Persia differs considerably from the Western world, especially when it comes to arts and music. Making the audience plunge into an absolutely unique universe, the Persian music is doubtlessly a worthwhile experience.
Existing on its own since Persia turned into Iran, it still possesses the unique flair of Sumerian culture (Kilmer para.3) and offers unforgettable experience. One of the most famous Persian artists, Dariush Eghbali offers his audience a specific mix of popular and political music, which makes him quite a controversial person worth taking a closer look at.
Taking place in Roy Thompson Hall on Saturday, October 6, 2012, in Toronto, the concert was a perfect introduction to Persian music. It was necessary to see the performance in order to understand the specifics of the singer’s style, the passion that he manages to convey in every single note of his song, and the ways in which he manages to comprise the popular songs with a political context.
The latter is defined by Carr as the artists’ skill of “building into their music a semi-hidden, heretical agenda that their political masters could not decipher” (Carr para.5).
There is no doubt that great settings allow to render a lot of information about the song and the performer, as well as set the mood for the on-coming performance. In the case with Dariush Eghbali’s concert, the settings work exactly the way they should, introducing the audience to the world of the Persian music and making them dive into the unknown style.
To start with, the stage is lit with purple and a slight shade of maroon, which makes one plunge into the realm of 1001 Nights. The lack of details allows the audience to focus on the band and the performer.
Unlike many other popular music performers, Dariush Eghbali does not shock with his appearance; in fact, it is only slightly emphasized to make him stand out of the band. It is essential that he can be distinguished among millions of others by his voice and manner of singing, not by his looks. However, it is worth noticing that Dariush Eghbali is dressed in white – probably, not to merge into the background.
It is also quite important that Dariush Eghbali seems to interact with the audience quite efficiently; the singer does not stand nailed to where he started from – he paces the entire stage, gesticulating and establishing eye contact with the audience. The latter, however, also added their bit into the aesthetic impression; keeping silence throughout entire music numbers, they burst into applause as each song ended, giving credit to the singer and the musicians.
It was not only Dariush who talked to the audience through his songs – the people in the concert hall also responded him with their appraisal and appreciation for the enjoyable music. As for me, I preferred to dissolve in the stream of melody and words, with images emerging in my mind as Dariush kept on singing; altogether, it reminded somewhat of a dream sequence.
Popular music is notorious for its similarity all over the world; it seems that popular music is destined to either break the boundaries between different cultures and become the driving force that unites people, or make any elements of individuality vanish without a trace.
In the case with Dariush Eghbali, however, music is supposed not only to express the singer’s mood and ideas, but also to represent the traditional Persian style. Unlike any other artists, Dariush Eghbali in his songs touches upon topical social issues. Moreover, when it comes to duets, the singer seems to be rather eager to create the symphony of Persian music together with another artist.
In a slight departure from the topic, it is important to mention that Dariush has recently performed with Faramarz Aslani, singing Ay Eshgh (Almirazee), which is another proof for Mr. Eghbali’s versatility. However, the fact that the latter sang together with a different artist did not mean that Dariush was going to deviate from the traditional classic Persian music – there is still the same rhythm to the songs and the same manner in which Dariush performed.
Picking the Persian music as the key motif of the event, the organizers must have been trying to make the public see how incredibly fresh and unique it sounds, and to draw more attention to Dariush Eghbali. Unfortunately, the latter was not famous enough among the youth, which could be another reason for the organizers of the concert to invite the Iranian star to Calgary.
It is worth mentioning that what Darius performed reminded nothing of the material studied in class, mostly because Darius focused on the song, while the music was shifted into the background, still remaining a significant part of the concert.
It is quite peculiar that Dariush Eghbali seems incorporate the elements of the traditional Iranian music with its Western popular analogue. The singer tries to incorporate the traditional sound of the Persian music with the modern approaches towards popular music. The idea of mixing the traditional Persian music genres and the elements of international pop music is growing increasingly popular in Iran: “Many musical genres occupied the space between makam music and popular styles” (Feldman para. 31).
Like in many other spheres of art, it is not only the focus of the performance or artwork that speaks for itself the loudest. As a rule, there always are vivid details which can reveal even more than the song or the performer, and this is exactly the case of Dariush Eghbali’s performance.
It is quite curious that Dariush Eghbali uses the standard set of instruments for his performance, namely, the keyboard, which is not quite traditional for Persian music: “its role in antiquity and in non-European civilizations appears to have remained so limited that it may be considered as characteristic of Western music” (Meeus para. 1) and the drums, namely, drum chimes, which are not typical for Persian music either and are usually referred to African culture, “where drum ensembles are common” (Heins and Cook para. 1).
The striking minimalism of the instruments used for the show indicates that the singer relies completely on his voice (Potter) and that the music serves as a backdrop for the songs. In accordance with the Persian music traditions, Dariush Eghbali uses “relatively simple ratios of frequencies” (Moore para.8).
However, it is worth noting that Dariush does not use traditional Persian instruments much. Attending his concert, one can easily get a wrong idea about the Persian music. It is necessary to mention that the traditional Persian concert presupposes the use of such instruments as tar, zarb, santoor, and rubab. Among these instruments, tar takes the first place; an instrument that sounds like no other string instrument in the world, tar can be considered the symbol of Persian music.
In contrast to tar, which has a lot of similarities with a guitar, zarb looks nothing like any musical instrument known to the Europeans. Considered a Persian drum, zarb is typically used to add a specific rhythm to the melody, revealing the depth in it. Another important instrument that makes the bulk of the Persian music, dahol is also widely used, especially for performing the Irani classical music. Another peculiar Persian instrument worth mentioning is ney, an Irani equivalent of a flute.
Though having only 6 holes instead of the usual seven ones, ney, nevertheless, allows to convey the slightest change in the mood of a melody. Likewise, sorna, a Persian equivalent of oboe, differs from the rest of European instruments with its construction – the instrument has a double-reed structure. Combined with other instruments like zarb, it produces the most magical effect. Finally, such an instrument as daryereh, a Persiian equivalent of a tambourine, adds to the specific sound of the Persian music (Bolstad 52).
The scanty number of instruments allows to suggest that Dariush is trying to deviate from the traditional manner of performing and make Iranian music closer to the Western pop, since the traditional Persian music “employed large number of instruments” (Lavergren para. 41). Much like the traditional Persian genre, the performance featured such instruments as large drums. In addition, brass and reed instruments, like flute, were also featured in the performance, which added a distinct flair of Persian culture to the show.
Despite the fact that the style which Dariush Eghbali has developed over the years of performing incorporates not only Persian, but also Iranian and even European music, it must be admitted that for the most part, the singer emphasizes the use of the traditional Persian motives. In addition, Dariush Eghbali seemingly tries to use the Arabian Gulf music, namely, African motives (Rovsing and Wegner para. 1), which explains the use of drums.
Though in the given performance there are no winds, Dariush also uses the traditional Persian flute to make the music more palatable for the audience. However, most of the time it is practically the voice that makes the performance sound the Iranian way, with the Persian inflexions and specific intonations.
It is also important to focus on the meaning of the songs which Dariush performed. For instance, in his song “Dobare Misazamat Vatan,” he tells about his home and the way he worships its beauty, telling that the bricks of his soul is what his home is made of: “اگر چه با خشت جان خويش” (Bahmani), and that he will always worship its beauty: “دوباره ميگويم از تو گل” (Bahmani).
The song comprises both lyrical and political elements. Dariush claims that he will protect his home from the enemies: “که برکنم قلب اهرمن / به نعره آنچنان خويش” (Bahmani), and the mentioning of these ostensible enemies is what makes the song more meaningful. Making the audience ask themselves a question about who these enemies are, the song raises topical political issues for the audience, at the same time thrilling with the beauty of its sound.
It is also quite important that the lyrics of Dariush’s songs are chosen so carefully and with the topical social issues in mind. It seems that the lyrics in Darush’s songs contrast sharply with the ones which have been popular in the XX century during the influence of the Western music.
According to what Levisohn says, “these influences did not generally hail from the high classical and sophisticated traditions of Western, Arabic or Turkish music, but were mainly derived from the vernacular and street culture traditions” (Lewisohn 80). In the light of the above-mentioned, Dariush’s influence on the Perian music becomes even more powerful, since he also contributed to the reestablishment of the traditional Persian musical values.
Works Cited
- Almirazee “Dariush ft. Faramarz Aslani – Ay Eshgh.” YouTube. 2012. Web.
- Bahmani, Elahe. “Dariush – Dobare Misazamat Vatan – Live in Toronto.” YouTube. 2012. Web.
- Bolstad, Stacy. Iran in Pictures. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books. 2003. Print.
- Carr, Jonathan. “Politics and Music.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Feldman, Walter Zev. “Ottoman Music.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Heins, Ernst and Peter Cook. “Drum-chime.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Kilmer, Anne. “Mesopotamia.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Lavergren, Bob. “Iran.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Lewisohn, Jane. “Flowers of Persian Song and Music: Davud Pirniā and the Genesis of the Golhā Programs.” Journal of Persianate Studies 1 (2008): 79-101.
- Meeus, Nicolas. “Keyboard.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Moore, Brian C. J. “Consonance.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Potter, Keith. “Minimalism.” Oxford Music Online. Web.
- Rovsing, Paul and Ulrich Wegner. “Arabian Gulf.” Oxford Music Online. Web.