constant drone. The metric genre known as sawt is usually sung to instrumental accompaniment and treats many topics. It has an unusually large repertory of melodies; a single song may contain phrases based on several different species of tetrachords.

(ii) Narrative genres.

Several types of professional and semi-professional performers have long been recognized for their large repertories and skill in holding an audience. These include the Persian naqqāl, Baluchi shā‘er or pahlawān, Kurdish beytbij, Azerbaijani ‘āshıq, Turkmen and Khorasani bakhshi. Prior to the 1979 Revolution, an elaborate wedding celebration (toy) in Turkic-speaking areas was incomplete without performance of stories (dāstān or hikāye) that include quatrains sung to instrumental accompaniment.

Other major venues for performance of narrative genres were upper-class homes and, from the 17th century onwards, teahouses (most of which were closed after the 1979 Revolution). The traditional patronage base of the great Iranian storytellers did not survive the social changes of the 20th century, although in current times a festival of traditional arts may bring together outstanding performers in most of the categories described.

Baluchi verse narratives (sheyr) used to be performed by a poet-singer (shā‘er) at gatherings of the ruling khans, and occasionally at marriage celebrations. Extensive stories such as ‘Chāker and Goharām’ might last as long as ten hours. They primarily tell of heroic deeds and historical events, but include tales of lovers who overcome various obstacles to their union. The singer is generally accompanied by sorud and tanburag. He should effectively combine three performance styles, moving from expressive singing (alhān, pl. of Arab. lahn: ‘melody’) to rapid declamation (dabgāl) or short metric songs (sāzenk); instrumental interludes are inserted at prescribed points. At the highest level of mastery, the poet-singer is termed pahlavān (‘singer of heroism’).

A Kurdish beytbij may sing throughout the epic (beyt) without instrumental accompaniment or may combine sung poetry with spoken prose. Presentation of a long beyt may extend over several evenings. Topics range from stories of ill-fated lovers to warfare between Kurdish princes or Kurds opposing Ottoman or Persian armies. Narrative poems by modern Kurdish writers such as Abdollah Guran (1904–62) often carry political implications; they are sung throughout Kurdistan in a style similar to the beyt. Traditionally semi-professional, the beytbij acquires his art through extended study with a master (westa). ‘Ali Bardashani, the celebrated beytbij active at the Bābān court under Abdolrahmān Pasha (ruled 1789–1812) was said to have received assistance from supernatural beings (jindōkān), and in return he supposedly sang at their weddings. Other early singers are also remembered by name.

Each strophe of a beyt generally has a variable number of lines of varying length, with a common rhyme. Successive strophes are often linked by a repeated word, phrase or thought. Although the parlando singing style avoids regular grouping of beats, the variation and expansion of short rhythmic and melodic ideas lend coherence to the singer’s discourse. Melodies generally descend within the range of a 4th or 5th.

The most richly developed narrative repertories are those of the Azerbaijani ‘āshıq and Khorasani bakhshi, memorized from manuscripts or inexpensive books and occasionally enlarged with new items. Versions of some Turkic narratives (e.g. the love story ‘Tāher and Zohrā’) are known to storytellers over a wide area extending from Xinjiang in China, through Uzbekistan, northern Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, northern Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Musical presentation is particularly appropriate for two lovers’ exchange of strophes; prose narration explains the situations that motivate the lovers to sing and the strophic melodies are echoed in instrumental interludes. Most strophes are quatrains with lines of 8 or 11 syllables (the latter divided 4 + 4 + 3 or 6 + 5), grouped into larger sequences by common refrain lines and common melody-types. In Azerbaijan each tune (havā) has a proper name. Names are less important in Khorasan; some tunes accommodate verses in three languages (Khorasan, Turkic, Kurmanji Kurdish and Persian).

In western Azerbaijan an ‘āshıq accompanies himself on the bāqlāmā (sāz), and likewise every bakhshi sings to his own dotār accompaniment. The ‘āshıq and bakhshi also perform genres with religious connotations, some employing quantitative metres (derived from the classical Persian aruz metrical system and linked to specific melody-types) rather than the syllabic metres of Turkic folk poetry. A well-known example, transcribed from the singing of Asheq Hassan Eskandari (b 1947), is a strophe from the much-loved sequence Heydar Bābā-ye Salām by Shahriar (1904–89). Shahriar’s strophe has five hendecasyllabic lines (divided 4 + 4 + 3) with the rhyme scheme AAABB.

For further details on the ‘āshıq see Azerbaijan; for the Turkmen bakhshi see Turkmenistan.

Iran, §III: Islamic

5. Entertainment.

Several types of performance described by 17th-century European travellers (Olearius, Chardin and Kaempfer) remained current in Iranian cities until the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution. By the 1990s, however, some had been abandoned. An example is the role of the luti, who sang and danced to his own dāyereh accompaniment, often transgressing the norms of ‘proper’ behaviour. Some performed as transvestites or sang verses praising opium and mocking the authorities. Another type of traditional entertainer, Hāji Firuz, was an actor with a blackened face who performed on the streets at the Persian New Year. He would recite verses in a high-pitched voice to dāyereh accompaniment. A high-pitched vocal style was also used in forms of puppet and marionette theatre (e.g. pahlavān-kachal and kheimeh shabbāzi), which are now rare.

In the 1960s, prior to the Revolution, a troupe of popular entertainers (dasteh-ye motreb) would include players of tār, violin, sornā, zarb, dohol and dāyereh, alongside dancers with finger cymbals, acrobats and actors, one of whom played female roles. Such troupes performed improvised comic skits at weddings and circumcisions in rural areas, and in cities they typically entertained crowds near bus stations. For several decades after the first Persian sound film (1934), films with musical numbers were a significant source for professional entertainers. Films with music in motrebi idiom are no longer produced.

These performers (motreb) enjoyed none of the artistic prestige carried by the cognate term, mutrib, in Arabic-speaking countries: in Iranian culture motreb carries derogatory connotations. Clowning is characteristic of the motreb and was highly valued at the Qajar courts (1779–1925). 20th-century rulers have not cultivated a taste for comedy and satire, although it remains strong in the population as a whole.

In some cities, notably Shiraz, Jews predominated in the profession of motreb, but numbers have declined dramatically through emigration to Israel. Motrebs do not work alone, since many solo lines require a response. Duos are common (e.g. a violinist and singer who also plays dāyereh or zarb); they are also less likely than larger groups to attract unfavourable attention.

Several regional traditions of instrumental music have gained a new respectability through the appearances of outstanding performers at festivals. The traditions have varying norms for linking together the components of a performance. In Lorestan the duo of sornā and dohol customarily begins with sangin se-pā (‘three steps, heavy’) and concludes with shāne-shaki (‘shaking shoulders’). Duos in northern Khorasan (sornā and dohol kamāncheh, and dohol or qooshmeh and dāyereh) are less likely to follow a prescribed sequence of pieces. They may freely mix the main dance-types (e.g. do qarseh, enaraki) with other familiar melodies (e.g. Köroğlu). Hemiola rhythms are extremely frequent in instrumental music at all stylistic levels throughout Iran.

Iran

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

classical music traditions and general

A.N. Vaziri: Dastur-e tār (Berlin, 1913, 2/1936)

A.N. Vaziri: Dastur-e violon (Tehran, 1933)

A.N. Vaziri: Musiqi-e nazari, ii (Tehran, 1934)

R. d’Erlanger: La musique arabe, ii–iv (Paris, 1935–9)

A. Christensen: ‘La vie musicale dans la civilisation des Sassanides’, Bulletin de l’Association française des amis de l’orient, nos.20–21 (1936), 24

R. Khaleqi: Nazari be musiqi (Tehran, 1938)

H.G. Farmer: ‘An Outline History of Music and Musical Theory’, A Survey of Persian Art, ed. A.U. Pope and P. Ackerman (Oxford, 1939/R 1964), 2783–804

M. Barkechli: L’Art sassanide base de la musique arabe (Tehran, 1947)

M. Barkechli: ‘La musique iranienne’, L’histoire de la musique: Encyclopédie de la Pléiade, ix, ed. R. Manuel (Paris, 1960), 155–523

K. Khatschi: Der Dastgāh: Studien zur neuen persischen Musik (Regensburg, 1962)

E. Gerson Kiwi: The Persian Doctrine of Dastgāh-Composition: a Phenomenological Study in Musical Modes (Tel-Aviv, 1963)

M. Ma‘rufi and M. Barkechli: Radif-e musiqi-e Iran [Traditional art music of Iran] (Tehran, 1963)

E. Zonis: ‘Contemporary Art Music in Persia’, MQ, li (1965), 636–48

N. Caron and D. Safvate: Iran: les traditions musicales (Paris, 1966)

M.T. Massoudieh: Awāz-e šur: zur Melodiebildung in der persischen Kunstmusik (Regensburg, 1968)

G. Tsuge: ‘Rhythmic Aspects of the āvāz in Persian Music’, EthM, xiv (1970), 205–27

B. Nettl and B. Foltin: Darāmad of Chahārgāh: a Study in the Performance Practice of Persian Music (Detroit, 1972)

H. Farhat: The Traditional Art Music of Iran (Tehran, 1973)

F.L. Harrison: Time, Place and Music (Amsterdam, 1973), 63–72, 120–50

E. Zonis: Classical Persian Music: an Introduction (Cambridge, MA, 1973)

B. Nettl: ‘Aspects of Form in the Instrumental Performance of the Persian Avaz’, EthM, xviii (1974), 405–14

M.T. Massoudieh: Radif vocal de la musique traditionelle de l’Iran (Tehran 1978)

O. Wright: The Modal System of Arab and Persian Music A.D. 1250–1300 (London, 1978)

T. Ayako: ‘Performance of Persian Classical Vocal Music’, Musical Voices of Asia: Report of ‘Asian Traditional Performing Arts 1978’ (Tokyo, 1980), 83–99

M.L. Caton: The Classical ‘Tasnif’: a Genre of Persian Vocal Music (diss., UCLA, 1983)

J. During: La musique iranienne, tradition et évolution (Paris, 1984)

H. Modir: ‘Research Models in Ethnomusicology Applied to the Radif Phenomenon in Iranian Classical Music’, Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology, iii (1986), 63–78

M. Kiani: Radif-e Mirza Abdollah: haft dastgāh-e musiqi-e Iran (Tehran, 1987)

J. During: Musique et mystique dans les traditions de l’Iran (Paris, 1989)

H. Farhat: The Dastgāh Concept in Persian Music (Cambridge, 1990)

H. Farhat: ‘Scales and Intervals: Theory and Practice’, Irish Musical Studies, i (1990), 216–26

H. Farhat: ‘Western Musical Influences in Persia’, Musicological Annual, xxvii (1991), 76–96

B. Nettl: The Radif of Persian Music: Studies of Structure and Cultural Context (Champaign, Il, 1992)

L. Nooshin: The Process of Creation and Recreation in Persian Classical Music (diss., U. of London, 1996)

H. Farhat: ‘The Evolution of Style and Content in Performance Practices of Persian Traditional Music’, Musicological Annual, xxxiii (1997), 80–90

M.R. Darvīshī: Dā’erat al-ma ‘aret-e sāz-hā-ye Irān [Encyclopedia of the instruments of Iran] (in preparation)

regional and popular music traditions

A.E. Chodzko: Specimens of the Popular Poetry of Persia (London, 1842)

P.M. Sykes: ‘Notes on Musical Instruments in Khorasan, with Special Reference to the Gypsies’, Man, ix (1909), 161–4

E. Rossi and A. Bombaci: Elenco di drammi religiosi persiani (Vatican City, 1961)

M. Rezvani: Le théâtre et la danse en Iran (Paris, 1962)

J.W. Weryho: ‘Sīstānī-Persian Folklore’, Indo-Iranian Journal, v (1962), 276–307

N. Caron: ‘La musique shiite en Iran’, Encyclopédie des musiques sacrées. ed. J. Porte, i (Paris, 1968), 430–40

N. Caron and M. Pourtorab: ‘Expressions musicales de la vie quotidienne en Iran’, La musique dans la vie, ii (Paris, 1969), 43–69

I. Başgöz: ‘Turkish Hikaye-Telling Tradition in Azerbaijan, Iran’, Journal of American Folklore, lxxxiii (1970), 391–421

B. Nettl: ‘Examples of Popular and Folk Music from Khorasan’, Musik als Gestalt und Erlebnis: Festschrift Walter Graf (Vienna, 1970), 138–46

S. Blum: ‘The Concept of the ‘Asheq in Northern Khorasan’, AsM, iv/1 (1972), 27–47

S. Blum: Musics in Contact: the Cultivation of Oral Repertories in Meshed, Iran (diss., U. of Illinois, Urbana, 1972)

L.D. Loeb: ‘The Jewish Musician and the Music of Fars’, AsM, iv/1 (1972), 3–14

B. Nettl: ‘Persian Popular Music in 1969’, EthM, xvi (1972), 218–39

E. Neubauer: ‘Muharram Bräuche im heutigen Persien’, Der Islam, xlix (1972), 249–72

I. Tschakert: Wandlungen persischer Tanzmusikgattungen unter westlichem Einfluss (Hamburg, 1972)

M.T. Massoudieh: ‘Hochzeitslieder aus Balūčestān’, Jb für musikalische Volks- und Völkerkunde, vii (1973), 58–69, 7 transcriptions, 2 pls, [with disc]

S. Blum: ‘Persian Folksong in Meshhed (Iran), 1969’, YIFMC, vi (1974), 86–114

M.T. Massoudieh: Tajzieh va tahlil-e chāhārdah tarāneh-he mahalli-e Iran [Analysis of 14 Iranian folksongs] (Tehran, 1974)

J. Kuckertz and M.T. Massoudieh: ‘Volksgesänge aus Iran’, Beiträge zur Musik des Vorderen Orients und seinen Einflussbereichen: Kurt Reinhard zum 60. Geburtstag (Berlin, 1975), 217–29

C.F.A. Farr: The Music of Professional Musicians of Northwest Iran (Azerbaijan) (diss., U. of Washington, 1976)

J. Kuckertz and M.T. Massoudieh: Musik in Bušehr (Süd-Iran) (Munich, 1976)

L. Loeb: Outcaste: Jewish Life in Southern Iran (New York, 1977), 155–63, 260–62

P.J. Chelkowski, ed.: Ta‘ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran (New York, 1979)

M.T. Massoudieh: Musiqi-e Torbat-e Jām (Tehran, 1980)

M.T. Massoudieh: Musiqi-e Baluchestān (Tehran, 1985; Ger. trans., 1988)

T. Reckord: Chant in Popular Iranian Shi‘ism (diss., UCLA, 1987)

M.T. Massoudieh: Musiqi-e mazhabi-e Iran, i: Musiqi-e ta‘ziyeh [Religious music of Iran, i: the Music of the ta‘ziyeh] (Tehran, 1988)

J. During: ‘Structure du rythme dans la musique de transe du Baloutchistan’, RdM, lxxvi (1990), 213–25

B. Bustan and M.R. Darvishi: Haft awrang: moruri bar musiqi-e sonnati va mahalli-e Iran [Ursa major: a survey of the traditional and regional music of Iran] (Tehran, 1992)

M.R. Darvīshī: Moqademmehi bar shenākht-e musiqi-e navāhi-e Iran, i: Manāteq-e joonoob (Hormozgān, Bushehr, Khuzestān) [An introduction to the music of Iran’s regions, i: the southern districts (Hormozgan, Bushehr, Khuzestan)] (Tehran, 1994)

E. Neubauer: ‘Die Schöne von Kopf bis Fuss: ein volkstümliches persisches Gedicht und die Bilder der dobeytī-Vierzeiler’, Festschrift Ewald Wagner zum 65. Geburtstag, ii: Studien zur arabischen Dichtung (Stuttgart, 1994), 567–85

S. Blum: ‘Musical Questions and Answers in Iranian Xorāsąn’, EM: Annuario degli Archivi di Etnomusicologia della Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, iv (1996), 145–63

S. Fatemi: La musique et la vie musicale du Mazanderan: le problème du changement (diss. U. of Paris-Nanterre, 1997)

A. Youssefzadeh: Les bardes du Khorassan iranien (diss., U. of Paris-Nanterre, 1997)

recordings

Iran: baxtyâri, nomades de la montagne, coll. J.-P. Digard, SELAF-ORSTOM CETO 747 (1974)

Musique iranienne, M. Kiani (santur), D. Tala‘i (tār), J. Shemirani (tombak), Harmonia Mundi HMC 90391 (1980)

Iran: musique persane, classical singing backed by tār, ‘ud, kamāncheh, santur and tombak, Ocora 559008 (1988)

Azerbaidjan: musique et chants des âshiq, coll. J. During, rec. 1981–9, Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire (1989)

Iran: Persian Classical Music, F. Payvar (santur), H. Zarif (tār), R. Badii (kamānche), K. Parvane (singer), Electra Explorer Series, Nonesuch H 72060, rec. 1974 (1991)

Music of Ghuchan (Khorassan, Iran), dotar players and singers: Hadj Ghorban Soleimani, Alireza Soleimani, Silkroad Images SR 100 (1991)

Baloutchistan: musiques d’extases et de guérison, coll. J. During, rec. 1978–90, OCORA C 580017–18 (1992)

Yadegari Album, F. Payvar (santur), M. Esmaili (tombak), Pars Video (1993)

Yād-vāre-ye [Memorial of] Ustād Shahriyār, Heydar Bābā, Ashiq Hassan Eskandari (singer, with baglama, balaban and def), Māhur Cultural and Artistic Institute, Tehran (1993)

The Music of Lorestan, Iran, Shahmirza Moradi (sornā), Nimbus NI 5397 (1994)

Music of the Bards from Iran: Northern Khorasan, Haj Ghorban Soleimani and Alireza Soleimani, Kereshmeh Records KCD-106 (1995)

Musiqi-e navahī-e Iran / Iranian Regional Music, Iran Music Association (1998) [96 cassettes in 16 albums with notes in Persian and English]

Iran: Bandes du Khorassan, coll. A. Youssefzadeh, rec. 1997, OCORA C 560136 (1998)