Music of Iran

Lore & Background

Music in Iran, as evidenced by the pre-Iranian archaeological records of Elam, dates back thousands of years. Under the Parthian Empire, the gōsān (minstrel) performed at royal courts and public theaters, praising national heroes and ridiculing Roman rivals. Parthian songs were later absorbed into the Iranian national epic Šhāhnāmeh.

Reader's Guide

The reign of Sasanian ruler Khosrow II is regarded as a golden age for Persian music. In the post-medieval era, the Qajar period saw renewal through the development of classical melody types (radif) by Mirza Abdollah, the oldest documented version of the seven dastgah system. In the 20th century, Ali-Naqi Vaziri established a private music school and the Music Club, while Ruhollah Khaleqi founded the Society for National Music. Western influences entered popular music in the 1950s, with artists like Viguen introducing electric guitar and jazz elements.

Did You Know?

• The Zoroastrian paradise was known as the 'House of Song' (garōdmān), where music induced perpetual joy.
• Barbad, a poet-musician at the court of Khosrow II, may have invented the lute and organized a musical system based on the Sasanian calendar.
• The radif developed by Mirza Abdollah in the 19th century is the oldest documented version of the seven dastgah system.
• Viguen, known as the 'Sultan' of Iranian pop and jazz, was one of Iran's first musicians to perform with a guitar.

Ancient Roots in the Archaeological Record

Music in Iran stretches back thousands of years, with the earliest physical evidence coming from Elam, the oldest civilization in southwestern Iran.

The Sasanian Golden Age and Barbad's Modal System

The Sasanian period stands as a high watermark in Iranian musical history, particularly under Khosrow II, whose reign is widely regarded as a golden age. A monumental relief at Taq-e Bostan captures the ruler among his musicians, standing in a boat surrounded by harpists while holding a bow and arrows himself. His court employed celebrated performers including Azad, Bamshad, Barbad, Nagisa, Ramtin, and Sarkash. Of these, Barbad looms largest in the historical record. A poet-musician who performed at state banquets and festivals like Nowruz and Mehrgan, he is credited with inventing the lute and shaping the modal tradition that would later give rise to dastgah and maqam. His system reportedly comprised seven royal modes, thirty derived modes, and three hundred and sixty melodies—numbers mirroring the days in a week, a month, and a year in the Sasanian calendar. Melodies bore evocative names drawn from epic heroes, royal gardens, and natural phenomena, though the underlying theoretical principles remain unknown to modern scholars.

Parthian Minstrels and the Birth of the National Epic

Under the Parthian Empire, the gōsān—Parthian for "minstrel"—occupied a position of considerable social prominence. These performers entertained audiences at royal courts and in public theaters, and their art extended beyond mere entertainment. Plutarch's Life of Crassus records that they celebrated national heroes while mocking Roman rivals, and Strabo's Geographica notes that Parthian youth were taught songs about the deeds of gods and noble men. The Parthians also employed drums as instruments of war preparation, according to Plutarch. The songs these minstrels carried forward were eventually absorbed into the great Iranian national epic, the Šhāhnāmeh, composed by the 10th-century poet Ferdowsi. That epic itself drew upon an earlier Middle Persian work called Xwadāynāmag, a foundational piece of Persian folklore that is now lost. Thus, the oral traditions of Parthian court and public performance became the bedrock upon which one of the world's most celebrated literary monuments was built.

Radiating Influence Across West Asia and Beyond

Iranian music did not remain confined within its own borders; it shaped the sonic vocabularies of neighboring civilizations. Much of the musical terminology used in Turkic and Arabic cultures traces its roots to Iranian sources, evidence of a deep and sustained cross-cultural exchange across West Asia. The influence also traveled eastward: through the 16th-century Persianate Mughal Empire, Iranian musicians were brought into the Mughal court, where they helped promote new musical forms in the Indian subcontinent. The reach extended westward as well. The ninth-century Persian poet Rudaki composed songs set to his own verses under the Samanid dynasty, and the tradition of court musicianship continued under the Ghaznavid rulers, who employed performers like lute player Mohammad Barbati and songstress Setti Zarrin-kamar. Zaryab of Baghdad, a student of the Iranian musician Eshaq Mawseli, is credited with influencing the classical Andalusian music of Spain. In this way, Iranian musical knowledge propagated outward along trade routes, imperial courts, and scholarly lineages, leaving an indelible mark on the musical heritage of multiple civilizations.