The Arsacids - Epic Iranian Music

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The instrumentation is centered around the kamanche, the main bowed instrument of Iranian music, and it’s accompanied by a tanbour, a tar, and daf percussions, as well as the ney flute. Exceptionally, I’ve used a duduk here. I absolutely cannot stand the usage of the duduk in “historical music,” whether on YouTube or in film soundtracks: it’s the go to lazy solution for any composer without knowledge of Middle-Eastern music to evoke a “Middle-Eastern sound,” that is, the Middle-Eastern sound that Western film composers have made up in lieu of actually studying the region’s tradition. The duduk is principally an Armenian instrument, and its use is relegated to the region of Armenia, East Anatolia and Azerbaijan. In this case though, I used the duduk for a specific reason: the Arsacid dynasty had an Armenian branch that ruled over Armenia, and the use of the duduk here is a nod to that.

The lyrics are in the Parthian language, an Iranian language related to Persian in the same way that Russian and Polish are both members of a larger linguistic family, Slavic in the case of Russian and Polish, Iranian or Iranic in the case of Parthian and Persian. The lyrics are based on the Parthian language inscription by Shapur I, ironically a king of the dynasty who would centuries later overthrow the Arsacid dynasty--Parthian's cultural relevance was still great enough at the beginning of the Sasanian Empire that most royal inscriptions were written both in Persian and Parthian. I took the Parthian language inscription and switched out Shapur's name for Arsaces'. Note the usage of the term Erān to refer to Iran--it is a commonly held misconception, even among Iranians, that the term Persia is the historical, ancestral name of the land, and that Iran is a more recent intrusion.The opposite is true: variations of the term same term Aryana, Erān, Iran, etc, have always historically been used by Iranians to refer to their own land, and Persia is a Western exonym originating in Ancient Greece, where the name for the province of Pars was erroneously applied to the entirety of the land.

Lyrics transliterated:
Az mazdezn bag,
Arshak Shāh,
Shāhān Shāh Erān,

Ke chihr as yazdān,
Arshak Shāh,
Shāhan Shāh Eran

Translation:
I, the Mazda-worshiping,
King Arsaces,
King of Kings of Iran,

Whose race is of the gods,
King Arsaces,
King of Kings of Iran,
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Artwork by J.F Oliveiras, music and vocals by Farya Faraji. Please keep in mind that this is in no way a reconstruction of Ancient Iranian music, it's modern Iranian music with an ancient thematic. This is a theme I wrote around the idea of the Arsacid dynasty, who would usher in the Parthian Empire, the second of the major Iranian empires of Antiquity, and the only one of the three not to be Persian. The Arsacid or Parthian Empire is often relegated to the status of the middle-child between the older, unanimously known Achaemenid sibling, and the later, highly prestigious Sasanian Empire. The Parthian Empire, however, was no footnote of West Eurasian history, and it played a major part both as an Iranian superpower and as an arch-rival to the Romans for centuries. The Arsacid dynasty first emerged as members of the Parni tribe, likely speakers of a Northeastern Iranian language, and in time, would come to adopt the culture and language of the Parthians, speakers of a Northwestern Iranian language. Arsaces' rise occurred during the Seleucid Empire; one of the Successor Kingdoms of Alexander's empire, founded by Seleukos, one of his generals. The Arsacid rise to power ousted the Hellenic occupiers and brought back native Iranian control over the region for the first time in centuries. The Parthian Empire would prevail for four centuries until the rise of the Persian Sasanian dynasty.

The instrumentation is centered around the kamanche, the main bowed instrument of Iranian music, and it’s accompanied by a tanbour, a tar, and daf percussions, as well as the ney flute. Exceptionally, I’ve used a duduk here. I absolutely cannot stand the usage of the duduk in “historical music, ” whether on YouTube or in film soundtracks: it’s the go to lazy solution for any composer without knowledge of Middle-Eastern music to evoke a “Middle-Eastern sound, ” that is, the Middle-Eastern sound that Western film composers have made up in lieu of actually studying the region’s tradition. The duduk is principally an Armenian instrument, and its use is relegated to the region of Armenia, East Anatolia and Azerbaijan. In this case though, I used the duduk for a specific reason: the Arsacid dynasty had an Armenian branch that ruled over Armenia, and the use of the duduk here is a nod to that.

The lyrics are in the Parthian language, an Iranian language related to Persian in the same way that Russian and Polish are both members of a larger linguistic family, Slavic in the case of Russian and Polish, Iranian or Iranic in the case of Parthian and Persian. The lyrics are based on the Parthian language inscription by Shapur I, ironically a king of the dynasty who would centuries later overthrow the Arsacid dynasty--Parthian's cultural relevance was still great enough at the beginning of the Sasanian Empire that most royal inscriptions were written both in Persian and Parthian. I took the Parthian language inscription and switched out Shapur's name for Arsaces'. Note the usage of the term Erān to refer to Iran--it is a commonly held misconception, even among Iranians, that the term Persia is the historical, ancestral name of the land, and that Iran is a more recent intrusion.The opposite is true: variations of the term same term Aryana, Erān, Iran, etc, have always historically been used by Iranians to refer to their own land, and Persia is a Western exonym originating in Ancient Greece, where the name for the province of Pars was erroneously applied to the entirety of the land.

Lyrics transliterated:
Az mazdezn bag,
Arshak Shāh,
Shāhān Shāh Erān,

Ke chihr as yazdān,
Arshak Shāh,
Shāhan Shāh Eran

Translation:
I, the Mazda-worshiping,
King Arsaces,
King of Kings of Iran,

Whose race is of the gods,
King Arsaces,
King of Kings of Iran,

faryafaraji
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Much love for the Arasacids, one of the most underrated dynasties in world history. Thanks for the music and translation!

HistorywithCy
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My mother's family although Georgian, claims it's ancestry from the Arsacids who fled to Georgia from Armenia due to Turkish attacks.Lions of Parthia!Greetings to you brother!

Constantine_Bush
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I love how the song begins with the fading of the Alexander theme from his composition

sal
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For every people enjoying Farya's work, please take the time to read his pinned comment, where he explains his creative processus. That's how I understood how dedicated to his art he is, and how authentic his compositions are.

etiennespasm
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Fantastic piece of music ! Eternal glory to Arsacids, liberators of Iran ! Love from Greece !

GTakos
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Iran has the greatest history of any country ever.
Hands down.
Signed, an Irish Catholic.
Mighty Parthia must crush Rome!

ciaronsmith
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Greetings from a Median to my Parthian Cousins
Long Live IRAN the Land of Aryans


Good job My Dear Farya

LordArian
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As a historian specialized in the Seleucid Empire, I have to admit it, those Parthians were hard dudes

armandom.s.
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Love Iran and its culture!!
Greetings from Serbia!

alexmasic
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I appreciate the history you included. It was very helpful for me to learn, as most western history teachings focus on the Roman empire and not other ancient superpowers, like Parthia.

tutorjulslee
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I only recently discovered this channel and I am amazed both by your original works but also the historical covers. I love how much effort you put into descriptions of both the cultural and historical background of the music, your design choices etc. and that you aren't discriminatory in your selection of music, though as a Persian learner I most appreciate the Iranian pieces - one can really feel that you do this for the music first and foremost. Thanks for putting out all this music for free and keeping up such high standards in an internet landscape where such effort does not often get the reward it deserves!

Huegeltroll
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Here after the Carrhae 53 B.C epic symphony 😊

Shahanshah.Shahin
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amazing mate, the parthians were one of the most important empires as a rival to the roman empire and also were greatly known for their spread of buddhism to china and so music as always

kavinkamaraj
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Long live the Parthians and once again an impressive music 💚🇮🇷💚

xshandy
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You have an incredible musical culture and a crazy talent. Great theme again. Thank you! :)

christinebordes
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The arsacid rule over Armenia was very influential and til this day “Arshak” is a common given name to boys.

gavinpanjar
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The dislikes come from Crassus, Publius and the Romans at Carrhae

hrnd_hstran
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Still the longest reigning dynasty of Iran. Long live Arshak and his successors, bane of the Seleucids!

yaqubebased
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Is that Alexander's symphony I hear at the beginning of the video? It makes sense, given the Hellenic influence the Parthians received from the Seleucids. Great music as always!

boog