Royal Court Music of Thailand

1. Sounds of the Surf Ouverture
Pleng Homrong Kleun Kratob Fang
Composed by His Majesty King Prajadhipok, Rama VII
Performed by the Piphat Mai Khaeng Ensemble

2. The Floating Moon
Pleng Bulan Loy Luen
Composed by His Majesty King Phra Buddha Lertla Napalai, Rama II
Performed by the Piphat Mai Nuam Ensemble

3. A Starlit Night
Pleng Ratri Pradab Dao Thao
Composed by His Majesty King Prajadhipok, Rama VII
Performed by the Krueng Sai Ensemble

4. Heart of the Sea
Pleng Ok Thalay Thao
Composed by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn & Choi Suntharavathin.
Performed by the Mahori Ensemble

Recorded by MR Chakrarot Chitrabongs
Released by Smithsonian Folkways in 1994

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Hassan Tabar - Dastgâh-e Segâh (1996)

In Iranian classical music, the terms dastgâh and âvâz replace the word maqâm, an arab word normally used to signify a modal system in the musical traditions of the Mediterranean and Caspian regions. The word dastgâh seems to have been employed for the first time in the book of Forsat Shirâzi (1852-1920) ‘’Bohûr ol-Alhân’’. Hûmân Assadi, in his ‘’Aspect of musical life in 19th century Persia’’ opines that the word dastgâh appeared in the middle Séfévides' era (1502-1722) and that it was used with the same sense as maqâm. Farhat states that no document attests the existance of a dastgâh system before Qâjârs' era (1786). We can therefore infer that the idea of a system of dastgâh-s started to take shape at the time of the Séfévides, slowly ripening till it fully emerged during the reign of Nâssereddin Shâh (1848-1896).

The gûsheh (literally angle, corner) is a short melodic sequence of less than three minutes that constitutes an element of the dastgâh and it must always be in the same modal structure of the dastgâh to which it belongs. A dastgâh is thus an ensemble of gûsheh-s that have a modal realtionship between them modal and that are organized according to their degrees of the chosen range; a dastgâh always includes one opening gûsheh (darâmad) based on the first degree, one gûsheh on the highest degree (owj) and one concluding gûsheh (forud).

Hassan Tabar



1. Pish Darâmad (Darvish Khan)
2. Darâmad
3. Chahâr-Mezrâb (F. Payvar)
4. Kereshmeh
5. Pish Darâmad-e Janj (Shanazy)
Chahâr-Mezrâb (Hossein Sabâ)
Pish Daramâd
Chahâr-Mezrâb (Hassan Tabar, extract)
6. Zâbol Jomleh-e Rabti (Zâbol-Bé Mokhâlef)
7. Mokhâlef
Chahâr-Mezrâb (H. Sabâ)
Masnavi-e Mokhâlef
8. Eshefan (Âvaz-Owshâq-Chahâr-Mezrâb)
Maglub
Forub-e Zarbi
9. Zang-e Shotor (H. Sabâ)
10. Hodi
11. Do-Zarbi-e Segâh

Hassan Tabar - Santoor
Sâber Kâkâvand - Tombâk

Recorded in Tehran, 1994, at Studio Belle
Released by Al-Sur in 1996

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Dariush Tala'i - Radif Volume I (1994)

"The Radif is a serious and introverted music with extreme refinement and richness in ornaments. The repertory of Persian Art Music together with its traditional order of classification is called the Radif. A repertory of melodies that have been collected by different people and added to the repertory at different times. This repertory is not like Western Art Music, which is composed and intended to be played exactly as written. It is made up of traditional melodies, many of which are derived from popular and folk sources ; their origins have been obscured with the passage of time.
This repertory was organized by musicians to be used both for performance and instruction. More specifically it provides a multitude of model melodies (about 250) which is used like prototypes as a point of departure for improvised performance and composition of set pieces. The oldest Radif that we know about comes from two masters of the Radif, Mirza Abdullah (1843-1918) and Aqa Hosein Qoli (died 1913). These two brothers spent their whole lives teaching their radif with an incredible conviction and rigor and educated the test musicians of the following generation. The students were supposed to memorize the entire repertory; therefore, it was important that the Radif be both complete and brief ; and hence, as concise as possible. Moreover, since the intention was to make the radif concise, and since different people played the same melody in different ways, the masters selected from among the versions of a melody to create their Radif.
To understand the concept of the Radif, we must first understand that the Radif and the modal system are not the same thing.The characteristic of melodies (which are called gusheh-s) are as important as their relationship. The position of each melody in the Radif is determined by its modals characteristics.The performance of Persian Music is made by the multi-modal structures which in each system (dastgâh or âvâz) a number of gusheh-s demonstrate the different part of the system.
Since the idea of a Radif originated with a family of musicians who played the Tar and the Setar, the earliest Radif-s are intimately linked to these instruments. Moreover, because the precise use of the mezrab (plectrum or nail) was very important for performance on the Tarr and Setar, the melodies, often derived from vocal sources and added to the repertory of these instruments, necessarily became more regularized and structured. They also took on the style of performance of those musicians, who, since the y were scholars of the musical tradition and fine artists, transformed the melodies int0 a very elaborate and cerebral form of Art Music".
Dariush Tala'i

1-30. Dastgâh-e Shur (28.21)

31-35. Pièces Rythmiques de Shur (30.03)
36-42. Âvaz-e Bayât-e Kord (8.08)

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Javanese Court Gamelan (1971)

"This recording was made on January 10, 1971, in the great reception hall, or pendopo, of the Pura Paku Alaman in Jogyakarta, by kind permission of H.H. Paku Alam VIII. The occasion was a radio broadcast in honor of his birthday, celebrated every 35 days according to the Javanese calendar. The gamelan was arranged in two halves, melody instruments, bonangs, and gongs to the left, and soft-playing instruments, drum, and singers to the right. The players sat with their backs toward one of the 3 open sides of the pavillion, facing inward across a spacious tile floor toward the entrance to the inner rooms of the palace. Occasional muffled soundsfrom the busy streets outside the compound and the twittering of flights of sparrows that make their nests in the rafters of the pendopo are a part of the normal sound ambiance". Robert E. Brown, CD liner notes

"A stunning counterpoint to the violence and agitation of the better-known world of Balinese gamelan. Deep, almost meditative, slow-paced and astoningishly beautiful. If, as someone once said, Balinese gamelan is the sonic equivalent of sexual frenzy, then this Javanese gamelan recording could stand as an example of post-orgasmic beatitude". The Quick'n'Ignorant Dallas Review

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