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.

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…

Negation of Changes in Iranian Music: Embracing Tradition

The perspective that denies any alteration or innovation beneath the realm of Iranian music, and more broadly, the performance and even the structure of Iranian music instruments, stems from the discourse of “tradition-oriented”* and the “return to self” movement in Iranian music. Given that some educators still adhere to this discourse and emphasize the necessity of preserving tradition, a perception is formed among art students that Iranian music, including Radif, lacks dynamism and is confined within a rigid framework.

Payam Taghadossi: Talented Iranian-Austrian Cellist

Payam Taghadossi (born in 1989) started his musical education at the age of 4 years with Monika Scherbaum in Bregenz (Austria). At the Conservatory Feldkirch he joined the class of Imke Frank and Martin Merker. Later he studied in Zurich (Switzerland) with Thomas Grossenbacher and Christian Proske, where he 2011 graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance. Two years later as the student of Rafael Rosenfeld he received his Master of Arts in Music Performance diploma and later graduated as a Master of Arts in spezialized Music Performance in 2016 from the Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW.

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.

Kayvan Mirhadi and O.R.P Qaurtet

Establishing O.R.P. Quartet is Kayvan Mirhadi’s latest activity as a guitarist, composer and conductor of Kamerata Orchestra. Besides working with this Quartet, Mirhadi is busy these days recording and mixing some of his own works as well as some pieces by 20th century composers. O.R.P Quartet performed a concert in Rasht, Gilan Province in late May 2016 and offered a master class.

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:

Farshad Sanjari, Forgotten Iranian Conductor Met His Tragic End

Farshad Sanjari, one of the most renowned Iranian conductors in the 1970s in Iran died after fire broke in his apartment in Vienna on November 22, 2019. Farshad Sanjari was not involved in politics; however, he was one of the victims of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, his name was never seen as the conductor of any programmes.

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.

Parviz Meshkatian’s Heart Beat for People (II)

As such, the young Meshkatian reached the position of a great maestro in the Iranian music. Up until 1997, Meshkatian remained prolific and composed many pieces which were characterized by progressiveness while drawing on the music of the past Iranian musicians. In some of Meshkatian’s works, one can trace the influence of maestros such as Faramarz Payvar; however, this influence is so balanced that one can neither say that Meshkatian is a progressive and deconstructionist composer nor does he use cliché forms in his compositions.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (V)

ehrouz Mohammadi, “Daf and its feasts in Ghaderieh’s Tekyeh” mentions that the outer thickness of arch where studs are located, [is] between one to one and a half centimeters (Mohammadi, 2001: 12). The thickness of arch should be gradually reduced from the installation place of rings to skin (Avazeh of Daf) to create a high volume, clear sound from Daf; also, the connection of arch to skin should not be less than one millimeter, because in this case the skin will be torn due to the sharpness of the wood (Mogharab Samadi, 2009: 79-78). The thickness of wood on the skin side is about two to three millimeters (Tohidi, 2002: 79).

A Miracle in the Iranian Music: About Tehran Flute Choir’s Eight-year Tenacity

Tehran Flute Choir is a 40-member orchestra of Iran’s best flutists; Iran’s best flutists? Yes! If you write down the names of the greatest Iranian flute players who participate at concerts and contribute to academic centers in Iran, you will see that most of them are among the choir’s members.