Polyphony in Iranian Music (III)

Written by Dr. M. Taghi Massoudieh (1927-1998)
Originally published in Honarhaye Ziba (Fine Arts) 3, 1998, 95-104.

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati

 

3. Heterophonic Variant

In heterophonic variant, two performers perform a single melody simultaneously and change it. Performing and changing a single melody simultaneously by two performers leads to the coincidence of different voices.

Transcription No.3

Transcription No.3

The Ta’zieh ceremony of Imam Hussein’s martyrdom ends with the performance of two trumpets accompanied by a small and a large drum (Transcription No.3). The coincidence of different voices, resulted from the change in the single melody with first and second trumpets, especially on lines 5 and 6 (Transcription 3) is clearly obvious. The second trumpet performs the melody performed by the first trumpet with a delay and slightly changes it. Consequently, various voices resulted from heterophonic variant coincide with each other (Transcription 3, d staff 5, a2 staff 6).

Polyphonic forms exist not only in the music of Ta’zieh ceremony but also in the music of Iran’s regions: In Baluchistan, one of the songs for wedding ceremonies is called “Laroo.” The song is usually sung after the bridegroom’s bath when he is going his seat.
Additionally, “Laroo” is also sung on the sixth evening after the child delivery; hence, it is also called “sextuple”. The reason for such a title “Laroo” for the song is the refrain consisting of meaningless syllables “laroo li laroo laroo.”

Arman Gol Are (Transcription 4)

Transcription No.4

Translation of the text: laroo, laroo, Arman Gol Are take off your scarf. Kuwaiti scarf. Maybe he does not want it. Take off your scarf [5].

Arman Gol Are avaz is sung by both the soloist and the choir; that is to say that it is offered in responsorial form. In this case, two different voices coincide in the fifth and third intervals (Transcription 4, staves 2, 5, 7) because the soloist has not finished the paragraph when the choir begins singing the next paragraph. Each avaz paragraph consists of a period, which in turn, consists of four melodic figures (a+b+c+d, staff 2).
Out of these four figures, the first and the third figures are almost identical (a and c). This is while the second figure (b) seems contradictory to others. The last figure (d) only consists of the repetition of final note “la”.

Veŝ Tavaré Na (Transcription 5)

Transcription No.5

Translation of the text: Li laroo, laroo. The bridegroom’s shoes make a beautiful sound. Mr. [bridegroom]’s shoes make a beautiful sound. Mr. [bridegroom] is sitting to [start] a wonderful life. Mr. [bridegroom] is sitting [6].

 

 

__________________________

[5] Massoudieh, M. Taghi. Principles of Ethnomusicology, Comparative Musicology. Soroush, Islamic Republic of Iran Publishing House, Tehran,  1986, 139-141.

[6] Massoudieh, M. Taghi. Hochzeitslieder aus Balucestan. “Jahrbuch für musikalische Volks – und Völkerkunde, Bd. 7, 1973. S 58-69.”

Also: Massoudieh, M. Taghi. Principles of Ethnomusicology, ibid. pp 128-129.

Post a Comment

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

Timeless or Timely: The Role of Historical Context in Defining Artistic Value

Imagine that, in the course of historical research, we discover a musical piece whose compositional techniques (including form, melody, texture, and orchestration) resemble those of a second-rate 19th-century composition. But further investigation reveals that this work predates that period by 200 years. Can we still deem it insignificant? Certainly not. Here, the first major role of historical judgment becomes evident.

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)

From Past Days…

Motherland Orchestra Broke the Spell of the Covid-19 Restrictions

The Motherland Orchestra staged the first concert since the outbreak of the pandemic under the baton of Nezhat Amiri. The orchestra went on stage on December 23-24, 2021 in memory of Rouhollah Khaleghi and Golnoush Khaleghi at Vahdat Hall, Tehran, Iran. Since the pandemic outbreak, concerts were held online and restrictions were imposed on in-person concerts.

Women and the Music Environment in Iran

The life territory of the female-male relations in the Iranian cultural context is basically a domestic territory and not a social-living one in the labour and leisure domains. To prove this, it only suffices to consider the Iranian men’s viewpoints about women. For the Iranian men, there are three perspectives regarding the women: mother, sister and wife. Mother represents the emotional territory; sister represents the logical territory at home while wife represents the sexual territory.

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)

“I Will Never Perform Just for Women!”: Golnoush Khaleghi Passes Away in Exile

Golnoush Khaleghi, first Persian woman conductor and daughter of legendary composer Rouhollah Khaleghi, passed away on February 14. She was 80. Golnoush Khaleghi was the conductor of the NIRT (National Iranian Radio & Television) Choir in the 1970s. Shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution Ms. Khaleghi moved to the United States and founded the Rouhollah…
Read More »

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (IV)

Researcher: Mohammad Tarighat Translator: Fatemeh Alimohammadi Daf Structure The Structure of Daf in different cities of Iran has a great variety in terms of dimensions, components and even appearance; some of which are as follows: – Square Daf, on which the skin was stretched either on one or both sides, with strings installed inside it…
Read More »

History’s Impact on Evaluating a Work of Art

With this description, we have automatically included a criterion called “History”, Until we know the time of the creation of a work of art, we cannot judge whether it has been easy to create or not. Suppose that, in a historical study, we find a musical work that is similar in compositional techniques (including form, melody, context, and orchestration) to a minor work of the nineteenth century; however, our research proves that, this work dates back to 200 years prior to that date. Can we still consider this work insignificant? Definitely not! So this is where the first use of history-based judgment comes into play.

Harmony in the Iranian Music (I)

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati The article you are about to read was written by Rouhollah Khaleqi (1906-1965), composer, and conductor of Golha Orchestra (established in 1956). Khaleqi was one of the most prominent promoters of polyphony for the Iranian music and is one of the best representatives of the school of Ali Naghi Vaziri. In…
Read More »

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (I)

Today, percussion instruments have such a high place in music that are an essential element of orchestras. This has attracted many people to this type of instrument with roots as old as the first humans. A historical study of music, shows that humans used the sound of these instruments to defend themselves against wild animals and, over time, for alerting each other, signaling their readiness and encouraging people for war, ritual ceremonies, dances, etc. in a manner that is still clearly visible in music and some ritual ceremonies.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (VI)

Researcher: Mohammad Tarighat Translator: Fatemeh Alimohammadi Hooks and attached rings: The junction of the ring to the arch is about 3 centimeters from the skin.  The ring with its side rings should be as far as the diameter of a ring (about one and a half to one and eight centimeters) to make a proper…
Read More »

Homayoun Rahimian & Iran’s National Orchestra

The Roudaki Foundation presented the permanent conductor of the National Orchestra (Orchestr Melli), Homayoun Rahimian, in a ceremony, and finally, after four years, the national orchestra found a permanent conductor. Homayoun Rahimian is the fourth permanent conductor of this orchestra after Farhad Fakhreddini, Bardia Kiaras, and Fereidoun Shahbaziyan. He, who has previously had experience of conducting concerts besides being Meister’s concert of this orchestra, performed the concert “Autumns” on the 20th of Tir, performing works by Rouhollah Khaleqi, Javad Ma’roufi, and Hossein Dehlavi.