Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran. It consists of characteristics developed through the country's classical, medieval, and contemporary eras. It also influenced areas and regions that are considered part of Greater Iran.
Hossein Alizadeh (1951-) is an Iranian musician, composer, radif-preserver, researcher, teacher, and tar, shurangiz and setar instrumentalist and improviser. He has performed with such musicians as Shahram Nazeri, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Alireza Eftekhari and Jivan Gasparyan, as well as with a number of orchestras and ensembles.
The tombak, tonbak (تنبک), or zarb (ضَرب) is an Iranian goblet drum. It is considered the principal percussion instrument of Persian music. The tombak is normally positioned diagonally across the torso while the player uses one or more fingers and/or the palm(s) of the hand(s) on the drumhead, often near the drumhead's edge. Sometimes, tombak players wear metal finger rings for an extra-percussive "click" on the drum's shell. Tombak virtuosi often perform solos lasting ten minutes or more.
The tar is a long-necked, waisted lute family instrument, used by many cultures and countries including Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and others near the Caucasus and Central Asia regions. The older and more complete name of the tār is čahārtār or čārtār, meaning in Persian "four string",. This is in accordance with a practice common in Persian-speaking areas of distinguishing lutes on the basis of the number of strings originally employed. Beside the čārtār, these include the dotār, setār, pančtār, and šaštār or šeštār.
A setar is a stringed instrument, a type of lute used in Persian traditional music, played solo or accompanying voice. It is a member of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes with a range of more than two and a half octaves. Originally a three stringed instrument, a fourth string was added by Mushtaq Ali Shah by the mid 19th century. It is played with the index finger of the right hand.
Ostad Sa'id Hormozi (1898–1976) was an Iranian musician who is remembered for his efforts to "promote authentic Iranian music" and pass it to modern musicians. He was born in one of the old neighborhoods of Tehran called Sangalaj. He was a prominent radif master and virtuoso tar and setar player.
Radif is a collection of many old melodic figures preserved through many generations by oral tradition. It organizes the melodies in a number of different tonal spaces called dastgah. The traditional music of Iran is based on the radif, which is a collection of old melodies that have been handed down by the masters to the students through the generations. Over time, each master's own interpretation has shaped and added new melodies to this collection, which may bear the master's name.
Dastgāh is the standard musical system in Persian art music, standardised in the 19th century following the transition of Persian music from the Maqam modal system. A dastgāh consists of a collection of musical melodies, gushehs. In a song played in a given dastgah, a musician starts with an introductory gusheh, and then meanders through various different gushehs, evoking different moods. Many gushehs in a given dastgah are related to an equivalent musical mode in Western music. For example, most gushehs in Dastgāh-e Māhur correspond to the Ionian mode in the Major scale, whilst most gushehs in Dastgāh-e Šur correspond to the Phrygian mode. In spite of 50 or more extant dastgāhs, 12 are most commonly played, with Dastgāh-e Šur and Dastgāh-e Māhur being referred to as the mothers of all dastgahs.
Ahmad Ebādi was an Iranian musician and setar player. Born in Tehran, he was a member of the most extraordinary family of Iranian music. Ahmad's father, Mirza Abdollah, is arguably the most influential figure in Persian traditional music, and his paternal uncle, Mirza Hossein-Qoli, is also well known for his mastery in playing the tar. Ahmad's paternal grandfather, Ali-Akbar Farahani, was also a talented musician.
Jalaal Zulfonun was an Iranian musician, setaar player, and a prominent composer and teacher of Persian music.
Rokneddin Mokhtari (1887–1970) was an Iranian musician and violinist.
Mohammad-Reza Lotfi was an Iranian classical musician renowned for his mastery of the tar and setar. He collaborated with singers such as Mohammad-Rezā Shajarian, Hengameh Akhavan, Shahram Nazeri and Alireza Shahmohammadi.
Master Farâmarz Pâyvar was an Iranian composer and santur player. Payvar died on 9 December 2009 after a long struggle with brain damage. Although once perceived as marginal, the santur is now considered an important solo instrument in Persian classical music, largely as a result of his work. Over the course of his career, Payvar revolutionised its playing, led two major ensembles and made numerous recordings.
Iranian/Persian traditional music is now modernly classified into the Dastgāh system. This system is a modal system, in the fact that it utilizes distinct modes of music, in this case seven. Each of these seven modes, referred to as Dastgāh, are then classified into smaller units, each called an āvāz. Every āvāz consists of short pieces and melodies of music called the gousheh that, although each has its own characteristics, share one central characteristic in the āvāz.
Daryoush Pirniakan is an Iranian musician, tar and setar player, and music researcher.
Majid Kiani is a Master of the Persian Santur. He was the best student of Manoochehr Sadeghi, among others. He teaches traditional Iranian music and his masterpiece is the book named: "Seven Dastgah(s) of Iranian Music". He is a leading figure in the Iranian musical establishment, and known for his controlled expositions.
Nasser Rastegar-Nejad was an Iranian Santur player. He released an album on the Nonesuch Records Explorer label. In 1968, a section of the track 'Dashti', played by Nasser Rastegar-Nejad, and originally to be found on the album Mid East, volume 8, 1968, published by American Friends of the Middle East, was used in the film Performance to accompany the scene in which characters played by Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg make love. The track has since been re-released, along with others, on the Lyrichord album In A Persian Garden: The Santur in 2007.
Shahin Shahbazi is an Iranian composer, musician and poet. He is mostly renowned for his mastery of the tar and setar and his composition of the complete Radif works of maestro Ali Akbar Shahnazi with his band Nafir ensemble.
Amir Nojan is a Persian traditional Setar player. He started studying the traditional Persian music at the age of twelve with various masters. Some of his eminent teachers were Ustad Dariush Talai, Ustad Jalal Zolfonoon and Ustad MohammadReza Lotfi.
Bayat-e Esfahan is one of melodic pieces of Iranian traditional music, known as a branch of Dastgah-e Shur or Dastgah-e Homayun. Some musical theorists consider the Bayat-e Esfahan an independent dastgah within the Persian radif system.
