Originally in Iran, like other West Asian countries, oral tradition has been chiefly used for musical transmission. However, with the introduction of Western music from the middle of the 19
th century, in Iran today, staff notation has been completely established as the only musical notation even though oral tradition, or a semblance of it, is partly used in music classes. Through observing the activity of Iranian musicians reading or writing musical scores, this paper aims to clarify a certain universal principle, which supports such activity. Finally, I illustrate that this principle functions in the background to all musical activities.
In the process of adopting the musical score, avaz (rhythm without a clear beat) was not clearly notated in the musical score. Nevertheless from such a score, a reader can reproduce music compensating for the lack of rhythm notation by using alternative suitable information.
This is possible because he understands, through bodily sensations, the rhythm of Persian classic poetry which is sung with the music. If one understands the rhythm of the Persian classic poetry through bodily sensations, it becomes possible to read the melody and obtain a feeling of termination in the musical score by catching the combination of a short note and a prolonged note as one. This is because the core rhythm pattern of Persian classic poetry is iambic.
Such recognition in the musical score is supported by the experience of avaz through the voice, so that avaz also means a style of vocal music too. In this recognition, all the signs in a score are naturally regarded as representations of the nuance and feeling of the words actually sung. And this also means that the score for a certain musical instrument will not necessarily resound only as a sound for that musical instrument. That is, beyond the actual resounding of the music, an image of the “resounding vocal avaz” can also be felt.
For example, while the musical instrument is specified externally, many Iranian music scores are, in fact, read and performed exceeding the framework of the musical instrument. This is because Iranian musicians evoke not only the sound of the musical instrument but also vocal avaz, as a universal element in the music score. From this recognition, it turns out that various activities in Iranian music making, such as writing music, or conversely interpreting a musical score, and instrumental performance, is an attempt to approach the image of vocal avaz. That is, all musical activities are performed on the basis of an image of vocal avaz.
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