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Modal Modernities: Formations of
Persian Classical Music and the
Recording of a National Tradition
A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology
by
Mohsen Mohammadi
2017
Utrecht University
Copyright © 2017 by Mohsen Mohammadi
All rights reserved.
Printed by CreateSpace, An Amazon.com Company
ISBN-13: 978-1547227938
ISBN-10: 1547227931
Citations and bibliography generated by Zotero (http://www.zotero.org)
Cover photo:
Mozaffar-od-Din Shah with the Columbia Multiplex Grand Phonograph
Photo preserved at Golestan Palace in Tehran (Adle 2001)
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Part I: The Dastgāh System in European Writings; The Hybridization of the Outsider-Insider ................. 31
Introduction to Part I ........................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter 1: The Earliest Documentations of the Dastgāh in Europe ................................................... 35
Chapter 2: The Early Presence of the Dastgāh System in European Musical Literature .................... 59
Chapter 3: The Emergence of the Twelve Dastgāh System in Ethnomusicology Literature .............. 75
Conclusion to Part I ............................................................................................................................ 89
Part II: Historical Survey on the Mode Classifications in Persia ................................................................ 93
Introduction to Part II .......................................................................................................................... 95
Chapter 4: Classification of Persian Modes Prior to the Dastgāh System .......................................... 97
Chapter 5: The Emergence of Dastgāh: The Rise of Multimodal Performance ............................... 123
Chapter 6: The Establishment of Dastgāh ......................................................................................... 139
Conclusion to Part II ......................................................................................................................... 153
Part III: Āvāz as the Modal Entity of Persian Music in the Nineteenth Century ...................................... 159
Introduction to Part III ...................................................................................................................... 161
Chapter 7: Āvāz in Persian Writings Prior to 1900........................................................................... 163
Chapter 8: Āvāz in 1900 to 1920 ...................................................................................................... 181
Chapter 9: Āvāz as the Main Term for Modes, 1920 to 1950 ........................................................... 211
Conclusion to Part III ........................................................................................................................ 229
Part IV: The Role of the Recording Technology on the Evolution of the Persian Modal System, c.1900-
c.1950 ........................................................................................................................................................ 233
Introduction to Part IV ...................................................................................................................... 235
Chapter 10: Early years of the Recording Industry in Persia ............................................................ 237
Chapter 11: Data Analysis of Mode Names on Labels ..................................................................... 245
Chapter 12: Data Analysis of the Double-Sided Records ................................................................. 277
Conclusion to Part IV ........................................................................................................................ 289
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 293
Appendix: Catalogue de disques Persans de la compagnie The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd. ........... 311
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................. 347
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List of Figures
Figure 1: The board of the Shah’s physicians photographed in Contrexéville in 1900 .............................. 36
Figure 2: Snapshot of the website of the municipality of Contrexéville ..................................................... 37
Figure 3: Avâz-è Mâhoûr as published by L’Illustration on July 28, 1900, copy preserved at Biblioteka
Narodowa, Warsaw ..................................................................................................................................... 40
Figure 4: Dèst-gâh-é Homâyoûn published by Choudens (Paris, 1900), copy preserved at the National
Library of Israel .......................................................................................................................................... 41
Figure 5: Avâz et Tèsnîf Persans, copy preserved at Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen ..................... 43
Figure 6: A passage from Avâz et Tèsnîf Persans featuring improvisations and rhythmic song ................. 44
Figure 7: Imitated vocal improvisation and rhythmic song ........................................................................ 47
Figure 8: Cover of Avâz-è Râg by Alfred Lemaire, according to (d’après) Arsalān Nāser-Homāyun, copy
preserved at the National Library of Israel ................................................................................................. 50
Figure 9: Arsalān Nāser-Homāyun and Mozaffar-od-Din Shah in Europe (left); General Arsalān Nāser-
Homāyun in uniform with decorations (right) ............................................................................................ 52
Figure 10: Abbas Mehrin in Tehran in 1965 ............................................................................................... 63
Figure 11: Sample graph of the derivational relations between sets of six, twelve, twenty-four, forty-eight,
and ninety-six modes ................................................................................................................................ 116
Figure 12: Ormavi's concentric circles of shared notes ............................................................................ 125
Figure 13: The table of the related modes according to Shirazi ............................................................... 126
Figure 14: Dogāh & Hoseyni, rearranging Shirazi’s table of related modes ............................................ 127
Figure 15: Graphs of the four shad in Bahjat-ol-Qolub ............................................................................ 133
Figure 16: Graph of a set of four dastgāh from Bahjat-ol-Qolub ............................................................. 142
Figure 17: Rhythmic instrumental piece (Pish-Darāmad) in Āvāz Māhur ............................................... 182
Figure 18: Word analysis of Lemaire's note ............................................................................................. 187
Figure 19: Mozaffar-od-Din Shah with the Columbia Multiplex Grand Phonograph .............................. 238
Figure 20: Catalog entries and labels in Persian from 1906 (3-12674) and 1909 (2-012002). ................. 245
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List of Tables
Table 1: Shared modes, Nishāburi and Ormavi ........................................................................................ 103
Table 2 Table of the modes according to Nishāburi, Bokhāri, Shirazi, and Ormavi ................................ 108
Table 3 Safavid derivational relation between pardeh and sho‘beh ......................................................... 112
Table 4 Safavid derivational relations between āvāz and pardeh ............................................................. 114
Table 5 Early Safavid collections of the modes as modulation instructions ............................................. 129
Table 6: Comparative tables of the modes in the four modulation instructions and the four shad ........... 131
Table 7: Comparative list of the modulation instructions, shad, and dastgāh ........................................... 136
Table 8: Details of the second set of four dastgah .................................................................................... 144
Table 9: Details of the four dastgāh from the set of twelve dastgāh ......................................................... 148
Table 10: The twelve maqam-dastgāh ...................................................................................................... 149
Table 11: Distribution of musical terms on record labels when a mode name is mentioned .................... 190
Table 12: Distribution of musical terms on record labels when a mode name is not mentioned .............. 190
Table 13: Various āvāz registered on record labels .................................................................................. 192
Table 14: List of the various āvāz in the seven dastgāh according to Mirza Shafi ................................... 199
Table 15: Distribution of the modal terms in Bohur-ol-Alhān .................................................................. 209
Table 16: Instances of using āvāz for modes in general ........................................................................... 214
Table 17: Instances of using āvāz for Persian general modes in general .................................................. 215
Table 18: Instances of using āvāz as “radif of the āvāz” .......................................................................... 215
Table 19: Instances of categorizing āvāz as primary and secondary modes ............................................. 216
Table 20: Instances of using āvāz in relation to rhythm ........................................................................... 217
Table 21: Instances of using āvāz for Persian modes from the previous systems .................................... 218
Table 22: Instances of using āvāz in relation to dastgāh, gusheh, scale, and Europe ............................... 219
Table 23: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Shur and its related modes ............................................... 220
Table 24: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Māhur and its related modes ............................................ 222
Table 25: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Homāyun and its related modes ....................................... 223
Table 26: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Chahārgāh and its related modes ..................................... 224
Table 27: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Segāh and its related modes ............................................. 225
Table 28: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Navā and its related modes .............................................. 225
Table 29: Instances of using āvāz for dastgāh Rāst-Panjgāh and its related modes ................................. 226
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