The Emergence of Concerts in Qajar Era

In this article, the emergence and development of concert in Qajar era are studied; the period between Nassery (The king Nasserdin shah) era and Qajar dynasty’s downfall. In this article we are going to introduce the background of one of the most important events in modern history of Iranian classical music that in addition to social aspects of music, has affected the performance of Iranian classical music. The methodology of this research is based on documentation and analysing the data. The structure of the paper is built on spatial important changes in which time priorities are considered. So, we divide the era into four periods; 1.acquaintance with the concert in the west and The Royal School of Iran by kings and dignitaries, 2.performance in Zahirodolle private gardens, 3.performance in public parks by different political parties, 4.performance in theater and cinema halls with various motivations. Iranian acquaintance with concert in the west and Iran caused emergence of the first concerts in our country. Anjomon Okhovat, social Sufi institution, played a very important role in conducting the orchestra and concerts. Along with these developments, Mashrouteh Movement encouraged parties to hold public concerts. Concerts organized by Constitutionalist in different cities, led to the development of this new phenomenon. Aref Qazvini, poet and musician, and Darvish Khan, musician, were pioneers in this way. Aref’s political Gazaliyat (lyric poems) and his Tasanif (popular songs) excited the public too much. The first private concerts were performed in new Grand Hotel and cinemas halls located in Tehran, Lalezar Street. People liked theater and performance, therefore they should be considered in concerts. Due to this important matter, Tasnif and Reng were paid attention. Creation Pishdaramad which was performed as an introductory, and made familiar the singer and audience with atmosphere of the music, was one of the achievement of concerts. Gradually, European concerts were introduced and concert organizers, Persian and western, increased. Concert was one of the important phenomena that could gradually move Iranian classical music from the royal or aristocratic circles to the social middle strata. Thus, a number of singers, instrumentalists and composers who were known among aristocrats only, little by little got popularity among ordinary people. Concerts could play a very important role in promotion of political opinions and tried to meet the important needs of the Era. Concerts had a very important effect on the process of creation of musical works based on instrumental and vocal genres and could change the structures of these genres, too. Gradually, western classical music could find a proper position in Iranian society. Western concerts were a very good chance for Iranians to know their music. Co-executive interactions between Iranian and western musicians (in different sequences) were noteworthy points of that period.