ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the paradoxical absence of music in Zoroastrian worship, a striking anomaly given that every major world religion either incorporates music in ritual or explicitly legislates its use. Through a combination of musicological and sociological research spanning India, Iran, and the global Zoroastrian diaspora, the study investigates whether the apparent lack of music is genuine or the fossilised remnant of an ancient tradition.
Fieldwork involved over forty hours of recorded prayers and interviews with priests, alongside archival recordings dating back to the mid-twentieth century. Musical notation analysis revealed six consistent performance structures – termed ‘musical DNA’ – shared across Indian and Iranian prayer traditions despite divergent cultural contexts. These sonic patterns suggest a preserved auditory lineage possibly over a thousand years old, hinting at a lost tradition of singer priests comparable to Hinduism’s Samaveda chanters.
The research raises critical questions about the transmission of sacred sound, oral memory, and cultural survival under historical cataclysms such as Alexander’s conquest of Persia. By uncovering these performance features, the study reframes Zoroastrian prayer as a living archive, preserving traces of a forgotten musical heritage that once formed a vital part of the faith’s spiritual expression.
