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Persian classical music

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre

Already around 600 the poet and musician Barbad sang at the Sasanian court of King Khosrow II, but almost nothing of his music has survived. Persian classical music today is organised in twelve dastgahs: modal systems that each consist of dozens of short melodies, gushehs. In the nineteenth century Mirza Abdollah recorded this entire repertoire, the radif. Singers such as Mohammad-Reza Shajarian improvise on classical poetry, accompanied by tar, setar, santur or kamancheh.

Listening

Listening tip. In this daramad, the opening of a dastgah, listen to how Shajarian sings freely and without a beat, and how Mohammad-Reza Lotfi's tar answers his phrases.

See also

Categories: Genres