ABSTRACT
The Iranian Constitution of 1906 was a mixed blessing for music. The Constitution offered some release from religious constraints but allowed for abuses. 1 Official freedom of music opened Pandora’s box and, according to Safvat, it seems that every low class lout has become a “composer, ” a “singer” or “instrumentalist.” The more these charlatans were applauded, the more cocky they became, and over the recent decades, authentic Persian music was nearly totally destroyed by innovators and westernizers. The mollāhs who had formerly been disparaged for causing music to go underground for so many centuries actually unwittingly protected it from the later damage it was to suffer under Westernization. 2
