Analysis of improvisation in Iranian Classical Music Based on Bruce Ellis Benson's theory of The Improvisation of Musical Dialogue

Bruce Ellis Benson, in his phenomenological theory The Improvisation of Musical Dialogue, points out that in the creation and performance of a musical work, there is always a platform for improvisation that brings the composer, performer, and listener into a kind of discourse. Through hermeneutic phenomenology, he presents his theory in the context of Western classical music and jazz with an overview of musical traditions and applications. Improvisation has always had a special place in Iranian classical music. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concepts of Benson's design on improvisation, including the ontology of the musical work, the originality and identity of the musical work, the limitations of creative performance and how to convey the composer's intention to the audience based on Iranian classical music. In this research, which is in the category of qualitative research, the research method has been applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of methodology with a phenomenological approach. All material is obtained through the library method. The results show that in Iranian instrumental music, "Radif" plays an important role as a musical world for a dialogue. Improvisation has an interpretive nature in Iranian music and Iranian classical music composers, along with ontology in Benson's theory, always enter into an open dialogue on the application of Iranian music in creating a piece of music. In composing their musical works, Iranian instrumental music composers always enter into an open dialogue based on the tradition and application of Iranian music, and contrary to the common notion that improvisation and composition are created out of nothing; Composing in Iranian music is always based on the tradition and works of the past (Radif, ancient works and even the composer himself) and in Iranian music, it is better to use the word "piece" instead of the work, which is part of a coherent whole. This piece of music, which lives in the world of the emergence of Iranian classical music, has a fluid identity that always continues to live with the performance and interpretation of an experienced performer who is familiar with the tradition and application of Iranian music. Also, the need for moral responsibility of Iranian music artists in the face of and in dialogue with the "other" is an important issue in Benson's theory and it is important to expand it in Iranian classical music.