British Forum for Ethnomusicology

The Situation of Music in Iran since the Revolution: The Role of Official Organizations
Author(s): Ameneh Youssefzadeh
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2000), pp. 35-61
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060645
Accessed: 06/01/2009 19:43
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bfe.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the
scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
British Forum for Ethnomusicology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
British Journal of Ethnomusicology.
http://www.jstor.org
AMENEH YOUSSEFZADEH
The situation of music in Iran since the
Revolution: the role of official
organizations
This article consists
of
a
brief description of
the
politico-cultural
situation
of
music in Iran, of
the
different
official
organizations
that
govern music,
and
of
the
importance
attributed to
"regional
music". The article also describes the
emergence of
a new cultural
policy following
the election
of Khdtami,
the
reformist-minded president of
the Islamic
Republic,
in
May
1997.
Although
this
description
does not claim to be exhaustive, since the
political
situation in the
country
remains both volatile
andfluid,
it will
give
the reader a
general
idea
of
the
place of
music in
contemporary
Iran.
Introduction
From the
very beginning
of the Islamic Revolution of 1979
up
to the
present
time, music has been the
subject
of fierce
political
and
religious
debate in Iran.
Its
legal
and social status has
constantly
been
changing
and continues to do
so,
and it is still the
object
of various restrictions and threats because of its
alleged
powers
of seduction and
corruption (see below).
Twenty years
after the establishment of the Islamic
Republic,
Iran remains
the location of
struggles
between various
socio-religious tendencies,
even
among
the
highest
authorities of the
country.
These conflicts
naturally
affect
music,
and the
organizations
in
charge
of
representing
and
supervising
it. Thus,
even a
powerful government organization
such as the Vezarat-e
farhang
va
1 The article is a result of
investigations
made in Tehran and northern Khorasan from 1987 to
1997, within the framework of
my
research on the bards
(bakhshi)
of Iranian Khorasan
(Youssefzadeh 1997; see
Figure 3).
It is also based on conversations with musicians and
members of the official
organizations
concerned with music
during field-trips
to Tehran in
1999 and 2000.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL. 9/ii 2000 pp.35-61
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/ii 2000
ershad-e eslami
(Ministry
of Culture and Islamic
Guidance, henceforth
Ershad)
has to
negotiate
with other
political authorities, who sometimes
disregard
its
decisions and authorizations.2 Indeed, opposing agendas
affect all
aspects
of
life in the
country,
music
hardly being
an
exception.
Before the Revolution
In Iran, the
phenomenon
of
gharb-zadegi (Westernization) goes
back to the
early
twentieth
century,
under the
Qajar
dynasty
-
a
period
in which relations
with the West
grew
closer.
Although
Iranian music continued to follow its own
path
of evolution, Western influences
began
to
appear
in it from the late
nineteenth
century
and influenced this evolution until the eve of the 1979
revolution.
(Regarding
Western influence on Iranian music, see Darvishi 1995;
During
1989 and
Sepanta 1990.)
There were two
prevailing
attitudes
amongst
musicians
during
this
period:
one stressed the
composition
and
practice
of Western
music, hence the
creation,
in
1302/1923, of the Tehran
Conservatory
of Music
-
Madrese-ye 'ali-ye
musiqi
-
where Western music was
taught by European
teachers
(Sepanta
1990:134-6);
the other favoured the creation of a new kind of music
by
introducing
Western elements into
arrangements
of tunes of Persian
origin.
The
latter, for
example,
was the case with Ali
Naqi Vaziri, who set out to modernize
Persian music.3
Westernization
gathered pace
in the second half of the twentieth
century
(in
the 1970s in
particular),
under the Pahlavi
dynasty
which ruled Iran from 1921
until 1979. This
phenomenon applied
both to the
politico-economic
and to the
cultural
domain;
for
example,
more than 90% of the national Radio and
Television
programmes
broadcast music that
appealed
to the
masses,4 mainly
consisting
of imitations of Western
pop
music
sung by
such Iranian
"pop"
stars
as
Ebi,
Dariush and
Googoosh, superstars
of Iranian
pop
music in the 1970s.
(Many
such stars now live in
exile, as will be seen
below.)
This
may
be
2 For
example,
in 1995 a
poetry evening (Shab-e
she
'r)
was
organized
in
Qfichan,
a
city
in
north Khorasan, where Kurdish
poets
and musicians from Khorasan were to
appear.
The
Qfich'an
Ershad had
supported
the event, yet
the
performance
was
interrupted by
the
Friday
imam
(imdm-ejom
'e
-
the
priest
in
charge
of the
Friday prayer),
who remarked: "I don't see
such a crowd
during
the
prayer".
3 Ali
Naqi
Vaziri
(1266/1874
-
1358/1979)
established a
conservatory
to train musicians in
Persian music as well as Western music and
adapted
Western staff notation to Persian music.
He wrote countless
compositions using
Iranian melodies harmonized in a Western
style.
For
further information on Vaziri, see Mir
'Alinaqi
1998.
4 "Radio and Television" is used in this article as a translation of"Seda va
sima-ye jomhuri-
ye
eslami"
(literally,
Sound and
Image
of the Islamic
Republic),
the Iranian national
broadcasting organization.
36
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
considered as one of the
many
reasons for the violent reaction of the 1979
revolution and its "back to our roots" movement.
Ayatollah
Khomeini himself had
already
criticized this Westemization back
in 1964
(prior
to his
exile).
He had indeed denounced the Radio and Television
programmes
as
issuing
"from a colonized culture"
(este 'mari)
and
producing
"a
colonized
youth" ("Enqelab-e
eslami va
esha'e-ye farhang-e
isar va shahadat"
in the
daily newspaper Etteld'dt,
3
February 2000/1378).5 Virulently
condemning
the influence of "the culture of
foreigners" (farhang-e bigdnegdn)
in Iran, he insisted on the need for a "cultural reconstruction"
(nowsdzi-ye
farhangi), pointing out,
for
example,
that "the road to reform in a
country goes
through
its
culture,
so one has to start out with a cultural reform."
At the same
time,
both traditional and
regional
music aroused fresh interest.
Thus the
year
1971 marked the creation of the Markaz-e hefz o
esha'ye musiqi-e
sonnati
(Centre
for the Preservation and
Propagation
of Traditional
Music),
which to a
great
extent relied on Iranian National
Television, itself a
leading
vehicle for the
propogation
of traditional Iranian music in the 1970s.6 This
same institution followed the initiative of Fozieh
Majd,
a
composer
and
musicologist,
in
financing
various
expeditions throughout
the
country
to make
recordings
of
regional
music. This led to the
founding,
in
1972,
of a
group
entitled Collection and
Knowledge
of
Regional
Music
(Gerdavari
va shenakht-e
musiqi-ye mahali).
The
group
carried out 13
trips
into various
regions,
until the
revolution
put
an end to their activities. More than 500
tapes
were thus recorded
-
all of them of excellent
quality.
These
recordings
are at
present kept
under
close watch in the Radio and Television
building,
and
nobody
has access to
them.
Although they
are still
among
the
archives, they
are inaccessible to
researchers and amateurs alike.
It should also be added that the music of various
regions
of Iran continued
to be
played
in numerous
festivals,
such as those of Shiraz and Tus. Festivals
were
organized
in Shiraz and Tus before the Islamic Revolution
by
the
Ministry
of Culture and Arts and the
Ministry
of
Information,
with the technical co-
operation
of the National
Television,
under the
patronage
of the
Empress
of
Iran. The Shiraz Festival
presented
not
only
invited traditional and
regional
Iranian
musicians,
but also
great
world masters of traditional music
(such
as the
Indian musicians Bismillah Khan and Ali Akbar
Khan),
as well as Western
composers (John Cage,
Karlheinz
Stockhausen, etc.),
and famous
European
conductors
(H.
von
Karajan, etc.).
5
Although
Iran was never
actually colonized, Russian and
English
influences made
themselves felt in the nineteenth
century,
to be
replaced
in the twentieth
century,
under the
Pahlavis, by
a
strong
American influence. See
Avery 1967; Digard,
Hourcade and Richard
1996.
6 It still
depends
on the Radio and Television. After the
departure,
in
1980,
of its director D.
Safvat, it went
through
several hands and is now headed
by
D.
Ganji (a
former
pupil
of
Markaz).
37
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.91ii 2000
The Revolution
From the
very
outset of the Islamic
Revolution, the situation of music went
through
a radical
change. Indeed, the official
position
of the
regime, following
Ayatollah
Khomeini as its
major authority,
was unmistakable:
... music is like a
drug,
whoever
acquires
the habit can no
longer
devote himself to
important
activities. It
changes people
to the
point
of
yielding
to vice or to
preoccupations pertaining
to the world of music
alone. We must eliminate music because it means
betraying
our
country
and our
youth.
We must
completely
eliminate it.
("Radio
and Television must
strengthen
the
young", Keyhdn,
1 mordad
1358/1979)
As a result, all
concerts, and
especially
all radio or television broadcasts of
foreign
and Iranian, classical and
popular
music were banned.
According
to an
Iranian
composer,
Roshanravan
(1996),
"the
payment
of musicians was
illegal
in terms of the
religious law, shar'ia. The
very
act of
signing
a document
mentioning
the word 'music' was considered a sin (mas 'iyat)".
Nor did these measures
spare
the
village population,
in whose life music
had
always played
an
important part. According
to
my
informants in
Khorasan,
the
pdsddrdn (revolutionary guards) organized
raids to collect and
destroy
musical instruments.
Playing
music was forbidden. The bards who had
participated
in concerts and festivals under the old
regime
were summoned and
cross-examined
by
the
revolutionary
authorities. Some of those who had
performed
at festivals, such as
Karegar,
died in
obscurity.
On the other
hand,
Haj-Qorban Soleymani (a
famous bard from the
Quchan region
in northern
Khorasan)
told me: "Since I had
stopped playing eighteen years
before the
Revolution, they
left me alone. It was after the
change
of
regime
that I took
up
my
instrument
again".7
Nevertheless, despite
all the measures
designed
to combat
music,
it could
not be eliminated from Iranian culture. Besides, even if the state has a
grip
on
the media, there is a
great
difference in Iran between what is
theoretically
allowed and what
people actually
do in
private.
Moreover,
the
very
intention of
abolishing
music in
public
life
unexpectedly
led to
increasing practice
of music within the
family
circle
by
the
younger generation
of all social classes. One
might
deduce that this
resurgent
interest also stemmed from a continued desire, manifested
by
the Revolution
itself,
to rediscover the cultural
heritage
of
Iran,
as a reaction to the
7 Personal communication, 1994. The reason he
gives
for
having stopped playing
is as
follows:
"Twenty years ago,
I returned from a
wedding,
and
having
made a
pilgrimage
to
Mecca, a sheikh
[mollid]
told me that
my
instrument was
cursed,
that I
myself
was cursed. So
I threw
my
instrument into a corner and didn't touch it for ten
years.
Then two other
seyyed
assured me that
my
music was a
gift
from heaven and that
they
were convinced that
my
instrument was to be found in the home of the
prophets. They
themselves
placed my
dotdr
[lute
with a
long
neck and two
strings],
which was
hanging
on the
wall,
into
my
hands and
ordered me to
play."
38
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official
organizations
Westernization of the
imperial regime.
Thus when an old Jewish instrument
maker8 was asked about his trade after the revolution, he
replied:
I have no reason to
complain.
You know how the Iranians are: the
moment
they
are
prohibited
from
doing something, they immediately
want to do it. It's like
alcohol;
never has so much vodka been drunk on
the
sly
as there was after it was banned. It's the same with music. I can
hardly keep up
with the demand. I'm snowed under with work...
(Anquetil 1980)
In 1989, Khomeini
appeared
to
go
back on his absolute ban of music
by
issuing afatwd (a religious
decree
establishing
the licit or non-licit character of
an
act) authorizing
the
purchase
and sale of instruments. In an interview with
the
daily newspaper Keyhdn
Journal
(19-16-1368/1989),
he declared that
"there are no
objections
to the
purchase
and sale of instruments
serving
a licit
purpose".
Little
by little,
some concerts were
authorized,
albeit under certain
restrictions: thus there was a ban
against sensually arousing rhythms,
as well as
women's voices in the
presence
of a male audience.9
After the end of the
Iran-Iraq
war
(1980-88)
and
following
the death of
Ayatollah
Khomeini
(1989),
a desire for
change
made itself felt and a wind of
liberalism started
blowing through
the institutions
(especially
those
dealing
with international relations and
culture), giving
rise to overtures towards the
outside world. In the wake of the
campaign
launched in 1992
by Ayatollah
Khamene'i
against
the "cultural
aggression
of the West"
(tahdjom-efarhangi-e
gharb),
traditional Iranian music recovered a certain
legitimacy.
This
liberalization even led to the increased
production
of cassettes and records.
However,
since this music could not alone meet the
demand, the various
cultural
organizations
also looked to the music of various
regions
of Iran.
The situation continues to evolve.
Today
a
great variety
of music is
available
by
satellite for those who can afford the
necessary equipment (they
can thus receive the American MTV
channel, MTV-India). During
the first
years
of the
revolution,
there also existed
"pop"
music
produced by
musicians
and
singers
who lived
mainly
in
exile, especially
in
California, and continue to
make a
living
from their art. These
illegally imported cassettes,
which could
cost their owners considerable fines or even
prison terms,
have
always
had a
vast audience. For the last few
years, however, these
very
tunes have been
openly circulating
in the
country:
the difference is that now local Iranian
singers
are
singing
the
songs
-
and in a
strange twist, putting
the
rhythms
and melodies
8 In Iran, lute-makers are
traditionally
of Jewish descent.
9 As is the case in literature
(poetry, novels, etc.)
and movies, the
suggestion
and actual
display
of what is deemed "erotic" has been
heavily
forbidden. What
goes
under the name
"eroticism" is
quite vague,
and
essentially
concerns
any
emotional or
physical relationship
between a man and a woman, outside of married life. Government authorities, even the so-
called "reform-minded" ones, have never moved on this issue since it relates to what
they
view as one of Islam's fundamental tenets.
39
40 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/ii 2000
imported
from Los
Angeles
to the words of classical
poets
such as
Hafiz,
Saadi
and Rumi.
This market is
flourishing
to such an extent that some of its
products
are
being exported. According
to Moradkhani, the Director of Ershad,
This kind of music
nowadays
exists in Iran. It caters to the needs of
young people,
but does not
require
our financial or economic aid
(hemdyat).
We have to let it exist, while at the same time
preventing
it
from
becoming
too
repetitive.
Some
people
indeed believe that the
repetition
of tunes is liable to
discourage
the
young
and
plunge
them
into a
melancholy
mood. That is
why
we have to watch this
production.
As for what
people
do in
private,
we are not
responsible
for it; it's for
them to decide what
they
want to hear.
(Personal interview, February 2000)
Such
speeches
are a
great novelty.
In terms of the new and more liberal
policy
of Dr
Mohajerani,
the Minister of Culture, they certainly
reflect the
preoccupations
of the leaders, confronted as
they
are with a
country
in which
more than 60% of the
population
are under the
age
of 20.
In a different field
-
namely
the official
teaching
of Western classical music
in the universities
-
knowledge
of traditional Iranian music is no
longer
required,
as it used to be, for the entrance exam in the musical
department
in
Tehran. Since 1999,
Western classical music is
again
included in the
syllabus,
and forms the
subject
of a
separate
exam. The third
year
of studies
today
includes courses in Western
composition (personal
conversation with M. Kiani,
director of musical studies at Tehran
University, February 2000).
Official views about music
expressed by
various
authorities of the Islamic
republic
Although
all Muslim countries have a musical tradition which
they keep alive,
Islam has
always approached
music with a certain
mistrust, suspecting
it of
being
endowed with
magic
or even diabolic
powers
liable to drive
people
to the
worst extremes. Music is said to unsettle the
soul,
to
put people
into a kind of
trance and make them take leave of their senses. It leads them to
forget
their
duties and
indulge
in the
pure sensuality
of the
physical experience
of their
bodies.
According
to Shiloah
(1995:34),
"this
quasi-somnambulistic
state is
considered to be in contradiction to the
exigencies
of rational
religious
precepts".
A hadith
(tradition
of the
Prophet) concerning
the Imam
Sadeq (the
6th
Imam of the
Shi'ites)
thus
says: "Listening
to music leads to discord
[nefdq],
just
as water leads to the
growth
of
vegetation" (Ayatollah Moravveji 1999:74).
It is
interesting
to observe in
contemporary
Iran to what extent even the most
highly placed
members of the
government
are conscious and worried about the
powers
of music on the human mind. For
example, Ayatollah Khamene'i,
the
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
Guide of the Revolution,
has declared: "Music has to serve mankind to attain
supreme objectives
and lead to a
pure
and humane life. It is an
art, a divine
creation that has to be used in the interest of
humanity.
When
applying it,
we
must make sure that we are on the
right
track"
(Ahang 9, 1374/1996. This
publication
is the official brochure for the
Fajr Festival).
Khoshru
(former
Assistant Director of Arts at the
Ershad)
states:
Music exercises an undeniable influence on
people.
It can
provide
the
deepest
emotions and,
as a
result, strengthen
each
person's
moral
beliefs. But
by
its
very power,
it can also become
dangerous
and
exercise an evil influence
by changing
its
original
nature. So
among
all
art forms, music is the one to which most attention must be
paid
and
which has to be most
closely
watched and controlled. The
only
kind of
music that can lead to transcendence is the one that is based both on
science and
lofty
ideas and on the virtuous
feelings
of mankind.
Ennobling
music must be endowed with musical
technique
and
high
ideals. It must strive to attain a
lofty
aim and be the
product
of a
cultural and artistic
community scrupulously
attached to
morality.
It
must kindle the
deepest
human emotions and stimulate men to
respect
and honour their moral
principles.
In
short,
it must be connected with
the noblest of human cultures.
(Khoshru 1996)
To
quote
Mir Salim
(former
Minister of Culture and Islamic
Guidance):
"By way
of
music,
the behaviour of men can be
influenced; so it can be said
that music
may,
on the one
hand,
reinforce moral
values, and, on the other hand,
lead to their oblivion"
(1996).
Ayatollah
Azari
Qomi,
another
religious leader, says:
Dance music is illicit; music
accompanying vulgar [mobtazal]
and
useless
[bdtel] poems
is
illicit; however,
music that is not motrebi
[urban
entertainment
music, corresponding
with
light music]
and is not
danced to, but
accompanies
a normal
[tabi'i]
voice and constructive
and
edifying poems
is not
illegal.
("Bahsi feqhi piramun-e musiqi", Daily Resdlat, 26
May 1370/1991)
As we have
seen,
the
country's
cultural
policy
has evolved and is now
determined "to
preserve
the
heritage
and culture of the various
regions
of Iran".
Therefore, organizers
and overseers of cultural events
purport
to
legitimize
music
by reinforcing
its moral and national character. Thus musical
festivals,
which I shall discuss below,
were
placed
under the
following
directives:
"Development
of
spiritual
culture"
(E'teld-ye farhang-e ma'navi)
and
"Recognition
of national
identity" (Shendsd'i-e hoviyat-e melli).
Others are
described
by
the
slogan
"Preservation of
[these
musical
cultures]
to
support
and
uphold
the national culture".
41
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.91ii 2000
In
practice,
the
emphasis
thus laid on national
identity,
a
concept closely
connected with the
preservation
of
purity
as
against foreign elements,
is
tantamount to the demand for an
authenticity
of musical
expression
which
goes
beyond
the tradition it claims to
respect.
To
quote
Jean
During (1994:15-16):
"The idea of tradition, or rather of
'authenticity', appears
to be
closely
linked
with that of national or even ethnic
identity,
and is thus indissociable from
politics".
Hence music,
which
today
is more
easily accepted
within the Iranian
social
sphere,
nevertheless continues to be
closely
controlled
by governmental
authorities, and to be
subjected
to a
very
insidious form of
censorship.
We must not
forget
that the Iranian nation is above all a multi-ethnic state.
Non-Persian ethnic
groups
form almost half of the
country's population.10
The
integration
of various
regional
musics of Iran within festivals and other cultural
arenas thus
responds
to the aim of the central
power
to reinforce the
unity
of the
Iranian nation as such, while
allowing
ethnic
groups
to
enjoy
a certain official
"recognition".
Official
organizations
of the Islamic
Republic dealing
with music
Today
there are three official
organizations dealing
with
culture, forming
a
particular
field of confrontation between the various
politico-religious
tendencies in Iran:
1 The Ershad,
which has often
changed
its head
(Hojjat
ol-eslam Khatami
[present-day president
of the Iranian
Republic], Hoseyn
Larijani,
Mostafa
Mir-Salim); today
Dr
Mohajerani,
a "reformer" close to President
Khatami,
is
responsible
for this
ministry.
2 The Islamic
Propaganda Organization (Tabliqat-e eslami),
which is not
dependent
on
any governmental organizations
and is
placed
under the
direct
aegis
of the Guide
(rahbar)
of the Islamic
Revolution, Ayatollah
Khamene'i.
3 Radio and
Television,
which is also controlled
by Ayatollah
Khamene'i.
The first two of these
organizations
have
accomplished
considerable work
in the domain of
regional
music.
10
Persian-speaking people occupy
the centre of the Iranian
plateau,
while the others
generally
live on the circumference
(see map, Figure 3).
Most Iranians
speak
Iranian
languages.
This is true of the Kurds, the Baluchis, the Lors and the
Caspian populations
(Gilaki
and
Mazandarani),
and of course of the Persians. Nevertheless, Turkic-speaking
people (Turkomans, Qashqa'is
and
especially
Azeris
-
at least 25% of the
population)
occupy
a
very important place
in Iranian
history,
since for
many
centuries Iran was ruled
by
sovereigns
of Turkic
origin.
See
Digard,
Hourcade and Richard 1996:13.
42
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official
organizations
The
Ministry
of Culture and Islamic Guidance
The musical direction of the Ershad was entrusted in 1990 to
Moradkhani, who
still holds this
position (as
of
2000).
His centre is the old Rudaki Hall (Tdldr-e
Rudaki),
which is now renamed Vahdat
(Unity Hall).
Before the
Revolution,
this was a concert hall which housed the General Direction of Artistic Activities
(Edare-e
koll-e
fa'aliatha-ye honari), including theatre, music and the
plastic
arts. This new
organization
has offices in all Iranian cities.
During
the anti-musical
period following
the revolution the centre became
a Centre for
Revolutionary Hymns
and
Songs (Markaz-e
sorud va
ahangha-ye
enqelabi),
a name
designed
to
satisfy
the
government
authorities. In
1999, this
name was
changed
to Centre for Ershad Music
(Markaz-e musiqi-ye ershad),
without
any
further reference to
revolutionary hymns.
The new title is
symptomatic
of the new cultural
policy
which has been
gradually asserting
itself for the last few
years.
Today
this
centre, according
to its director Moradkhani
(interviews, 1996,
1999)
exercises a number of functions with
regard
to music and musicians. The
work of this
organization
will be discussed below under the
following headings:
1 Protection and
support (hemdyat)
2 Guidance and orientation
(heddyat)
3
Supervision
and control
(nezdrat)
(a)
control of recorded music
(b) permits
for music
teaching
(c) organization
of musical events
(d)
other
projects
I Protection and
support (hemayat)
This function consists of
providing
musicians with an official affiliation in the
form of a card
allowing
them to work in this
capacity.
In
practice,
the
issuing
of
this card has been
abandoned,
and was never
really
enforced. The
protection
did
not
go beyond
the official
recognition
of musicians to include, for
example,
health insurance or other benefits.
However, five of the old masters of music in
various
regions
of Iran have
recently
received medical
coverage,
as well as
salaries.11
According
to a
representative
from the
Ershad,
this
protection
will
gradually
be extended to other musicians.
11 These musicians include the Khorassani bard
Haj
Qorban Soleymani,
and also Shir
Mohammad
Espandar
from
Baluchistan,
a famous
player
of the doneli
(a
double duct
flute).
This
practice actually
dates back to the
years prior
to the revolution. For
example,
the Centre
for the Preservation and
Propagation
of Traditional Music
paid
a
salary
to old musicians of
various
regions (interviews
with the musicians themselves and with F.
Majd).
43
44 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/1i 2000
2 Guidance and orientation
(hedayat)
The musicians are
guided
so as to
preserve
their music and
safeguard
the
authenticity (esdlat)
of their culture.
According
to Moradkhani
(interviews,
1996, 1999)
the function of his
department
consists of
lending greater
importance
to native
music,
which is in
danger
of
disappearing.
Therefore he
wants to
"keep
a
protective (hemdyati) eye
on the music of different
regions
of
Iran
[musiqi-e navdhi-ye mokhtalef-e Iran12] by
means of a
policy
of
orientation and
encouragement".
3
Supervision
and control
(nezarat)
Among
the
major responsibilities
of this
organization
is the control of all
marketable sound
productions. Supervision
consists of
"preserving
the
authentic
[asil]
and ancient
[qadimi]
culture of our
country", according
to
Moradkhani. It is exercised as follows:
(a) by controlling
recorded music
(on
cassette or
CD) by issuing
a
permit
(mojavvez)
for its
distribution;
(b) by issuing
other
permits
for the
teaching
of music,
for
organizing concerts,
etc.
(c) by organizing
musical events such as festivals and concerts
(d) through
other
projects (e.g. creating
a Museum of Musical
Instruments)
(a)
Production control
The control of sound
recordings, especially
those on cassette, is one of the main
responsibilities
of the
Supervising Department.
All sound media to be marketed
or
exported
have to obtain a
permit
from the Ershad. In
my
own
case,
for
example,
I had to
apply
to this
organization
for
permission
to take
my
field
recordings
out of the
country:
a numbered lead seal was affixed to
my cassettes,
together
with a letter I was to
present
at customs. Musical instruments also have
to be visaed in the same
way.
Marketable cassettes are classified and coded with letters and numbers on
their
cover, stating:
"Authorized number of the
Ministry
of Culture and Islamic
Guidance
(Shomare-ye mojavez-e
vezarat-e
farhang
va ershad-e
eslami)."
All
sound
productions
-
cassettes and CDs
-
have to bear the authorization
number,
followed
by
a letter and another number. The letters indicate the musical
genres
and the number indicates the
quality
of the
production.
The letters
describing
musical
genre
are as follows:
S sonnati
(traditional)
N navdhi
(regional)
A dmuzeshi
(educational);
dmuzesh-e setdr, donbak,
etc.
T
(taghyir
karde
-
modified)
12 This name was
originally
used
during
the last
years
of the former
regime by
the Radio and
Television.
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
J jadid
(new)
M mellal
(nations); meaning
in this case world music
(essentially Muslim)
K keldsik-e
gharb (classical
Western
music)
P
pop
This
classifying system
is in fact the
responsibility
of Kiani.13 He
explained
that Moradkhani had asked him, five
years earlier, to describe the
types
of
recordings,
the volume of which continued
growing (interview,
February
2000).
The Ershad wanted "the
buyers
to know what
they
were
acquiring".
He added that
category
J (for
jadid)
was a later addition to the list,
and that T
(standing
for
taghyir karde, i.e. modified
music)
was sometimes
understood
by
certain editors as an an abbreviation of
tejdrati
(commercial).
For instance, the
recordings
of Alizadeh,14 who is considered both as a follower
and as an innovator of traditional music, used to be labelled T, but had now
acquired
the letter J.
Numbers 1 to 4 serve to describe the
quality (keyfiyyat)
of the
product
(recording, presentation, etc.),
with 1
ranking highest.
Moradkhani
explained:
"It
may happen
that a master is ranked no. 2: his work is of
high quality,
but the
recording
on the whole is
poor.
We would have
preferred
not to make such
judgements,
but
they
are
unfortunately necessary" (interviews, 1996, 1999).
This classification is the
responsibility
of the Council of Evaluation of
Music
(Shora-ye karshenasi-ye musiqi), dependent
on the Ershad and
consisting
of
professional
musicians such as Davud
Ganje'i,15
Abdol-Majid
Kiani, Razavi
Sarvestanil6
and Roshanravan.17 The members of this council
are elected
every
two
years. However,
some of
them,
such as
Ganje'i
and
Kiani,
have been members for five
years. They
sometimes ask the
opinion
of other
musicians on
subjects
in which
they
do not
specialize.
Such decisions used to
be taken
during meetings. Currently, however,
the cassettes are sent to the
musicians,
who
give
their
opinion
in
writing.
On this
subject,
Kiani told me:
The situation of music was better in the
early
90s. There were not as
many
modifications
[tahrif]
in music. There were a lot of
good
recordings
that we
graded
with the letter N because the
authenticity
was
respected. Today,
most of the cassettes we examine
only
receive a
T,
because
they
are
arrangements.
For
instance, you
hear a dotdr
[two-
13 A virtuoso of the santur, born in 1320/1941. He is the director of the Music
Department
of
Tehran
University
and is considered to be a musician of
pure
tradition.
14 Born in
1330/1951, considered
by many
as one of the most
important figures
in
contemporary
Persian music.
15 A virtuoso of the kamdnche, born in 1321/1942. Before the Revolution he
taught
this
instrument at the Markaz-e hefz o
esha'ye-e musiqi-e
sonnati
(Centre
for the Preservation
and
Propagation
of Traditional
Music)
of which he is
presently
the director.
16 A
singer
of traditional music.
17
A
composer
who often writes
newspaper
articles about the situation of music and the
debates around it.
45
46 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.91ii 2000
stringed long-necked lute]
from Khorasan
accompanied by
such
instruments as the
daf [tambourine] [although traditionally, percussion
was never used with a solo instrument such as the dotdr].
According
to statistics, the total number of
permits
(mojavvez)
issued for
cassettes in 1367/1988 was 81; by 1376/1997,
it had risen to 253. The
production
of traditional Iranian music was
highest
between 1988 and 1997.18
Roshanravan
(1996) explained that, due to the
protection granted
to
traditional
(sonnati)
music
by
the Ershad's Centre for
Issuing
Permits for
Cassettes,
the
production
and distribution of cassettes recorded in this field has
considerably increased,
so that even
non-specialists
have started
producing
them. There is, in
fact,
a certain saturation of the market because of the
similarity
of a lot of these cassettes.
The control exercised
by
this
organization
does not, however, prevent
the
existence of a
very
active and
very
well
organized (black)
market in
cassettes,
among
them an abundance of both Iranian and Western
pop
music. For
example, according
to a cassette-seller, the interval between the issue of a
Michael Jackson
song
and its arrival in Iran is
very
short
(Adelkhah 1991:26).
There also exists a Council for the authorization of
poems (Shora-ye
mojavvez-e
she'r).
Poems
sung
at a concert or recorded on cassettes have to be
announced and translated into Persian
(owing
to the
diversity
of the
languages
and dialects
spoken
in
Iran).
Thus for
example
the contents of the Kurdish or
Turkish
poems sung by
the Khorasani bards at a concert must be examined
beforehand.19 One of the members of this
agency gave
me the
following
reason:
Poems
containing
words that
might
offend social
dignity
must be
avoided. Thus certain folk
songs express improper
beliefs and
superstitions.
For
instance,
we have had a
problem
with
Bakhtiyari
poems.20
One of them
goes
as follows: 'If the lover sees his beloved
naked on a river
bank,
it is considered a
pious
deed
[savdb]'.
We
cannot
accept
this kind of declaration.
This
significance
attributed to words and their
meaning
-
which find their
origin
in Islam itself
-
are often
disparaged by
the musicians. Thus Alizadeh
explains: "According
to the
responsible authorities,
music is defined as a sum
of the sounds
produced.
But their
sensibility
is
mainly
turned to the content of
the
poems.
That kind of
sensibility
is of a
very
low level. A
government
that
18 "Gozareshi az 'amalkard-e mo'avenat-e
honari-ye
Vezarat -e
Farhang
va Ershad
Eslami",
Motdle'dt-e
Kdrbordi-ye
Honar
7,
Markaz-e Motale'at va
Tahqiqat-Honari,
Vezarat-e
Farhang
va Ershad-e Eslami, 1378/1999.
19 The Khorasan bards are of various ethnic
groups (Turks, Kurds,
Persians and
Turkomans)
settled north of this
region.
For more detailed information about the bards of Khorasan,
see
Blum 1972a and Youssefzadeh 1997.
20 The Bakhtiari are a semi-nomadic tribe
living
at Chahar-mahal and in the Bakhtiari
mountains.
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official
organizations
considers itself
rightly
and
legitimately
established
ought
not to be
upset by
a
few words in a
piece
of music"
(interview
in
"Adamha-ye
kuchak
dardha-ye
kuchak darand", Iran, 30 November
78/1999).
Musicians are often
exposed
to
such
hypersensitivity
towards words in
pieces
of music.
This control of content
explains
the fact that in most musical
performances
and festivals, the
poems
chosen are
usually
those
having
a
religious
or
mystical
character
('erfdni), for, according
to the
responsible officials,
"Some love
poems
are
vulgar
and common (mobtazal)". Among
other
unacceptable
themes
are
"poems
of
despair (ndomid konande)".
Epic (hemdsi) poems are, on the
other
hand, appreciated,
and as a result it is
possible
to hear the bards of
Khorasan in
frequent
musical
performances,
since
epic figures
are
pre-eminent
in their
repertoires.
(b)
Issue of
permits
(mojavvez)
for
teaching music;
authorization
for
giving concerts,
etc.
Music
teaching,
which consists
mostly
of instrumental
training, nowadays
requires
the authorization of the Office of State Schools
(Edare-ye
amuzeshgaha-ye keshvar),
which submits the
application
to the
Ershad,
which
will then issue or refuse the
permit
(mojavvez).
Today, according
to
Moradkhani,
"all kinds of
people
call themselves
masters
[ostdd]
and start
teaching
music without a
proper knowledge
of the
tradition"
(interview,
1996).
It is to be
expected, however,
that the
requirement
of a
permit implies
control of musical courses.
My
conversations with various
professional
musicians
taught
me
that,
in
order to receive an authorization, certain criteria have to be observed
(personal
conversations with D. Tala'i
-
master of the tdr and setdr
-
and M.
Kiani,
February 2000).
The teacher has to have a
degree
in
music;
if the candidate
does not,
he or she has to be examined
by
a commission
(shord)
of the Ershad.
Candidates who have
passed
the examination have the
right
to
display
a
public
sign
as
professor
of music and to teach instruments. The exercise of this
profession requires
that certain standards be
kept up:
the
space
must be
adequate
and measure between 50 and 60
square
metres. Before authorization is
granted, experts (karshenas)
from the Ershad have to make sure that "Islamic
standards" are observed
(for example,
that female students are
taught by
a
woman). However,
the
reputation
of certain musicians
(D. Tala'i,
M.
Kiani,
D.
Ganje'i)
suffices to
exempt
them from this authorization. In
fact, according
to
Kiani,
the authorities are
hardly
strict on this
point
and
may
allow a man to
teach an instrument to a female
student, especially
if no woman can be taken on
to teach. As
usual,
there is a
great
difference between official declarations and
the actual
practice.
Official courses take
place
at the
Faculty
of Arts of Tehran
University
(Honarkade-ye honarha-ye ziba),
the
Academy
of Music
(Honarestan-e 'Ali-ye
Musiqi),
the School of Art and Literature
(Madrese-ye
Honar o
Adabiyat),
and
the Centre for the Preservation and
Propagation
of Traditional Music
(Markaz-e
Hefz o
Esha'e-ye Musiqi-e Sonnati).
Outside such schools or official courses
47
48 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/ii 2000
(some
of which
already
existed under the former
regime),
the
teaching
of music
is carried out in innumerable undeclared
private courses, sometimes attended
by
dozens of students under one
professor.
Most of the
recognized
masters of
traditional music
(M.
Kiani,
D.
Tala'i,
H.
Alizadeh, etc.)
offer such courses. In
their case, however,
a twofold aim is
pursued. Tala'i, for
example,
tries to
transmit the
practice (amali)
of music
by teaching
the
Radif, following
an oral
method,21 but also a
knowledge
of music
(shendkht-e musiqi)
as far as
theory
is
concerned. The fees are
adapted
to the students' financial
capacities.
The
majority
of students are between 20 and 25
years
old. Kiani, for
example,
has
students who come from the
provinces
and continue
studying
with him for five
or six
years;
after
they go home, they occasionally
return to see their master.
Kiani has between 40 and 60 students whom he teaches three times a week, in
classes
consisting
of 15 to 20 students.
The cultural centres
(farhangestdn)
which were for the most
part
set
up
after the Revolution on the initiative of Tehran's
Municipal Council, started
organizing
unauthorized instrumental classes at the
beginning
of their
activities.22 The most
important
of these is
Farhangsara-ye Bahman, situated in
southern Tehran
(a
rather
poor quarter
of the
city,
where the old
slaughterhouses
used to
be).
Kiani told me in 1996 that since
they
were not
subject
to control,
"music was
taught by non-specialists;
hence this bad music we are
hearing
today;
these tunes
suiting
current tastes
(ahanghd-ye ruz)
and dubbed 'Los-
Angelesi'
were
played
on instruments like electric
organs." (Today,
as we have
seen,
"Iranian
pop
music" is
competing
with the
genre
called
"Los-Angelesi"
-
in other words, music made
by
Los
Angeles-based
Iranian
pop
musicians
living
in
exile.)
It
appears
that the absence of official authorization for the musical
activities of such centres led to the sudden ban of all music classes for
young
people,
as announced
by Ayatollah Khamene'i,
in 1995. Since this decree
applied
to all such
institutions, including
the
Conservatory
of Music
(Honarestan-e musiqi)
and the
University
of Tehran,
the situation of music
became uncertain for a few months. It was not until the
deputy
of the Ershad
wrote to the
Guide, asking
him to
grant
his
organization
the
power
to issue
authorizations, that
things
became normalized
again (inteview
with
Kiani,
1996).
The Ershad itself has in the meantime taken the
initiative,
since 1994-5,
to
organize
free music courses in the Vahdat
Hall, exclusively
devoted to
traditional instruments.
No concerts
may
take
place
without the authorization of this
organization,
except
those
having
an
aspect (janbe)
of research
(pazhuheshi)
or
scholarship
('elmi).
As a
result,
the concerts
given
at the
University
are often called
pazhuheshi, indicating
that there will be an
explanation
of the music to be
played,
even if this is
only rarely
the
case,
the term
mainly serving
to obtain a
permit.
21 This is the traditional method, although today
most musicians often refer to scores.
22 I
might
also mention
Eshraq,
Ebn
Sina, Arasbaran, Khavaran, Andishe, Shafaq
and
Farhangsara-ye Niyavaran (the only
one situated in northern Tehran,
which
already
existed
before the
Revolution).
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
(c)
Musical events
Another of the activities of the Ershad consists of
organizing
music festivals.
Many
of these events take
place
within the framework of
ceremonies, whether
religious
or
revolutionary, marking
for
example
the
anniversary
of the
revolution
(Dahe-ye
fajr),
the week of union
(Hafte-ye
vahdat)
on the occasion
of the
anniversary
of the
Prophet;23
and the week of
Holy
Defence
(Hafte-ye
defd'e moqadas) commemorating
the
beginning
of the
Iran/Iraq
war.
These thematic concerts
(which acquire,
as we have
seen, politico-religious
titles) play
an
important
role in
bestowing
on music a kind of
legitimacy,
for
according
to Moradkhani: "The
organization
of festivals
requires
much effort
and
money.
Within a
revolutionary
and
religious framework, the role of music
as such is not
easily acceptable" (interview
with
Moradkhani, 1996).
The Festival of the Week of Union is intended to reinforce the union
between Shiites and Sunnites
(who
do not celebrate the
birthday
of the
Prophet
on the same
date).
Its theme is
religious
and
mystic
music. It often takes
place
in Western Iran,
in the Kurdistan
region,
where
mystical
music has its roots and
where there are
many khdneqdhs (Dervish mosques).
The music of Khorasan
plays
an
important part
in the
festival,
and bards from the northern
part
of this
region
are
always
invited.
The most
important
of these festivals however,
is that of
Hymns
and
Revolutionary
Music
(Jashnvare-ye
sorud va
ahanghaye enqelabi), inaugurated
in 1986. It marks the
anniversary
of the revolution and is held in
February,
and
lasts for
eight
to ten
days.
It takes
place
both in the
capital city
and in most of
the
provinces.
An
important part
of the
festival,
as we shall see,
is devoted to
competitions
among
musicians
(in
sections such as traditional
music, regional
music and
music for the
young).
From the outset
great importance
has been attached to the
music of different
regions
of Iran. In
1987,
there were 312
regional
musicians to
be heard and 164 concerts. In
1989,
this event
changed
its name and became the
Fajr (Dawn)
Festival of Music. This new
designation
has also
brought
about a
fresh
upsurge
of activities.
During
the first three
years
of its existence, only
12
groups performed.
The
titles of the items
played point
to the
revolutionary
nature of the festival: Rdh-e
khun
(The Way
of
Blood),
Bahdr-e khun
(The Spring
of
Blood),
Basij
(Mobilization).
In
1989,
some
songs
reflected the death of
Ayatollah
Khomeini.
In
1990, the festival tried to address the new
generation: young
musicians from
different
regions
took
part.
In
1991,
it extended its
sphere
of activities
beyond
the Iranian border and invited other Muslim nations with the aim, according
to
the
organizers,
of
"restoring
the common cultural
identity among
Muslim
countries, so as to
oppose
and defeat the
foreign
cultural invasion".24 The 10th
festival,
in
1373/1995,
included several sections: Muslim nations
(Tadjikistan,
23 When, at the
age
of 40, Mohammad had the revelation of his
prophecy.
24 These
slogans
reflect the
political
situation in Iran.
They
date from the
early
1990s.
Today
the
slogan
has
changed
to
"Dialogue
between civilizations"
-
see below.
49
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.91ii 2000
Figure
1
Ranjbar,
a bard from northern Khorasan,
performing
at the 15th
Fajr
Festival,
Tehran, January/February
2000
Syria, Lebanon, Bosnia); competitions (including
417
musicians)
devoted to
traditional music
(radif-e dastgdh)
and
maqam (maqdmi,
a new term in Iran for
regional music);25 young people (74
of
them);
another section consisted of 53
groups playing
traditional music and 28
groups
playing regional
music.
Finally,
the section devoted to
revolutionary hymns
and Western classical
music, played
by
the Tehran
Symphony Orchestra, comprised
four
programmes.
Since
1997,
two sections have been added: one devoted to the music
(both
traditional and
regional)
of women, sung
for and
by
women. The other section is a
competition
for
compositions (dhangsdzi).
The festival
programs
of 1999 and 2000 reflected the
political
"overture" of
the
reforming president
Khatami
(the
name of the festival held in 1999 was
"Fajr International Music Festival"
-
Jashnvare-ye beynol-mellali-ye
musiqi-ye
Fajr).
Thus its 15th edition
(in February 2000)
welcomed countries such as
France, Germany
and
Austria,
and also the Jewish
community
of
Iran,
who
contributed for the first time.26
According
to Moradkhani, the director of the
25
During (1994:43)
says:
"In
response
to the term
sonnati,
which
exclusively belongs
to the
music of urban art, the
professional
adherents of
regional
music
increasingly
tend to define
their art as
maqdm (nmusiqi-e maqdmi)".
This term hence aims at
stressing
the
legitimacy
and
validity
of this form of musical
expression.
26 The orchestra consisted of four male and four female
musicians,
all of them
very young
(16-20 years old),
who
played
both traditional Jewish melodies and
pieces by
Brahms
(Ahang I,
brochure of the 15th
Fajr
festival,
February 2000).
50
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organations
Figure
2 A
group
of Iranian Turkmen musicians from Gonbad at the 15th
Fajr Festival,
Tehran,
January/February
2000
Markaz-e
musiqi
and
organizer
of the
festival,
'"the main
slogan
of these latter
festivals was
peace [solh]
and
dialogue
[goftegu],
following
the
policy
of the
President of the
Republic" ("Conversation
with Moradkhani" in
Ahang 1,
brochure of the 15th
Fajr Festival).
The brochure of the 14th festival of
Fajr
(1999)
featured a
quotation by
the Minister of
Culture,
Dr
Mohajerani:
"Music
is the best
language
for a
dialogue
between men"
(Ahang 4,
14-19
February
1999).27
The
competitive
section has also
acquired
a different
organization
this
year.
The section for the music of the various
regions
of Iran
(maqdmi)
took
place
in
Kerman
(see Figure
3 at the end of this
article),
at a different date from that of
the other activities
(from
28 November to 3 December
1999),
and under a
different title: First Festival of
Regional
Music of Iran
(Nakhostine
jashnvare-ye
musiqi-ye
navahi-ye
Iran). Another section has become the First Festival of
Music of the
Young,
and took
place
in Tehran for a week in
January.
The
participants (boys
and
girls)
were between 4 and 18
years
old. This section is
itself divided into three
parts:
traditional instruments
(tdr, setdr, santur, ney),
27 The
slogan "Gofiegiy-e
tammadonha"
(Dialogue
between civilizations)
is a central theme
of Mr Khatami's
policy.
Since his election as President of the
Republic
and under his
auspices,
an
organization dependent
on his office has been created, called International
Centre for
Dialogue
between Civilizations. An international
congress
on this theme is to be
held in Tehran in 2001.
51
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/ii 2000
regional
instruments (tdr and kamdnche Azari from
Tabriz, dotdr from Khorasan
and kamanche from
Lorestan),
and Western instruments
(violin, piano,
flute and
clarinet).
The winners
subsequently performed
at the
Fajr
festival, at which
they
received
prizes
from the Minister of
Culture, Dr
Mohajerani.28
In
Tehran, Ershid's concerts are
performed
in the two Vahdat halls and in
various cultural centres
(farhangestdn)
belonging
to the
municipality.
The
budget
for these festivals
proceeds
from the Hefze miras-e
farhangi
(Organization
for the Protection and Conservation of Cultural
Heritage)29
and
from the Tehran
municipality.
As stated earlier, these festivals
usually
assume the form of
competitions.
The winners receive
prizes,
which in 1989 consisted of either a
gold
coin and a
certificate of
recognition (loh-e taqdir);
a TV
set; a
pilgrimage
to Mecca
(haj),
or a camera and a Koran. The value of these
prizes
has risen since then. For
example,
in
February 2000, it rose to five
gold coins, together
with a certificate
of
recognition
and an honour
diploma.
In the
beginning participants
were
simply
housed and
fed, without
any
financial
compensation
-
a situation about which musicians have often
complained.
At times
they
had to even leave their work and
pay
someone to
replace
them in order to
participate
in these events. Ali
Almajoqi (a shepherd
bard from
Khorasan)
told me he had had to hire someone to take care of his
flocks in his absence.
Although
the musicians now receive a
subsidy,
it is
inadequate
to cover their
expenses.
A
specialized jury normally judges
each section of the
competitions.
For
example,
for traditional
(sonnati) music,
the
jury
often consists of
Majid
Kiani, Davud
Genje'i
and Naser
Farhangfar.
For the music of various
regions
of
Iran,
there would
be,
in
addition, specialists
such as the late
ethnomusicologist
Mohammad
Taqi
Mas'udieh30 or Mohammad Reza
28 The award winners for
regional
music that
year
were: from northern Khorasan two bards
and a
group
of
dsheq (the
term in northern Khorasan refers to
professional
musicians
playing
in
ensembles
composed
of the sornd
-
a
type
of oboe
-
and dohol
-
a barrel drum with two skins
-
or the
qoshme
-
double clarinet
-
and
dohol;
see Blum
1972b);
from eastern Khorasan two
musicians from Torbat-e-Jam; from
Azerbaijan,
a
group
of
dsheq (in Azerbaijan
and
Turkey
the
term denotes a
bard)
from
Urumieh;
and a
group
of three
young
musicians from Tabriz.
29 The Miras-e
farhangi agency
itself
organized
a festival in Tehran in
1996, devoted to the
music of various
regions
of Iran
(Khorasan, Kurdistan, Lorestan, etc.).
The music of various
regions
of Iran is, according
to this
organization,
"a rich cultural
heritage
for the
protection
and conservation of which we feel
responsible".
30 This well-known
figure
of Iranian
music, a
composer
and
ethnomusicologist,
was born in
Mashhad in 1306/1927. He obtained a master's
degree
as a violonist from the Conservatoire
National, Paris, and, under the
supervision
of Marius Schneider, a doctor's
degree
in
ethnomusicology
from Koln
(Cologne), Germany.
In
1347/1968,
he returned to Iran to teach
Iranian music and
ethnomusicology
at the
University
of Tehran. He died in Tehran in
1377/1998. He wrote several books,
some of which deal with music of various
regions
of
Iran
(e.g.
Mas'udieh 1980 and
1985).
For a detailed
bibliography,
see Safarzadeh
1999:153-6.
52
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
Darvishi.31
They
are now assisted
by expert advisers, chosen from
among
regional
masters such as
Haj-Qorban Soleymani
and Abdollah Sarvar Ahmadi
(one
of the most famous dotdr
players
of the Torbat-e Jam
region).
Thus the
jury
of the first festival of
regional
Iranian music
(a
section of the
competition
of the 15th
Fajr
music
festival)
consisted of
Haj-Qorban Soleymani,
Razavi
Shahrestani,
Dariush
Pirniyakan,32
Hamid Reza Ardalan33 and Mohammad
Reza Darvish, the first
secretary
of the first festival of Iranian
regional
music.
The
following
is a list of the criteria
(established by
the main
judges)
applied
in
judging
the music of various
regions
of Iran:
1 attention
paid
to the authentic
(asil)
manner of
interpreting
the music of
each
region,
as it
appears
in its form and
improvisation,
as well as in the
way
it is
played
or
sung solo;
2
respect
for the
original
manner of each
region
without the introduction of
alien elements which do not stem from that
particular region;
3 the use of
typical
and authentic instruments of the
region
without
resorting
to non-native instruments;
4 the use of
poems
from the oral or written literature
belonging
to the
region,
with
emphasis
on
religious
or
epic themes;
5
respect
for the tradition set
by
the old masters, and
abstaining,
for
example,
from
playing
in an ensemble if this was not
regional practice;
6
proper apprenticeship
and oral instruction of music with a master.
I cannot confirm that all the
points
of this list are
actually respected
in
practice
(as pointed
out several times
above,
there is a
great
difference in Iran between
what is
officially
decreed and what is
actually done). Thus,
in
spite
of the
criteria I have
just mentioned,
it is not seldom that we hear a dotdr from Torbat-
e Jam
accompanied by
the
daf, although according
to Sarvar
Ahmadi,
"that is
not the
way
to
play
the music of Torbat-e Jam. It is based on solo
interpretation.
In these current ensembles, some theatrical element has intruded, where the
musician has to content himself with
playing
with others"
(conversation quoted
in
Ahang 8, February 1996).
Haj Qorban Soleymani
confirms this
idea, saying:
In the
past,
ensembles were unknown.
Today you
see
groups
of 10 or
15 dotdr
players performing together
side
by
side with
string
instruments like the
dotdr,
or the
daf
and the dohol
[two-headed drum].
Such
percussion
instruments do not
belong together
with
string
instruments,
because
they
smother the sound of the
strings.
In the old
31 A musician
himself,
he has
spent
several
years studying
and
doing
research on the music
of various
regions
of Iran.
Today
he is considered a
specialist
on the music of different
regions
of Iran.
32 A tdr
player
who worked for a number of
years
with the classical
singer Shajarian.
33
Working
with Ershad as
"expert
of the music of various
regions", although
he
specializes
in dramatic arts rather than in music.
53
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.91ii 2000
days,
dohol and sorna were used at
wedding ceremonies,
for
dancing
or for
wrestling (koshti). They
were also used to inform the
population
of an event.
They
are not indoor instruments.
(Interview, 1995)
He was also at odds with some of Ershad's
injunctions: "They're [the
Ershad]
now
telling
me that we have no
right
to
play
the music of other
regions.
According
to them,
a
Quchani
must not
play
the music of Torbat-e Jam." This
example
offers a
good
illustration of the distance that
separates
Ershad's
policies
from the traditional
practice
of bakhshi.
The
emergence
of these ensembles
may
be
explained
as the direct result of
the nature and
origin
of these festivals,
which
initially provided
no
part
for solo
instruments
-
it
appears
that the solo instrument resembles a woman's voice,
and women are not allowed to
sing
solo in front of a male
audience,
but
only
in
a chorus. It seems that
things are, however, about to
change,
and
according
to
Darvishi, the first
secretary
of the festival, the
judges
will make sure that the
established criteria are
respected (personal communication, February 2000).
The manifesto of the
jury
of the first festival devoted to Iranian
regional
music states:
The music of each
region
of Iran has its own structure and
style,
which
each
regional
musician must
strictly interpret.
To do that,
he must take
account of the aesthetic
criteria,
the
techniques
of
interpretation
and the
sound of the
instruments,
and he must
respect
the
rhythm
and the
musical intervals, as well as the structures of the
instruments,
the rules
of the concert,
the
improvisation
and the
interpretation.
(Baydni-ye
he 'at-e ddvardn-e
nakhostinjashnvere-ye musiqi-ye navdhi-ye Iran)34
(d)
Other
projects
The
Ershad,
in
co-operation
with a
private recording company, Moassesse-ye
Mahur,
has issued 19 albums of
regional music,
each
comprising
six cassettes
published
in the course of the
year
1997-8. Directed
by
Musavi
(an
enthusiastic
amateur
performer
of this
type
of
music),
this is the
greatest
and most
productive project
in the realm of traditional
(sonnati)
music,
as well as in that
of the
regional
music of Iran.35 The
catalogue
contains: Music of Khorasan
(four albums);
Music of the
Qashqa'i;
Music of Mazandaran
(two albums);
Music of
Lorestan;
Music of the
Turkomans;
Music of Gilan and
Talesh;
Music
34 I was able to consult this manifesto
courtesy
of Mr Darvishi in
February
2000.
35 Mahur Publication started work in 1987. It
presents
traditional Iranian music as well as
the works of
contemporary
Iranian
composers, players
and
singers.
This
company
has also
published
some music from different
regions
of Iran.
Moreover,
Mahur Publication has
produced
a number of instructional books and cassettes on
playing
Iranian musical
instruments and fundamental theories of Iranian music for learners and enthusiasts.
54
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
of
Azerbaidjan (the dsheq);
Music of Kurdistan
(two albums);
Music of
southern
Alborz;
Ritual and
religious
music of the two
slopes
of the
Albors;
Music of
Baluchistan; Music of the
Bakhtiyari;
Music of
Bushehr; Music of the
Muslim nations.36
In addition, this
ministry plans
to create a Museum of Musical
Instruments,
in
co-operation
with the Tehran
Municipality.37
It will include sound archives, a
museum of instruments, and a lecture hall with 100 to 150
seats, and will
present
exhibitions and
workshops
for instrument
making.
2 The Musical Unit of the
Department
of Art for Islamic
Propaganda (Hoze-ye
honari-e
tabliqat-e eslami)
Another active
organization
in the field of Iranian music is the Musical Unit of
the
Department
of Art for Islamic
Propaganda
(Hoze-ye
honari-e
tabliqat-e
eslami).
This
organization,
as we have
seen, depends
on no other
government
administration and comes under the direct
leadership
of the Guide
(Rahbar)
of
the
Revolution, Ayatollah Khamene'i,
who is said to be a lover of traditional
(sonnati)
music himself. The Hoze
(as
this
organization
is
called)
has been in
existence since 1982. But its activities in the field of music did not start until
1991,
with the
appointment
at its head of
Jalilpur,
a
philosophy graduate
interested in
preserving, collecting
and
propagating regional
music.
This
department
runs an art school
(honarestdn) (which
also teaches
traditional arts such as
painting
and
calligraphy),
as well as a
ddneshgdh-e
dzdd
(literally
"free
university"),
in which music is
taught.38
"We
encourage
our
students to work and write their theses on
regional [navdhi] music",
said
Jalilpufr (personal conversations, 1995-7).
The
department
also has offices in
most of the
provinces
-
in Mashhad for the Khorasan
province,
for
example,
where no musical
activity
has
yet
taken
place
however.
This institution has so far
organized
four festivals in
Tehran,
all of them
devoted to traditional
(sonnati)
music and music of different
regions
of Iran.
The first one was devoted to wind instruments
(ney navdzan).
At the second
festival,
which took
place
in 1991 and was called Haft
owrang (the
Great
Bear),
more than 120
participants
were
present,
chosen from
amongst
the best
musicians of the
country.
The A'in o avaz
(Ceremony
and
Song)
festival of
1994 had 400 musicians from various
provinces
(ostdn)
and counties
(shahrestdn) participating.
And
lastly,
in
1997,
it chose
epic (hemdsi)
music for
its theme.
According
to
Jalilpufr,
"the festival focused
mostly
on the veterans
36 All these sets bear the
inscription
"Local Iranian Music"
(musiqi-ye navdhi-ye Iran)
followed
by
the name of the
region
and the name of the edition "Iranian Music Association"
(Anjoman-e
musiqi-ye Irdn).
The set for each
region
is also
accompanied by
a booklet.
37 I have this information from Moradkhani, 1996. In the
year 2000, he informed me that for
financial reasons the
project
had not
yet
been carried out.
38 This term is
deceptive,
because fees are
very high
when
compared
with those of the
universities.
Perhaps
it is called "free" because the students who enroll there are
exempt
from
the normal
university
entrance examination and, as it
were, "buy"
their admission.
55
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/ii 2000
and elder
players
of
epic
music: out of 2,000 candidates, 380 were selected for
the
performance".
All these concerts were recorded and filmed on video.39
Unlike those
organized by
the
Ershad, these festivals do not celebrate
any
specific
occasion.
According
to
Jalilpufr, "they
assume an
aspect
of research
[pazhuheshi]
and
investigation
[tahqiqi]".
This
organization
has set
up
a research
group
in
charge
of
collecting
the
music of various
regions,
as well as
identifying
and
selecting
those that will be
presented
at concerts. It includes Darvishi
(who organizes
the
festival),
a local
guide,
a
photographer
and a sound technician. Their aim consists of
"identifying
native
[bumi]
artists whose art has remained
genuine
and
original
without
being
influenced
by
other
types
of music". As I have noticed
myself,
each
trip
leads to the
building up
of archive collections.
Following
the festivals
organized by
the
Hoze, three sets of audio-cassettes
have been
published.
1
Haft owrang.
This is a set of four cassettes devoted to
regional
music
(Darvishi
1991).
The first contains a live
recording
of the last concert
by
Mohammad
Hoseyn Yeganeh (a
famous bard from northern
Khorasan)
and
his son Mohammad. It marks the last
public appearance
of the
great
master.
The cassettes also feature music from
Bushehr, Lorestan, Torkaman-sahra,
Kermanshah and Baluchestan.
2
Musiqi-e
shomdl-e Khorasan
(music
of northern
Khorasan)
is a box of
three cassettes, recorded on location in Khorasan
(Darvishi
and Tavahodi
1992)
3 A 'in o dvdz
(Ceremony
and
Song),
a set of 28 cassettes of music from
various
regions
of Iran
(Darvishi 1997),
recorded
during
the third festival.
The
Haft owrang
set
has,
like most
recordings
destined for
sale,
received
the authorization
(mojavvez)
of the
Ershad,
and the back of each cassette bears
an authorization number
(shomdre-ye
mojavvez).
It obtained the codification
"N/2"
(Navdhi
=
regional;
2 indicates its
poor recording quality).
For reasons
unknown and
unascertainable,
the second set is not marked with a number.
The
budget
for these festivals stems from several sources. In addition to the
Hoze
agency
itself and the
municipality
of
Tehran,
there are contributions from
private
sources. The director has
always complained
about the
inadequate
budget:
"We find it difficult to
organize
a festival each
year.
The first festival
cost 2 million
tumdn,
the second 8
million,
and the festival titled 'A'in o avaz'
cost 20 million. The last
one, Hemasi,
rose to an
expense
of 50 million
tumdn",
said
Jalilpur.40
This
seemingly
exorbitant cost is
partly explained by
the
high
rate of inflation in Iran: the
price
of a Mashhad-Tehran
flight,
for
instance,
which used to be
2,000
tumdn in 1994 has risen to
10,000
tumdn at the time of
writing.
39 These video-cassettes are
kept
in the archives of the Hoze.
They
have
unfortunately
not
been
published,
nor can
they
be consulted
by
researchers.
40 Because of
inflation, it is difficult to
provide
US dollar
equivalents
for the tumdn. For
example,
before the Revolution one dollar was worth 7
tumdn, while at the time of
writing
it
is worth about 800 tumdn.
56
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official organizations
For its first festival, Hoze
paid
each musician 10,000 tumdns, along
with
transport
fees and accommodation.
Jalilpur
has told me, however, that for the
last festival, the musicians received between
20,000
and
30,000 tumdns. This
sum is
inadequate
-
as we have seen above in connection with the festivals
organized by
Ershad
-
and the musicians
complain
of the considerable
expense
their
participation
incurs.
3 Radio and Television
Since the revolution, Radio and Television has been in the hands of the
"conservatives" and under the direct
supervision
of the Guide of the
Revolution,
Ayatollah
Khamene'i. Until a few
years ago,
music was
rarely
broadcast
by
these
media,
and when it
was,
one
would,
for
example,
hear
only
a short
piece
of
a traditional musical
sequence accompanied by
the motionless
image
of a flower
or a
landscape,
as an interlude between two television
programmes.
The
performer,
the actual
piece
broadcast and so on,
were never announced.
Before the
Revolution,
the
major part
of this
production
was
light, "easy
listening"
music
(what
was called Iranian
"pop" music,
an imitation of Western
pop).
It was banned, as we have
seen, along
with most other kinds of music in
1979. Some
categories
of music were
spared, however;
for
example, military
march
(mdrsh)
and certain
patriotic hymns
and
songs (sorud),
which were
abundantly
broadcast.
Singers specializing
in
patriotic songs
have thus become
stars thanks to the Radio and Television. An
example
is
Ahangarin,
whose
songs constantly
extolled the combats of the war between Iran and
Iraq
and
reminded
everyone
of their
duty
as a
martyr (shahid).
His
songs
introduced
each
commentary
about the
war,
so he was heard
every day,
at
peak viewing
hours, just
before the
evening
news. As for the
radio,
it featured him "with
clockwork
regularity" (Adelkhah 1991:25).
Today
Radio and Television is the
greatest producer
and consumer of music
in Iran. It uses music
heavily
in
advertising,
in
signature tunes, and as
background
music
during
and between
programmes (including sport
broadcasts,
documentaries and scientific
programmes).
The kind that is
broadcast
mainly
consists of Western tunes and
songs,
with the text
expurgated.
Where traditional music is
concerned, many
Iranian musicians think
poorly
of the music broadcast
by
the Radio and Television.
According
to
Kiani,
it is
always modified,
revised
(tahrif
shode),
and made to
please
the crowds
(personal conversation, February 2000). Similarly,
when
regional
music is
broadcast,
the musicians imitate urban
music, although
it is well known that
Radio and Television has
important
archive
recordings
of music of the different
regions
of Iran. On the other
hand,
there is
today
a definite increase in
"pop"
and 'dinme
pasand (generally appreciated)
music.
Iranian Television has six
channels,
none of
which, despite
various
promises,
is oriented toward cultural activities. Even
today,
when a concert of
traditional music is
relayed, everything
is done to hide the instruments
themselves
(for
instance
large
vases of flowers are
used, or the camera will
57
58 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.91ii 2000
show
only
the faces of the
performers).
Other
genres
such as marches and
hymns (sorud)
continue to be broadcast on
special
occasions.
As we have
seen, access to
foreign programmes (mostly
Western ones,
such as CNN, BBC World and TV5, as well some Arabic
channels)
is also
provided by satellite, for those who have the financial means.41
Radio and Television is also endowed with its own Musical Sound and
Image
Unit
(Vahed-e musiqi-ye
seda va
sima-ye jomhuri eslami),
as well as a
council for the evaluation of
music, which decides what kind of music is
authorized
(mojdz)
and what kind is not
(gheyr-e mojaz).
Conclusion
The status of music in Iran is still the
object
of
controversy
and its role is still
ambiguous, partly
because the
political
and economic situation itself is
constantly evolving.
The
degree
to which music will be
accepted
will
depend
on whether those who hold the reins of
power
in the
country happen
to be
"reformers" or "conservatives". For instance, an institution such as the Radio
and Television, though making
massive use of
music, only rarely
broadcasts
concerts;
and when it
does,
it will not show the
instruments,
since their
public
display
still
poses problems.
It should be noted that
every point
I have tried to establish here deserves an
article of its own. For
example,
the attitudes and
practices
of the Iranian Radio
and Television would
justify publication
of a far
greater depth.
A more detailed
enquiry
into the
phenomenon
of
"pop"
music is also called for. It would
equally
be
interesting
to
analyze
the debate which is
beginning
to come to the fore
within the ranks of the traditional musicians themselves: worried about the
upsurge
of
"popular" music, they
fear
that, having
survived the
rigours
of the
Islamic Revolution, they might
now be doomed to
marginalization.
However, certain
encouraging signs
must not be
forgotten.
In late
1999,
for
example,
a House of Iranian Music was established in
Tehran,
which aims at
playing
the role of a
syndicate
for musicians. It is the first time that a musical
organization
of this
type (senfi
=
guild)
has been founded in Iran. Its statutes
state: "This is a
professional foundation, independent
from the
state, non-profit-
making,
and
composed
of the
country's professional
musicians. It is established
for a
non-specified period,
within the framework of the laws and decrees in
force in the
Republic,
under the
supervision
of the
Ministry
of Culture and
Islamic
Propaganda."42
Several
points
of the mission this
guild
has
adopted
are
similar to the
present
attributes of the
Ershad,
such as the
protection
of the
musicians. It will be
interesting
to see how it will
go
about
assuming
its tasks.
Currently
we can
only
be
pleased
about the fresh interest and
respect
shown
for
regional
music. However,
we
may
also have reason to
worry
about the
swing
of the
pendulum by
which the tradition
upheld by
the bards is set
up by
41 The cost is about 300,000
tumdns.
42 This charter was communicated to me
by Darvishi, February
2000.
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official
organizations
59
official cultural authorities as an
intangible
and
insuperable dogma.
Even if the
initial wish to defend the true value of the
practice they represent
is
praiseworthy,
the extreme and extremist
applications may
reduce the
musicians' freedom as
interpreters.
Of the
long
tradition of which these
musicians are the
carriers,
there would then remain
merely
a dead museum
piece,
sterilized
by
the
dangerous
obsession with
"purity"
and
authenticity.
Figure 3
0m
3
.
.
ma
-
Z
2
C
cn
I
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.9/ii 2000
References
Adelkhah,
F.
(1991)
"Michael Jackson ne
peut
absolument rien faire
-
Les
pratiques
musicales en
Republique Islamique
d'Iran." Cahiers d'etudes sur
la Mediterranee orientale et le monde
turco-iranien, 11.
Anquetil,
P.
(1980)
"Iran. Silence! On islamise." Le monde de la
musique, 24,
June.
Avery,
P.
(1967)
Modern Iran. London: Ernest Benn Limited.
Ayatollah Moraweji (1999) Musiqi
va
ghand
dar
dineh'ye fegh.
Lectures on
Shi'a
jurisprudence by Ayatollah
Moravejji.
Tehran:
Pazhuheshgah-e
farhang
va honar-e eslami.
Blum, R.S.
(1972a)
"Musics in contact: the cultivations of oral
repertoires
in
Meshhed,
Iran."
Unpublished
PhD
thesis, University
of Illinois.
(1972b)
"The
concept
of the
'Asheq
in Northern Khorasan." Asian
Music 4.1:27-47.
Darvishi,
M.R.
(1991) Haft owrang.
bakhsh-e
musiqi-ye
navdhi-e
mokhtalef
e
Iran
[The
Great Bear: musical
samples
from various
parts
of
Iran].
Tehran:
Hoze-ye
honari-e
tabliqat-e
eslami.
(1995) Negdh
be
gharb
dar ta sir-e
musiqi-ye
gharb
bar
musiqi-ye
Iran
[Westward Look,
a discussion on the
impact
of Western music on Iranian
music].
Tehran: Mahoor.
(1997) Ayene-o
dvdz.
[Ceremony
and
song].
A set of 28 cassettes.
Tehran:
Hoze-ye
honari-e
tabliqat-e
eslami.
Darvishi,
M.R. and
Tavahodi,
K.
(1992)
Musiqi-ye
shomdl-e Khordsdn
[Music
of northern
Khorasan].
Set of 3 cassettes. Tehran:
Hoze-ye
honari-e
tabliqat-e
eslami.
Digard, J.P., Hourcade,
B. and
Richard,
Y.
(1996)
L 'Iran au XXe Siecle. Paris:
Fayard.
During,
J.
(1989)
"Les
musiques
d'Iran et du
Moyen
Orient face a
l'acculturation." In Y. Richard
(ed.)
Entre l'Iran et l'Occident. Paris:
Maison des sciences de l'homme.
(1994) Quelque
chose se passe. le sens de la tradition dans l'Orient
musical.
Lagrasse:
Verdier.
Khoshru,
M.
(1996) "Musiqi,
ehsasat-e ensani va
'eteqadat-e akhlaqi" [Music,
human
feelings
and moral
beliefs].
Ahang
7.
Mas'udieh,
M.T.
(1980) Musiqi-e
Torbat-e Jdm
[The
music of Torbat-e
Jam].
Tehran: Sorush.
(1985) Musiqi-e
Baluchestdn
[The
music of
Baluchestan].
Tehran:
Sorush.
Mir
'Alinaqi,
S.'A.
(1998) Musiqi ndme-ye
Vaziri.
Majmu'e
dsdr-e
qalami
va
goftdri-ye
ostdd 'Ali
naqi
Vaziri
[Ali Naqi
Vaziri's lectures and
writings
about
music],
ed.
Seyyed
'Alireza Mir
'Alinaqi.
Tehran: Entesharat-e
Mo'in.
Mir Salim
(1996)
"Az
tariq-e musiqi
mitavan bar raftar-e ensanha ta'sir
gozasht" [Human
behaviour can be influenced
by music]. Ahang
1.
Roshanravan,
K.
(1996)
"Ghorbat: barresi-e vaz'iat-e fe'li-e
musiqi
dar Iran"
60
YOUSSEFZADEH The situation of music in Iran since the Revolution: the role of official
organizations
[Exile:
a
study
of the
present
state of music in
Iran].
Tehran: Saldm
(daily
paper) 1429, 1375.
Safarzadeh,
F.
(1999)
"Dar vatan-khish,
qarib"
[A stranger
in one's own
country]. Faslndme-ye
musiqi-ye
Mdhu. 5, autumn 1378:153-6.
Sepanta,
S.
(1990)
Cheshmanddz-e
musiqi-ye
Irdn
[A survey
of music in
Iran].
Tehran: Mash'al.
Shiloah,
A.
(1995)
Music in the world
of Islam, a socio-cultural
study. England:
Scolar Press.
Youssefzadeh,
A.
(1997)
"Les bardes-bakhshi du Khorassan iranien."
Unpublished
PhD
thesis, Universite de Nanterre, Paris X.
Note on the author
Ameneh Youssefzadeh is a member of the French CNRS
(Centre
National de la
Recherche
Scientifique)
research team "Monde
Iranien",
and a member of SFE
(French Society
of
Ethnomusicology).
Her book on bards of Khorasan is to be
published
soon
by
Peeters diff.
(Travaux
et Memoires de l'Institut d'etudes
Iraniennes).
Address: 9, rue de
Monttessuy,
Paris 75007, France;
e-mail:
ameneh.yz@wanadoo.fr.
61