Iranian Fallacies – School of Vaziri

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati

The term “School of Vaziri” is often used in writings on Iranian music, but the exact meaning of the term is not clear; some of the authors have used the term to only refer to the group of Vaziri’s students, including a large group of his conservatory students and his Tar students such as Abolhassan Saba, Rouhollah Khaleghi, Ahmad Foroutan Rad, Hossein Sanjari, Heshmat Sanjari and others. But can we consider all Ali Naghi Vaziri’s students as followers of his school of thought? This is definitely a mistake, because we know that some of Vaziri’s students have chosen a completely different path than that of his.

From this last statement, it can be concluded that Vaziri’s “method” represents his school of thought and is not used to refer to his students.

Now what is this method?

To clarify this issue, we must first evaluate Mr. Vaziri’s unique projects[i] and identify those who remained loyal to them:

 

1-  Introducing the Iranian music as a sub-branch of classical music: Vaziri did not believe in the separation of Iranian music from Western classical music and believed that the scientific rules of music do not recognize any borders. This belief led him to draw on all the capacities of the Western classical music, from educational techniques and stage etiquette to its theoretical background, in order to reach his ideal level in the Iranian music.

2-  24 Equal temperaments (quarter tone): To standardize the intervals in the Iranian music, Vaziri proposed the use of 24 quarter tones, which was introduced in ancient Greece (and among Turks and Arabs), for Iranian music. This method made it possible to make Iranian music modes from 24 quarters, and with this method, there was no need for limited use of modulations in Iranian music.

3-  The proposal to harmonize Iranian music with the tierce method: Vaziri who strongly believed in the modal similarity of the Iranian music with the Western music wrote a book on harmonizing Iranian music in which he used the method of tierce harmony (or academic harmony) for making the Iranian music polyphonic.

4-  Dividing the main modes of Iranian music into 5 Dastgahs on the scale: in order to clarify the confusing situation in teaching modal systems of Iranian music to composers, Vaziri suggested that the Iranian music be represented by five dastgahs showed on the scale.

By reviewing the writings of Iranian musical writers and critics published in Persian-language magazines, we find pieces by followers of Vaziri who do not believe in some of the points made in this article; however, all of them believe in the first point which was mentioned above. In other words, they lack of belief thereof amounts to their abandonment of the school of Vaziri.  By not believing in the fact that Iranian music is a sub-branch of Western classical music can pose serious challenges to Vaziri’s consequent suggestions[ii].

None withstanding, it should be asserted that all the musicians who believe in a classical approach to the Iranian music can be considered as Vaziri’s followers[iii]. An important question is therefore raised: did such an approach to the Iranian music exist before Vaziri? The answer is: Yes. A brief look at old Iranian musical writings[iv] proves that such an approach to the Iranian music has a long history and was in fact revived by Vaziri[v].

Finally, it can be added that “Vaziri’s school” is not a scientific term with clear characteristics and in fact the four above-mentioned characteristics guides us toward the leader of this movement.

Footnotes:

[i] Vaziri designed many projects which are not studied in this article; among these one can refer to teaching choir singing at schools, teaching aesthetics, etc.

[ii] When a piece of music cannot be classified as classical, it must be categorized as folkloric or popular then. If it is categorized as folkloric (as some musicians believe), it should only preserve relevant traditions. It is, therefore, meaningless to introduce modifications to it. If it falls under popular music, there is no need for making it standard and law-binding.

[iii]  Some Iranian musicians disagree with the combination of Iranian music (especially using its instruments and modes) with the culture of classical music and believe that the Iranian music must be preserved as a folk or traditional music. They further believed only some modal features and rhythmic pattern of Iranian music must be used to compose in the style of classical music (which was called scientific music). Despite this, one cannot distinguish between their works and works composed by the followers of Vaziri’s school.

[iv] We also face a challenge here for defining the Iranian music. By Iranian music in this article, we mean the music which similar to the music of dastgah and is practiced in the current borders of Iran.

[v] Even Vaziri’s tutors cannot be totally left out of the classical music culture. As a matter of fact, Vaziri’s difference with Darvish Khan is in their seriousness in promoting this culture.

Post a Comment

Required fields are marked *
*
*
Your email is never shared.

Leading the Charge in Censorship

Davoud Pirnia, writer and musicologist was the founder of “Golha” (Flowers of Persian Song and Music) programs on Tehran Radio (1956-1966). He received his early education from his father, Hassan Pirnia (Moshir al-Douleh), and several tutors of the time (Taraghi, interview, July 1989) and continued his studies at Saint Louis School in Tehran and then in Switzerland and graduated in law. While studying law, Pirnia got acquainted with European classical music. Upon returning to Iran, he was employed by the Ministry of Justice and founded the Lawyers’ Guild. Then he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and established the Department of Statistics in this ministry. Later, he became the head of the state inspection office at the Prime Ministry; he was, then, promoted to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Navab Safa, interview, August 1999)

The Legacy of Khosrow Jafarzadeh

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the passing of Khosrow Jafarzadeh (Khosrow Djafar-Zadeh), a distinguished architect and pioneering researcher of Iranian music, whose contributions to the magazine “Harmony Talk” have left an indelible mark on the field. The absence of this remarkable individual has significantly impacted the expansion and advancement of his theories, which are heralded as some of the most progressive in the history of Iranian music

From Past Days…

Parviz Meshkatian’s Heart Beat for People (I)

Amidst the popularity of traditionalism in the Iranian music, Parviz Meshkatian (1955- 2009) moved from Neyshabur to Tehran. He learnt to play Santour and became educated in the Radif of Iranian music at the Centre for Preservation and Promotion of Music which was at the forefront of promoting the return to musical traditions. Despite his studies at a centre which promoted the use of the phrase “traditional music” in Iran, Parviz Meshkatian emerged as a creative artist whose innovative and unique ideas attracted the admiration of Iranian artists and people from different walks of life. This article studies the reason behind Meshkatian’s deviation from the wrong approach of traditionalism strongly promoted by the Centre and argues that apart from the issue of theory of Iranian music, he can be considered as Ali Naqi Vaziri’s successor.

Rare documents of Tehran Opera Company published in Europe

The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of Evlin Baghcheban’s death. She played a crucial role to promote opera and choral music in Persia (Iran). Born to an Assyrian-French family in Turkey, she studied singing and piano at the Ankara State Conservatory. In 1950 Evlin married the Persian composer and fellow student Samin Baghcheban and moved to Tehran.

Is the Iranian National Anthem a Copy? (I)

The alleged similarity between the Iranian and South Korean National Anthems has been a matter of discussion among musicians in Iran for several years. Earlier in 2021, the issue was taken to the media again with not only claims that the anthem is very similar to another song but also the suggestion that its musical content should draw more on the Iranian national music. Some even went to the extent to suggest replacing it with the song “O, Iran” composed by the late Rouhollah Khaleghi. Before delving more into the main issue, it would not go amiss to consider some technical characteristics of the song “O, Iran” composed in 1944.

Iranian Fallacies – Composition and Arrangement

In the tradition of classical music, it is generally tried to use the same technical terms related to music in all countries. Even in the cultures in which native terms exist to refer to musical terms, usually the better known universal terms are employed.

Persian Music: “Mahour the Great” in Austria

In 1990  an Austria-based Persian musician Khosro Soltani, in cooperation with Hossein Alizadeh, put out an album entitled, Ancient Call A New (Nobang-e Kohan). After many years, a few ancient Persian instruments such as Sorna, Karna, Naghareh,etc. have been used, instruments which have been left out of the circle of Persian classical musical instruments for centuries.

Violin’s inner mold, an essential factor in developing the idea of violin

A part of the secrets of the masterpieces from the golden era lies in the special design of the instruments, as a result of a profound insight to and awareness of the significance of the precise calculation of the various components of the object of arts being created, such as making a violin or a bow.

The Legacy of Khosrow Jafarzadeh

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the passing of Khosrow Jafarzadeh (Khosrow Djafar-Zadeh), a distinguished architect and pioneering researcher of Iranian music, whose contributions to the magazine “Harmony Talk” have left an indelible mark on the field. The absence of this remarkable individual has significantly impacted the expansion and advancement of his theories, which are heralded as some of the most progressive in the history of Iranian music

From the Last Instrumentalist to the First Composer (II)

Rouhollah Khaleghi was the master of composing beautiful melodies. He was the premier of the course of history which was first established by Ali Naghi Vaziri and which improved the Iranian music from simply a gathering music to the classical music of the country. First efforts to compose independent and instrumental music can be also traced in Khaleghi’s works.

Lilly Afshar, Iranian Guitar Legend, passed away

The text you are reading is about Hamed Fathi, a guitarist and one of Lilly Afshar’s students, which was previously published on the Persian website HarmonyTalk.com:

Principles of Violin Playing (VIII)

1.5.1.3.sometimes, a player, due to different reasons, may decisively want to play continuously two notes with a half-step by means of the same finger, in such a case, it’s necessary to open the interior curve of the finger like a spring. Naturally coming back, the curve of finger should be closed and the finger should become curved shape again (see paragraph 3.1.2.1).