"Nomai
Khusravi", "Nomai Boston", "Nomai Haftkhon", and poems
"The Story of Siyavush", "The Story of Rustam and Sukhrob" and
others, as well as live musical-poetic practice became nourishing sources of creation for the
"Shahname" of Firdousi.
Cultivated in urban and palace musical practice songs and epic legends were executed to the accompaniment of different musical instruments or instrumental
ensembles. For instance the "Choma" genre - heroic song reached its complete development in the oral musical
art. Among the heroic songs in the "Shahname" Firdousi mentions
"Chomai Rustam", "Chomai Shoh" and others executed by famous singers as
Sufaro, Orzu.
Epic legends and heroic songs were executed at Tsar festivities, for
aristocracy, as well as in front of a lot of people at various ceremonies and ancient
holidays.
The musical art of the ancestors of the Tajik people strongly developed during the Sasanids epoch (22-651). During this period numerous
historic-literature, philosophic-didactic, musical works were created:
"Khosrov Kava-tan u Rizak" ("Khosrov Kavatan and the Page"),
"Traniknamak" ("Book of Songs"), "Aini
Khvarsandikh" ("A Book on Theoretical and Practical Rules of Art") and
others. Art of the genius melodeon, singer, instrumentalist, as well as theoretic and aesthete Borbad (585-86-638), who became the founder of the classical Tajik-Persian musical
system, having generalized achievements of the musical practice of the
people, who lived in the Sasanids' state, became the culmination of the musical
development. Creative heritage of Borbad and his scientific contribution already exists for more than one thousand five hundred years in the artistic consciousness of many generations of
musicians, poets, musical theorists and historians of the Middle and Central
Asia. The figure of the great minstrel, passes through the whole medieval history and culture as a leitmotif cluttered with myths and
legends. Borbad's works, especially his monumental-cyclic works "Khosrov
Sarvad", "Srot-y Khusravank", "Khusravaniat" served as initial
aesthetic, artistic base for further development of the musical art. Systematization and canonization of the musical material in the Borbad epoch represents and exclusively important social
function. Based on the cosmological and astrologic ideas on the necessity to have periodically renewed psalms in accordance with the number of week
days, months, years, Borbad created seven "Tsar, royal" songs, as well as a special group of 30 and 360
songs, which became the foundation of the yearly "Musical Calendar" created by the great
musician.
The pre-Islamic period of the development of the Tajik musical art was completed in the 7th
century, which was conditioned by the military expansion of Arabs in the Central Asia and establishment of the Islamic religion in this
territory. A new Moslem period of history of development of the Tajik culture
started, but main aesthetic and artistic aspirations continued to rest on the art of the
Sasanids' epoch. Creation of the centralized Tajik state of Samanids (819-1005), with the capital Bukhara became the peak of the Iranian revival artistic
processes. Great contribution in the development of the musical culture of this
period, especially in the scientific-theoretic interpretation of the nature of the musical art and generalization of scientific ideas on
Iranian, Middle and Central Eastern music belongs to Abunasr Farabi (870-950), Ibn-Sina (980-1037), Ibn Zeila
(died in 1048), as well as to the scientists, who translated and commented the works of the Ancient Greek and Indian
scientists. Ibn Iskhak translated into new Farsi-Tajik the "Music",
"Canons" of Aristotle, Yahkya Barmaki translated the "Rhythmic",
"Harmonic" of Aristoxen, Abdullo ibn Ali, Abulbaas Bakhtiyar translated the
"Canons" and "Harmonic" of Nikomah and others.
The works of Farabi - "Kitab-al-Musiqi-al-Kabin> ("A Big Book on
Music"), "Kitab-al-Madkhal as-Sinoat-al-Musiqi" ("A Book on Introduction in the Art of
Music"), "Kitab-al-Ihsail-al-Iko" ("A Book on Classification of
Rhythms"); works of Ibn Sino - sections on music in the encyclopedic works
"Donish-Name" ("Knowledge Book"), "Kitab-ash-Shifo"
("Cure Book"), "Kitab-an-Najot" ("Rescue Book"); works of Ibn Zeila
-"Kitab-al-Kafi-al-Musiqi" ("A Fool Book on Music") and others have special place in the history of the Tajik musical
culture. Farabi was one of the founders of the musical theory in the Islamic
period, and Ibn Sina became the first scientist, who expounded his points of view on music in the Tajik
language. This tradition was continued in future years and centuries.
Actually, starting from Ibn Sina, the scientists of Maveranakhr, Khorasan, Iran and India wrote their scientific works in Farsi-Tajik
language. Traditions of the scientific interpretation of the music nature
(sound, melody, rhythm, composition, perception of music etc.) initiated by Farabi and Ibn Sino were successfully continued and developed until the 20th
century. Of the large number of successors we shall name some works and names of the
scientists, who contributed a lot in the musical science development. These are Mukhammad Nishapuri (11th - 12th
centuries) "Risala-i-Musiqi" ("Treatise on Music"), Mukhammad Omuli (13th-14th
centuries), sections on music in the encyclopedic work "Nafois-ul-Funun"
("Brilliance of Sciences"), Abdurakhman Jami (15Ih century)
"Risala-i Musiqi" ("Treatise on Music"), Kamoliddin Binoi (15lh
century) "Risalai Musiqi" ("Treatise on Music"), Abdulkodir Guanda (15th
century) "Makosid-al-Alkhon" ("Location of Melody"), Gavhari Kavkabi Bukhoroi (16th
century) "Risola dar Baeni Duvozdahmaqom" ("Treatise on twelve
makoms"), Makhmud Khusaini (15th-16th centuries) "Konuni Ilmii va Amalii
Musiqi" ("Musical Canon"), Darveshali Changi (16th-17th
centuries) "Tuhfat-us-Surur" ("Gift of Happiness") - first musical anthology of the Eastern history of
music. Outstanding experts of the classical Tajik music Shashmakom in 19th century headed by the famous scientist and thinker Akhmad Donish (1827-1897) created a set of
treatises, musical-poetic anthologies, bayazes (collections of selected
poems) as "Man-zuma-i Shashmaqom" (Poetry of Shash-makom),
"Taronahoi Shashmaqom" ("Shash-maqom Songs"); Musokhoja Turkestoni
"Risola-i Shashmaqom" ("Treatise of Shashmaqom"). In the period of 18th-19th centuries and until the 20th century over 60 scientific
treatises, musical-poetic anthologies, bayazes, scientific notes for musicians
etc. were created.
Great contribution in the development of the Tajik traditional music in the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries were made by outstanding singers and
instrumentalists, who lived and worked in the large cultural centers of the Central
Asia: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khujand, Hissar, Khutalon (Kuliab), Badakhshan and other
places. Bobo Djalol Nosirzoda ( (1845-1928), Bobo Giyos (1858-1927), Khodji Abdulaziz Rasul
Samar-kand! (1852-1936), Sodirkhon Khujandi (1847-1931), Domullo Khalim Ibod (1878-1942), Usto Shodi Aziz (1888-1942) and their students and their
successors: Bobokul Faizullo (1897-1964), Shohnazar Sohibov (1903-1972), Fazliddin Shahobov (1911-1974), Sharif Djura (1894-1966) were the best experts of the Tajik classical
music. The Tajik classical musical heritage was recorded in the system of European note-writing by the
musicologist, composer V. Uspenskiy and issued in Moscow from 1924. Recording of the full collection of Shashmakom in execution of Bobokul
Faizulloev, Shohnazar Sohibov and Fazliddin Sharopov started in 1947. These records edited by the scientist musicologist
V. Beliaev are issued in 5 volumes in Moscow (1950-1969). Classical traditions of the Tajik musical art were carefully preserved and continued in the art of such famous musicians as Mirzokurbon
Soliev, Boymukhammad Niyozov, Maruf-khodja Bakhodurov, |
