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Time of Rudaki
by
translated by
copyright 1995 |
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Time of Rudaki
by
translated by
copyright 1995 |
The time of the pioneer poet of the Iranian peoples, Rudaki (d. 941), coincides with Iranian civilization's epoch of scientific, literary, and cultural achievements. The greatest minds of the time converged in Bukhara, the focal point of the sciences, literary developments, and artistic innovations, where theoretical and practical aspects of the fine arts, including music, were studied and enhanced.
Arab and Perso-Tajik authors have written extensively on the art of music of the Rudaki era and have explained the major trends in composition, innovation, and instrumentation. Their contributions distinguish this era as the period of the revival of Iranian culture in the East.
Regarded as one of the mainstays of the culture, music is deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of ancient Iran, especially during the Sassanian era. The music of the Sassanians was not only original but was rich enough to nourish music geniuses like Borbad, Nakisa, Sarkab, Sarkash, Gisu Navagar, Azadvar-i Jangi, and others who specialized in music for the masses. The Arab invasion and the subsequent politics of marginalization of Iran put an end to this musical culture and postponed the recognition, development and appreciation of the instruments, voice, style, and performance for centuries; it halted research in the field. Many shining stars were sacrificed to the bigotry of the invading forces. Much of this literature perished. The rest was subsumed under Arab identity. It was not until the rule of the Samanids that Iranian culture reasserted itself.
Strictly speaking, the scientific and practical music of the Sassanian era is original in nature. There were, of course, influences from Greece, Babylon, Egypt, and India. It is, however, the essence of that music that was original to the Iranian lands. Furthermore, the Sassanians were eager to discover new grounds but, within that effort, too, they emphasized the Iranian roots of their music. In spite of their wild nature, the Arabs did not destroy that aspect of Iranian culture. On the contrary, the palaces of the caliphs of Islam were filled with the melodies produced by Iranian instruments played by Iranian peoples. In the long run, the free spirit of the adherents of this trend brought about the emergence of what came to be known as the "Shu'ubiyyah."
The rich traditions of voice and instrumentation of the Sassanian era eventually surfaced during the reign of the Samanids with a new style and a revived vigor. The directors and the teachers at the Samanid court drew on the Sassanian experience for inspiration. Following the Sassanian model, Samanid officials reestablished a new musical culture, a synthesis of poetry and music that affected performance, instruction, publication, and development of the arts in general. At this time, therefore, we observe an elevation in the status of professional musicians. Instruction of music as a basic science, using encyclopedias as textbooks, became an established method. This new attraction to music also affected the status of the singers, composers, and rawis who frequently found themselves in key positions in the government and politics of the realm. Important decisions could no longer be made without the input of artists. Eventually, an office called "Khurram Bash" or "Director of Fine Arts" was established. In addition to the artists, this office also drew on the talents of a bevy of experienced consultants from other fields.
It should be added that until the time of the Samanids, the Iranians had to exercise a degree of secrecy in the performance of their cultural rites. The Samanid rulers were partial to music and, for the administration of their realm, imitated the Sassanians. In Baghdad, the Caliph al-Muqtadir attracted poets, musicians, and representatives of other aspects of the musical culture. All these artists were Iranian even though their presentations were in Arabic.1
At the Samanid court, the synthesis of poetry and music that had begun under the Sassanians continued and led to a series of innovations in the ancient art and in its enrichment. Alongside the musicians, at this time, we also find poets like Abu Hafs-i Sughdi (d. 902), Rudaki, and others whose works complemented the efforts of the musicians. Some even incorporated music in their poetic recitations. The artists of this time included Abu al-Abbas Bakhtiyar (9th-10th century), Isa Barbati (d. 941), Abu Hafs-i Sughdi, Mahmud Rubabi (d. 932), Abulhassan Jamasara (d. 952), Ahmad Khunyagar (d. 972), and other scholars and experts. They conveyed the musical tradition of Borbad (586-636/38), Nakisa (549-623), Ramtin (547-620), and Gisu Navagar (589-640) in a new format. The Khusravani, Lakui, Uramani are various types of Pahlavi songs, known in post-Sassanian times as fahlaviyyat. In fact, composition of the fahlaviyyat initiated a new trend in the artistic life of the times, many composers presented their own fahlaviyyat. Lakui or Laskavi is the name of a musical form. The name is derived from the name of a beautiful singing bird. The lyric for this music was of the panegyric type and its formation is attributed to Borbad. During the time of Rudaki, this form was used very frequently. Indeed, Rudaki's bu-i ju-i muliyan is composed with this form in mind. It should be emphasized that, during the Sassanian era, the poet and the musician were often the same person. For this reason, Borbad, Ramtin, Azadkar-i Jangi (586-622), Sarkash (568-625), Gisu Navagar, and others were respected; they were treated as talented poets of their time. This trend was continued by the Samanid artists and was developed to its full potential by Rudaki and his contemporaries. The combination of voice and instrumental music emerged as taranak (tranik), Chama (Chikamak), sarvod (surud), pazhvazhak, etc. 2 These forms were developed and delivered. Among these patvazha (from pat and vazha or great word) gained a special recognition as qasidah. This genre was further used during the Samanids to compose spring odes, odes for festivities, and odes containing praise. According to the sources, Rudaki changed the nature of this genre by adding odes expressing complaint and patriotism as well. This use of the patvazha conformed to its use during the Sassanians when the recitation of poetry was accompanied by instruments like dutar, chang, barbat, 'ud, tanbur, and rubab. The art of patvazha- singing-was elevated to its highest level by Rudaki, Abu al-Abbas Bakhtiyar, Isa Barbati, Nashida Rudi, Mahmud Rubabi, Ali Patvazhsara, and others. The greatest master of the classical school of Bukhara, Abu al-Abbas Bakhtiyar, concentrated his efforts on discovering the history of the patvazhak genre. Taranah(tranik) or chama (chikamak) also is among the most developed and recognized forms of the time of Rudaki. Many researchers, including Tajiks, recognize Rudaki as the founder of the genre. We must add that this type of music (i.e., taranah), form and content, took shape under the Sassanians and that it appeared in two types. The first type is related to Borbad and his time. He was the first to create the calendar or seasonal taranahs.3 In the sources on literature and music this form is called urban taranah. It has a special order for performance. The text of this form was established by Borbad and his musicians. The other type of taranah was called "rustic" taranah (rustak tranik). The style and the manner of its performance belong to the villages. It is the texts of these songs that are identified as fahlaviyyat. These two types, i.e., taranah and chama, are mentioned in Abu Nasr al-Farabi's Kitab al-Kafi al-Musiqi as taraiq and ravashin. Furthermore, this kind of music was related to the professional classes of Bukhara, Sughd, and Khurasan who listened to that music to relax after a hard day's work. The music itself is produced on ancient instruments and is accompanied by chorus. In cities, this music assumed local color and special distinctive features. This type of music was distinguished as professional and dated back to Borbad and the other masters of the Sassanian era. Many ancient sources reveal that the Arabic metric system is rooted in this era of Persian music. The important point then is that the well-spring of Arabic music is the musical culture of the Sassanians.4
The form and the structure of the lyrics of the Sassanian period are based on three distichs, the very form that is retained and appears in Rudaki's compositions. That is why we cannot claim Rudaki as the founder of the taranah. Nevertheless, the same musical, literary, and historical sources relate that the lyrical aspect of the taranah flourished at that time. Furthermore, this music exerted a great deal of influence on the musical culture that developed at the same time at the court of the Umayyid Caliphs. In fact, the great musicians at the Arabian courts, musicians like the Musilis, Nashit-i Fars, Shahda-i Fars, and others, were all Iranian. Indeed, musicians like Alavaih-i Sughdi, Khurram-i Samarqandi, Bashar-i Burd-i Takharistani, and others held high positions at the Abbasid court. They have not only attributed their knowledge of music to ancient Iran, but have cultivated that musical culture as well. There are many statements like the following: "The Arabs have not made any contributions to music; the music at the court of the caliphs is nothing but Iranian music."5 Similarly, there is another form called khurasani which also flourished during the Samanid times. This form, which was performed for relaxation, was based on the speech of the common people, had a very complex performance feature, and used the saz for instrumentation. The structure of this music is explained by Abu Nasr al-Farabi who traces its history to the Sassanian times. During the Samanids, this genre is developed further and is called khurasanikhani. Many master musicians like Muhammad Khusravai or Khurasani (d. 951), Jangi-i Mudaknir (d. 961), Isa Barbati, and others are known to have worked with this genre. Explaining the art of khurasanikhani, Rudaki says:
Another of the genres prevalent during the time of Rudaki was the sarvad, surud, chakamak which also had taken shape as a vocal form during the Sassanian era. This genre, too, rooted in the efforts of Borbad, Nakisa, Bamshad, Azadvar, Gisu Navagar, and others was formalized during the Samanid era. Mavara'unnahri and Surud-i Parsi, too, belong to the time of Borbad and are fully developed at this time. Rudaki proves his mastery in this genre in his "Lament in Old Age":
Without a doubt, the musical culture of the time of Rudaki had been very varied, revealing the aesthetic diversity and the richness of the Sassanian court. The development of the musical culture of the Samanids was not limited to that dynasty. Classical music received special attention and schools of music were taught by experts like Abu al-Abbas Bakhtiyar. The scholars at the school researched the theoretical aspects of music discussed in the works of the ancient Greeks and devised new methodologies. Besides, not all the scholars followed this trend. Katibi-i Khwarazmi (910-980), Abu al-Abbas Sarakhsi (d. 930), Ahmad Sarakhsi (d. 899), Abu al-Vafa-i Buzjani (940-998), Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Ibn-i Sina (980-1037), and others chose to continue the traditions of their ancient ancestors. The scientific and practical musical school of the Samanids alongside research in the works of their Iranian predecessors made noteworthy contributions in the instruction and translation of the works of such Greek scholars as Plato, Aristoksin, Nikomakhus, Aristotle, Ptolomy, and others. The methods of analysis, especially the manner in which the Greeks related music to the movement of the spheres, was criticized and music study was founded on a scientific basis.7 Because of this bold step taken at that time the musical culture of the Samanids is devoid of cosmological and legendary connotations and explanations. The musical culture of this era is based on works like Traniknamak or the book of taranahs and on chapters from Andarz-i Khusrau Qubadan, and Khusrau Qubadan va Qulam-i Dana-i U, works that had survived the Arab invasion. By using these sources, the national spirit of the ancient music is recaptured. In addition, the music researchers of the time did not limit their understanding of music to the local sources. Rather they expanded their reach and incorporated much of the musical knowledge of the time into their original creations. This method of research was the hallmark of the contributors of the Rudaki era. The results of these innovations in scholarship appear in the works of Abu al-Abbas Sarakhsi, Ahmad Sarakhsi, Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Ibn-i Sina, Zaila-i Isfahani, and others. The belief that the Samanid music scholars imitated the Greeks is patently false. The music of this era has an exclusively local color and feel. Al-Farabi's introductory note to Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir addresses this issue. "The Pythagorean thought that relates the creation of music to the movement of heavenly bodies must be rejected. The roots of music are in our knowledge and what is outlined here is the result of the efforts of our ancestors in this field-it represents their perception, talent, and understanding of this art." Another important aspect of the Rudaki era is the devotion of the researchers to the revival of the traditions of the ancients. They concentrated their efforts on the pre-Islamic music of Ma Wara' al-Nahr and Khurasan, abandoning the musical developments that had been heavily influenced by Arab thought. Instead, they grafted the traditions of the Sassanians and the Sughdians to the body of their own innovations and compositions. It is at this time that, in spite of the barbarism of the Arabs, Abu al-Abbas Sarakhsi, Ahmad Sarakhsi, Abu al-Abbas Bakhtiyar, and others gathered the remnants of the musical culture of the past and recorded it for posterity. Another contribution of the scholars of this time was a scientific compilation of the vocal and instrumental terminology. Forms like Tarak (zakhmazani), santur, chaqanah, shahrud, zangalak (zang), vanchak (vin), nai, dora (daira), taburak, shaipur, zandvar, zir, bam, barbat, dastan, mushta, rubab, ghizhzhak, zamzama, chama (chikama), taranah (tranak), surud (sarvad), and others were injected into the body of the scientific and practical literature at this time. Still other aspects investigated at this time are the aesthetic, spiritual, and finesse of music as well as its public appeal to both scientists and artists. And none of this investigation is based on Greek contributions. Rather, it is an investigation that concerns the very life of the contemporary peoples and of their ancestral legacy. Recognition and instruction of the contributions of Rudaki will, without a doubt, enhance our appreciation of our fine arts.
The barbat of Isa and the carpet of Favadi,6
Mudangir's lute and the subtle nai of Janan.
O beautiful one, don't look down on Rudaki,
You didn't see him when he was in his prime;
You didn't see him when he filled the world
With music more appealing than the nightingales'.
Selected Bibliography
From the Hymns of Zarathustra to the Songs of Borbad