Persian traditional music, also known as Persian or Iranian classical music refers to the classical music of Iran.
Fine arts represent the emotions and the morals of people and nations and as the nations have different preferences, their arts are different from each other.
The original Persian music, also known as Persian traditional music and Persian classical music, includes Dastgah (musical modal system), melody, and Awaz.
Persian music influenced the music of the major parts of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, and Greece. Also, each one of them has also contributed to the formation of this music. Barbod, Nagisa (Nakisa) and Ramtin are the famous Persian musicians in ancient Iran.
Radif (meaning order in Persian), a collection of many old melodic figures was inscribed as the first independent Iranian legacy in the Intangible World Heritage List in October 2009.
The traditional Iranian music, as mentioned in the books, has influenced world music. The basis of the new European musical note is according to the principles of Mohammad Farabi, a great Iranian scientist and musician.
The Persian Traditional Music of Iran is a collection of songs and tunes created over the centuries in this country and reflects the moral of Iranians. The elegance and special form of Persian music persuade listeners to think and reach the immaterial world. Also, the passion and the beat of this music have roots in the ancient and epic spirit of Iranians, which conducts the listener to move and make efforts.
The traditional Persian music is composed of twelve sets. Seven of this sets are more independent and are called Dastgah. The five other sets that are dependent come from Dastgah, which are known as Awaz. In addition to the seven Dastgah and five Awaz, 228 Gushehs are the models of musicians and singers.
Each Dastgah is a sequence of the different major seconds, or whole tones, of Persian music inciting a special emotion of the listener. In fact, a Dastgah is a melody type that a performer uses as the basis of an impromptu piece. Each Dastgah contains many Gushehs.
Here are the seven Dastgah of Radif of the traditional Persian music:
- Shur
- Segah
- Chahargah
- Rast Panjgah
- Homayoun
- Mahour
- Nava
Some Luminaries of Persian Music:
Iranian musicians are the identity of Persian music. Here is a list of some prominent Iranian musicians:
Qolam Hossein Banan
He was one of the most popular singers of Iran.
Javad Maroufi
He was the first pianist who blends the technics of Western music with Iranian music.
Mohammad Reza Shajarian
He is one of the prominent Iranian singers who won the Picasso Award for his works. He is well-known as “Iran’s greatest living maestro of Persian classical music”.
Shahram Nazeri
He won the Best Mystic Music Award of Morocco in 1998. In October 2007, he received the Order of Légion d’honneur of France.
Eventually, one must admit that Persian Traditional Music owes its development and status to the above people and several more who have played a pivotal role in keeping this art alive among Iranians.
Some Persian traditional music instruments:
Daf: One of the oldest frame drums which mostly was considered as a Sufi instrument to be played in the Khanghah.
Dotar: Comes from a family of long-necked lutes and it is what northerner parts of Iran, specially Khorasanian use to perform music. It is usually played alone.
Kamanche: A bowed spike fiddle, it has four metal strings and, hemisphere carved out of wood with a thin sheepskin membrane. Kamanche was played mostly in feast and celebrations and we can see it paintings from different dynasty at different times.
Ney: Is the Persian reed and has five finger holes in front and one thumbhole in the back.
Santur: This instrument is a struck zither on a regular trapezoidal box and though it’s very old, it was not presented in any solid document until the nineteenth century.
Tar: is a plucked stringed instrument (a long-necked lute) that is played in Iran (Persia), Caucasus, and central Asia. There are two forms of Tar, the Persian (Tar-e-Shiraz or Irani) and Caucasian (Tar-e-Ghafghaaz).
Qanun: This is the instrument that al-Farabi invented, a sort zither. Farabi played for the public to prove his point about music, he said he’d play a funny melody and so his audience laughed, he played a sad melody and they cried.
It is a world-class art that incorporates not only performance but also the science and theory of music and sound. It is, therefore, a body of knowledge, encoding a way of knowing the world and being.
We invite you to hear following tracks from Mohammad Reza Shajarian, the prominent Iranian singer: