UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Ethical Dimensions of Music-making in Iran: Beauty in Islamic Revelations, Mysticism and Tradition Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2z66d2r9 Author Amoozegar-Fassaie, Farzad Publication Date 2018 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Ethical Dimensions of Music-making in Iran: Beauty in Islamic Revelations, Mysticism and Tradition A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by Farzad Amoozegar-Fassaie 2018 © Copyright by Farzad Amoozegar-Fassaie 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Ethical Dimensions of Music-making in Iran: Beauty in Islamic Revelations, Mysticism and Tradition by Farzad Amoozegar-Fassaie Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Stephen Blum, Co-Chair Professor Roger Savage, Co-Chair This dissertation is based on the reflections of three prominent Iranian ustādān (master musicians; plural of ustād)—Lotfī, Jankouk and Sālem—on what defines beauty in mūsīqī-e sonnatī (traditional music). The judgment of beauty incorporates an array of ethical queries conveyed through a language that is heavily entangled with Islamic revelations, mystical beliefs and traditional values. The three ustādān’s perceptions of beauty are articulated through their understandings of how akhlāq (ethics, morals or manners) shapes the ideals of mūsīqī-e sonnatī. Akhlāq defines a set of principles that form the attitudes and actions relevant to the process of music-making. This dissertation examines the judgment of beauty and akhlāq in relation to mūsīqī-e sonnatī based on an examination of language, logic, politics and metaphysics. For the ii three ustādān, beauty is mainly reflected upon thought a metaphysical and spiritual perspective, that they have learned through readings of Iranian poetry and literature. Beauty and ethical ideals shape how the three ustādān make use of the radīf (Iranian musical repertoire) as the main source of akhlāq in their music classes, and the ways in which their role has now extends to the public sphere to advance the position of mūsīqī-e sonnatī. In the past four decades Iranians have witnessed the “Islamization” of the political, cultural and social norms. More recently, Iran has seen the disengagement of their youth from the traditional values. This detachment among the youth highlights a breakdown of conventional akhlāq principles, creating an ambiguity of the normative social and cultural practices in Iran. The youth’s nonconformism steps beyond socio-normative principles and Islamic values to create its own ethos. The three ustādān are faced with the unravelling of the norms, as they are confronted with a desire to adjust to the music tastes of younger Iranians. As the ethical values are being undone, newly-formed ideas about the judgment of beauty are being demarcated. Based on the current political, religious and social undertakings in Iran, this dissertation examines the correlation of ethics and beauty in mūsīqī-e sonnatī. This dissertation contributes to the fields of ethnomusicology, anthropology and Middle Eastern studies by a) serving as an in-depth ethnography exploring the relationship between music-making, judgment of beauty, and akhlāq from the perspective of the three ustādān, Shī’a authorities and Islamic scholars; b) mapping out akhlāq as a matrix incorporating language, logic, politics, Islamic values, and music’s affective power over individual sensibility and emotion; and c) exploring the tension, derived from individual musical experiences, between religious and cultural obligation and personal desire. This dissertation also explores urgent questions shared among the wider Iranian public and Western academics: a) What is it in the act iii of listening to or participating in music that could make it good or evil (bad)? and b) To what degree are beauty and ethics compatible, considering the intensity with which Iran is changing? iv The dissertation of Farzad Amoozegar-Fassaie is approved. Ali Behdad Munir N Beken Mark L Kligman Steve J Loza Stephen Blum, Committee Co-Chair Roger Savage, Committee Co-Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 v To Two Master Teachers: Ustād Mohammad-Rezā Lotfī, Who taught me the beauty of music Professor Stephen Blum, Who taught me the beauty of critical thinking and scholarly writing vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ........................................................................................................ IX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................... XI VITA/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ....................................................................................................... XIII INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION ................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER ONE: THE ETHICS OF BEAUTY IN MUSIC-MAKING .......................................................... 20 1.1 THE QUALITIES OF BEAUTY .......................................................................................................24 1.2 THE GRAY-ZONE IN THE JUDGMENT OF BEAUTY ......................................................................28 1.3 THE METAPHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE ON BEAUTY ..............................................31 1.4 THE LOGIC AND POLITICS OF BEAUTY .......................................................................................36 1.5 BEAUTY IN MOTION ...................................................................................................................42 PART I: THE BEAUTY OF AKHLĀQ IN MŪSĪQĪ-E SONNATĪ ................................................................. 46 CHAPTER TWO: UNVEILING AKHLĀQ IN MŪSĪQĪ-E SONNATĪ ............................................................ 54 CHAPTER THREE: AKHLĀQ AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE RADĪF .................................................... 77 3.1 OSTĀD JANKOUK’S TEACHING OF ADAB .....................................................................................80 3.2 USTĀD LOTFĪ’S TEACHING OF ĀVĀZ-E BAYĀT-E ESFAHĀN ...........................................................91 PART. II ....................................................................................................................................... 104 CHAPTER FOUR: USTĀDĀN, THE PREACHERS OF AKHLĀQ ............................................................. 109 4.1. IRAN AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE ................................................................................................111 4.2. THE REVOLUTION AND MUSIC .................................................................................................117 CHAPTER FIVE: THE LANGUAGE OF DEVOTION, GOODNESS AND BEAUTY .................................. 136 5.1 THE LANGUAGE OF TRUTH .......................................................................................................139 5.2. MUSIC AND A MORAL DISCOURSE ...........................................................................................145 CHAPTER SIX: AKHLĀQ, AUTONOMY AND AUTHORITY IN MUSIC ................................................ 155 6.1. THE RELATIVE VALIDITY OF ETHICS AND TRUTH ...................................................................161 6.2. THE PATH OF TRUTH ................................................................................................................166 6.3. CONCLUDING REMARKS ...........................................................................................................173 PART. III—THE JUDGMENT OF BEAUTY AND TRADITION ............................................................ 175 BETWEEN SONNAT AND MODERNITY .....................................................................................................179 CHAPTER SEVEN—THE RELEVANCE OF SONNAT: THE GUARDIANS OF THE PAST ........................ 184 7.1. MUSIC IN TRANSITION ..............................................................................................................187 7.2. BEYOND THE MYTH OF SONNAT ...............................................................................................196 7.3. THE AUTHORITY IN SONNAT .....................................................................................................198 7.4. THE TRUTH IN SONNAT .............................................................................................................205 vii CHAPTER EIGHT: AN INTANGIBLE PAST AND A FUTURE OF UNCERTAINTY ................................. 208 PART. IV: THE ETHICS OF BEAUTY IN MUSIC .............................................................................. 224 CHAPTER NINE: LOGIC AND POETICS OF MUSIC-MAKING ............................................................ 235 9.1. POETICS DISCOURSE OF MUSIC-MAKING .................................................................................238 CHAPTER TEN: MUSIC-MAKING AND THE UNION WITH THE BELOVED ......................................... 246 EPILOGUE: LEARNING TO DEFINE BEAUTY .................................................................................. 258 GLOSSARY ..................................................................................................................................