Tasnîf: a song.

Reng: a fast jig-like piece to end the performance.

Persian music is highly improvisational. Changes to the program will be announced from the stage.

Persian Music

Performance

A performance of Iranian/Persian music is like taking a musical journey. Once a dastgâh (mode/scale) is chosen, the general roadmap is clear, but details of where one can go are left open to the performer(s). Tonight's performance is in dastgâh Mâhûr (whose home mode resembles the Major scale). The music will now and then modulate to other gûsheh, but usually there is a return (forûd) to the home mode. The performance includes composed and improvised, traditional, folk, and original pieces — all arranged into a suite that gives each instrument and player a chance to be heard.

Theory

The repertoire of Iranian classical music—called the radîf ("row" or "ordering") — is a collection of melodies, rhythms, compositions, and interpretations handed down through generations from master to student. The radîf is organized into 7 main and 5 secondary dastgâh - each with its own tonal structure, characteristic motifs, and melodies – subdivided into 10 to 30 smaller sections called gûsheh ("corner" or "angle").  One or more of the following distinguishes each gûsheh: its melodic shape, its tonal structure, or its rhythm. The rhythm of Persian music is greatly influenced by Persian poetry and can be symmetric, asymmetric, or free.  Some of the greatest poets of the Persian language include Hafiz and Rumi.

Instruments

The târ and its smaller cousin the setâr have been the main stringed instruments of Iranian music for the past few hundred years.  "Târ" in Persian means "string" -  "setâr" means "3 strings" (though today it is customarily made with 4 strings). The ney is a bamboo flute with a breathy sound used in Sufi gatherings, together with round frame drum, the daf. The goblet-shaped tômbak is the drum most often used in Persian music today. The santûr is a 72-string trapezoid-shaped Persian hammered dulcimer played also in Indian, East European, and Appalachian musics.

About Dornob

Dornob (and its parent group, Darvak) have been playing Persian music in ....San Diego.... since 1985. Younger players have joined since 2000, giving Dornob a more contemporary sound. Their goal, in addition to friendship and crossing cultural bridges, is to make Persian music accessible to ....San Diego.... audiences. For samples, more information on the program, players, and references pertaining to Persian music, please visit: http://www.myspace.com/dornob

Monday, September 17, 2007       6:00 & 7:30                     J. Dayton Smith Recital Hall....