Originally posted by Dr. Oud
The Persian traditional music system is known as the Radif, containing 14 Dastgah and/or Avaz, (modes) not Maqams. It is an aural system
fundamentally, however some books have been written with notation. The Radif Of Mirza Abdollah", is a CD version that has been recorded by Dariush Tala'i for setar. There is a book by Ahad Behdjat based on the
version of Nourali Boromand, transcribed for santur, I got at the ehran University book store. I don't know if or where you would get it outside of
Iran. The Radif is a collection of approximately 360 melofies, (Gushays) that are intended to instruct the student in the use of each Dasgah and/or
Avaz. Once mastered, it is a base to construct personal improvisations and compositions to accompany poetry and instrumental performances. It is not a
fixed system, but it is expected that each player develops his own version of the Radif, based on his study of the past master's versions. Here's a
nice site with samples of the Radif |