Music In Grass

          I had the chance to watch Grass completely and realized that my observation about the music in the film was premature, at least. Here is what I found: All the performers are Iranian except for the producer of music score, Richard Einhorn who studied classical music composition. He has been writing film music, among other works, for years. I was disappointed to see his name in the credit since it did not confirm with my expectation after hearing the music. Einhorn does something that can hardly be perceived as a music composed by a non-Iranian artist. I will research this a bit more and will hopefully share my findings with class. In regard to my opinion, I say this as a listener who lived 27 years in Iran and spent sometimes in Pakistan listening extensively to various classical and folk Iranian music. 

          The instruments were Tambur, Setar, Dohol, and Daf accompanied by the voice in some areas. These instruments can be found in the Turkish, Persian, and even Arab regions with slight variations in their physical make and sound. Having said this, the classical Iranian ensemble is quite distinguished from say Arab or Turkish pieces. (As much as I know.)

          Attempts were made before revolution to record and popularize the rich heritage of folklore music in Iran including that of Bakhtiyari nomads, which are portrayed in the film. We see them playing Setar and other instruments. Before revolution, the archiving and preservation of folk music were mostly channeled toward pop music through using their lyrics, an approach which were looked upon as Westernization of music after revolution. The whole idea of recording the folk songs (partly even sacred in some cases) and turing them into watered-down sexualized pop songs were controversial before and after revolution. Having said this, a rich tradition was accumulated on channeling these songs toward Iranian "classical" music, which were find in the film. For an Iranian audience the music resemble both elite and pop musics. It creates a paradoxical response which is hard to explain.

          To some extent, the music and specially songs compete with orientalist and tourist-minded intertitles and tries to mystify the tribes or to form a different national allegory in the film, as Jonathan explained in class. At some points the Western-minded intertitles and Eastern-minded music (this is a metonymic stretch) compete to claim Bakhtiyaries as their own national heritage each romanticizing the tribes in their own images. Poems of Baba Taher, an 11-century Persian poet and mystic known for his short poems and aphorisms, and other relevant lyrics are recited throughout the film beautifully. I strongly suggest viewing the film completely to get a sense of competing forces and their directions. 

Here is a link to Wikipedia for Baba Taher: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Taher)

hadi