Yale Journal of Music & Religion the Mulberry Tree, the Birds and The
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Yale Journal of Music & Religion Volume 5 Number 2 Music, Sound, and the Aurality of the Environment in the Anthropocene: Spiritual and Article 8 Religious Perspectives 2019 The Mulberry Tree, the Birds and the Divine in the Music of the Dotār in Khorāssān (Iran) Farrokh Vahabzadeh Associate researcher Musée de l'Homme/MNHN Follow this and additional works at: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/yjmr Part of the Ethnomusicology Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Vahabzadeh, Farrokh (2019) "The Mulberry Tree, the Birds and the Divine in the Music of the Dotār in Khorāssān (Iran)," Yale Journal of Music & Religion: Vol. 5: No. 2, Article 8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17132/2377-231X.1143 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Yale Journal of Music & Religion by an authorized editor of EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Mulberry Tree, the Birds and the Divine in the Music of the Dotār in Khorāssān (Iran) Cover Page Footnote This article is a translation and improvement of « L’animal, l’Homme et le divin: une étude du rapport entre l’environnement et la musique en Khorâssân, Iran", Proceedings of 141st congress of CTHS "L’animal et l’Homme", University of Rouen, Rouen, France. This article is available in Yale Journal of Music & Religion: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/yjmr/vol5/iss2/8 The Mulberry Tree, Birds, and the Divine in the Music of the dotār in Khorāssān (Iran) Farrokh Vahabzadeh From 2004 to 2010, I worked on the Studies also show that some birdsongs music of the dotār, a long-necked lute share features with human music.5 from Central Asia and the Khorāssān Closer to my study is John Baily’s region of Iran. In the course of my research, work on the music of the Herat region of I became aware of many anecdotes, stories, Afghanistan. He mentions the importance metaphors, and symbols linking the of birdsongs, particularly those of the music of the region to the environment, nightingale (bolbol) and the canary (kanari), both plants (especially the mulberry for Afghan musicians. He shows that rather tree) and animals (especially birds). The than imitating the birdsongs, Afghans relationship between music and the prefer to hear the musical performance animal world plays an important part in in the context of the natural soundscape both musicology and ethnomusicology. in which birdsongs have a prominent In reviewing different theories about how place. According to Baily, Herat music music came into existence, for example, is connected to birdsongs not only in its Jaap Kunst mentions the hypothesis— melodic and rhythmic aspects, but also which originated, according to him, under through symbolic elements related to the the influence of Darwinian thought—that Afghan people’s perception of aesthetics.6 singing is an expression whose origin is The musical tradition related to the dotār purely sexual, just as the singing of birds is has been the subject of studies in Iran as supposed to be closely related to their sexual well as in Central Asia. Several important life.1 Steven Feld analyzes the myth of the collections of dotār music, compiled boy who turned into a bird in the musical between 1972 and 1978 by Fozieh Majd,7 tradition of the Kaluli people of Mount have served as a basis for analyses of the Bosavi (Papua New Guinea) and shows music of Torbat Jām and other cities. For how “becoming a bird” is the metaphorical example, Mohammad-Taghi Massoudieh basis of the Kalulis’ aesthetic universe. He offers a paradigmatic analysis of, among demonstrates how cultural and semantic others, pieces related to birds, though his fields are organized in myth, language, and focus is on the musical content rather than expressive codes.2 By applying paradig- the birdsongs themselves.8 In the field matic segmentation technique, French of organology, the work of Mohammad- composer François-Bernard Mâche, a Reza Darvishi is one of the first systematic student of Olivier Messiaen, shows that attempts to describe the different variants birdsongs are organized according to of the dotār in Iran.9 There are studies of the repetition-transformation principle.3 the relationships between amateur and Western composers have incorporated professional music making in terms of birdsong in their music through imitation the complex of ideas and tunes associated (with voices or instruments), quotation, with the concept of the musicians āsheq10 recordings, and even the use of live birds.4 and of the bards bakhshi, their music, Yale Journal of Music & Religion Vol. 5, No. 2 (2019) 117 and musical life in northern Khorāssān.11 and plants in order to arrive at a better Other comparative studies focus on the understanding of the music of the dotār. playing techniques, rhythmic patterns, During the period of my study, I and musical aesthetics associated with conducted fieldwork once or twice each different traditions of the dotār in Iran and year in the cities of Mashhad, Quchan, Central Asia.12 Bojnurd, Shirvan, Bakharz, and Torbat My study of music in Khorāssān uses Jām, dividing my time between the Turkic, the same approach as the work done by Tzigan, Persian, and Kormanji peoples in Feld and, especially, Baily in showing the former province of Khorāssān (which that the music and the environment of was split into three provinces in 2004). I Khorāssān are closely related, both to also carried out research among the Iranian each other and to the cultural aesthetics Turkmen in the cities of Kalaleh in 2006 and beliefs of the people, particularly as and in Gonbad Kavoos in 2007; both expressed in Sufi thought and symbolism are located in the Torkamansahra region in these regions.13 For the musicians of in the Iranian province of Golestān. On Khorāssān, the mulberry tree and other these expeditions, the musicians and other plants do not merely provide materials informants I consulted were all men. There for making the dotār, and birds and other are a few female musicians in the region, but animals are not just a source of musical unfortunately I was unable to meet them. A inspiration. Both plants and animals also few of my informants were illiterate, but contribute to a concept of music that, on most were capable of reading and writing, a higher level of meaning, is related to and some had extensive knowledge of the divine—to evil, mysticism, and the Persian literature and poetry. The men perception of the world in the cultures worked at a variety of jobs—as farmers, that are the subject of this study. In barbers, electricians, teachers, and masons— short, the natural environment is one and for some, making instruments and of the major foundations of the musical music was their main occupation. Most tradition of Khorāssān. of them lived in small cities, generally in As discussed below, references to modest social conditions. However, their birdsongs in relation to musical rhythm works of art were highly valued in their are not rare in ancient Persian and Arabic communities. treatises on music. However, these By examining the close relationship relationships are not limited to the among birds, metaphor, and music in the rhythmic resemblances these theorists repertoire of the dotār, I will show how mention. They also extend to myths environmental factors can be directly or concerning the creation and fabrication indirectly related to a musical tradition and of the dotār, playing techniques, musical the beliefs that surround it. structure, and the symbolism associated with the instrument. In fact, so many The dotār ,Uzbek: dutor , راتود :fields of musical knowledge in the region The dotār (Persian :Karakalpak , راتتۇد :are connected, directly or indirectly, to the Tajik: дутор, Uyghur surrounding environment that it seems duwtar) is a long-necked lute with two essential to interrogate the role of animals strings. The name comes from the Persian 118 Yale Journal of Music & Religion Vol. 5, No. 2 (2019) words do (two) and tār (string). In ancient musical treatises, the instrument goes under the generic name tanbur. Fārābī (Al- Fārābī, Alfarabius), writing in the tenth century, described two different tanbur from Baghdad and Khorāssān14 in Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir, his treatise on the music and musical instruments of his time.15 However, the word dotār appears for the first time in a fifteenth-century treatise on the scientific and practical principles of music, Qānun-i Figure 2: Gholamali Pourataii, dotār player from Tor- Ilmi va Amali-e Musiqi, by Zeyn Al-Abedin bat Jām, Khorāssān, Iran (photograph by the author) Mahmud Hussaynī.16 Today, the instrument is played over a region of China, as well as in Central Asian wide geographical area, from Khorāssān in countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, northeastern Iran (see Fig. 1) to the Xinjiang Turkmenistan, and Karakalpakstan. The constitutive parts of the instrument are traditionally made from material of animal origin (horn, bone, gut, and silk) or vegetal origin (mostly wood), although synthetic materials and metal are also used in some regions. The body and soundboard of the dotār are always made of mulberry wood, while the neck is made of hardwood, mainly from the apricot tree. The strings of the instrument can be silk (in the Tajik, Uzbek, and Uyghur traditions) or steel (Turkmen, Karakalpak, and Khorāssāni dotārs). Synthetic materials like nylon are also used in some regions. The dotār is generally used in solo interpretations or in a duo consisting of an instrumentalist and a singer. It may accompany songs (including popular songs in Persian, different Turkic languages, or Kormanji Kurdish) and epic poems, and is also used in festive music and the musical genre Shashmaqom in Central Asia.