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.

 Ahmad Pejman Passed Away!

Composer and music teacher Ahmad Pejman (1935–2025) passed away on August 29 in Los Angeles, USA, after several weeks of illness. His most recent symphonic work performed in Iran was Land of the Brave (“Sarzameen-e Delavaran”), which was staged in 2017 with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. According to the family’s decision, his body will be laid to rest in the United States.

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.

From Past Days…

Behzad Abdi’s opera Rumi was physically released by Naxos

Composing a traditional Iranian opera using the Iranian modal system, dastgāh, has always been my dream. I first approached this by composing an opera called Ashura followed by the operas Rumi and Hafez. I believe that in order to attract an international audience for Iranian opera, it is essential to fuse dastgāh with Western classical forms.

Hossein Aslani passed away!

Hossein Aslani, Iranian pianist residing in the US, passed away due to cancer in late January 2020. His last musical activity was an article written for Harmony Talk entitled “Iran amidst musical struggle” in 2016, his memoir entitled “I Play You Again” in the same year and his album “Symbolic Emotion” published by Arganoun Publications in 2014. Here is a brief biography of Hossein Aslani according to his own website:

Principles of Playing Violin (V)

3/1/2/5: When the first finger lands next to the nut, continuation of first phalange of this finger, on back of the hand, should be in line with continuation of the back of the wrist and the left hand; moreover, it should not pass them and bend at knuckles. Otherwise, an uncommon stretch is created in first finger’s knuckle also reducing the freedom of other fingers (especially the fourth finger) in finger placement.

Gholam Reza Khan Minbashian: a pioneer in Iranian music (I)

Gholam Reza Khan Minbashian, a.k.a Salar-Mo’azez, was a pioneer in several domains in the history of the Iranian music. He is recognized as the first Iranian musician who was educated in classical music. He is also the first Iranian the score of whose works were published in Europe. He is the first Iranian to have launched courses on Western classical music and was also the first Iranian teacher of classical music. Moreover, he is the first founder of a string orchestra in Iran, the first author of the Iranian Radif which was available in oral form. Minbashian is also the first Iranian who studied music in Europe.

The Role of Arts in Development of Societies

Mr. Mohsen Ghanebasiri, author and critic in the field of economy, culture and arts, as the next speaker, highlighted the role of arts, specially the music, in development of societies: “As far as the individual upbringing is concerned, a newborn baby is absolutely dependent. The relation between the baby and the parents is based on orders. There is lots of relativity in these orders; therefore, they are political orders. In the economy, however, the relations are mutual and based on common logic; hence, the formation of the concepts of democracy and individuality.

“Guitar Memories” Released

The album “Guitar Memories” consists of the performance of baroque to recent era masterpieces, by Mehrdad Mahdavi, and is published by Tanin-e Honar Publication.

In this album there are pieces composed and arranged by artists such as: Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Johann Anton Logy, Fernando Sor, Yuquijiro Yocoh, Leo Brouwer.

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.

Whose dream?! Whose reality?!

(A review of the “So Faraway” album; Tar and Tonbak duet; Siavash Imani, Pedram Khavarzmini)

Banan: the Artist of the Age

Gholam Hossein Banan was born in 1911 in Tehran. He was born in an affluent art-loving family who were Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1848-1896)’s relative. The Qajar King was his mother’s uncle on her father’s side. He learnt his first lessons in music while his father sang Iranian avaz (improvised rhythmic-free singing), he then attended classes by the renowned Iranian composer, Morteza Neydavoud (1900-1990) along with his sisters; the composer is, therefore, considered as his first teacher. He then learnt Iranian avaz under the supervision of Mirza Taher Zia Resaee (Zia-o Zakerin) and Naser Seif in an oral manner.

Interview with the Makers of the New Qeychak (III)

In this project, my specialized responsibility  was the basic drawings of the desired instrument with the help of engineering and mechanical software.  I have also the carried out phases related to engineering designs, related variables, and volume and weight calculations under Mr. Ziaei’s direct supervision from the very beginning. Regarding the challenges of this work, suffice it to say that the set of designs for the instrument lasted more than 9 months in the final stage of the project only.