The first show of 2011. I have performed several experiments.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Dastgâh-e Râstpanjgâh

12:53

(One of the rarer Persian modes: a major scale on F which suggests "thinking, concentration and enlightenment," says the Foundation for Iranian Studies.)

2. Dastgâh-e Mahur

11:00

(Mahur, at right, has the same interval structure as a major scale on C, but allows some chromatic pitches as the improvisation unfolds. The 3rd scale degree in the upper register is flat. Persian and Western Classical musics agree: Mahur/major scale "express[es] brighter emotions.")

Tracks 1-2 (rec. 2006)

Fakhri Malekpour - Persian-tuned piano

Fakhri Malekpour: Mashqe Ostad

Avaye Honar & Andisheh Institute of Culture and Art, n.n.

(Fakhri Malekpour is an Iranian woman pianist whose technique enables her "to play the piano which is a completely European instrument in a unique style that leaves an impression of a traditional Iranian instrument in the audience's mind.")

†3. Raga Desh

22:47

(Raga Desh, which sounds like a gapped major scale, also allows a flat 3rd degree in the upper register. I'm too much of an amateur to suggest that the ancestral Desh and Mahur rubbed up against each other in a kind of cultural exchange on the Silk Road.)

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

4. Dastgâh-e Mahur (rec. 1966?)

Ahmad Ebadi - setar

Classical Music of Iran: The Dastgah Systems

Smithsonian Folkways, CD SF 40039

9:18

5. Dastgâh-e Mahur (rec. 1973)

Faramarz Payver & Ensemble: Faramarz Payver - santur, Houshang Zarif - tar, Rahmatollah Badi'i - kemanche, Mohammed Esmai'li - tombak, Khatereh Parveneh - voice

Iran: Persian Classical Music

Elektra Nonesuch Explorer Series, 9 72060-2

13:02

6. Raga Desh (rec. 1996)

Snehasish Mozumder - mandolin, Subhem Chatterjee - tabla
Mandolin Dreams: Indian Mandolin & Tabla
Latitudes, LT 50605
30:35

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

†7. Raga Hemavati

22:48

(An "odd" melancholy raga, originally from the South, adopted by North Indian musicians. Scale: C D Eb F# G A Bb doesn't fit neatly into any theoretical models.)

†Tracks 3 & 7 (rec. 1990)

Amjad Ali Khan - sarod, Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari - tabla, Asawari Pawar - tanpura
Touch of Class
Audiorec Records, ACCD 1009

8. Dastgâh-e Humayoun (rec. 1994)

Hossein Alizâdeh - setar, Madjid Khaladj - tombak

Musique iranienne, improvisations

Buda Records, 92622-2

49:39

(Some Persian influence may be afoot. Humayoun shares a melodic contour with Hemavati. More research needs to be carried out to determine if this is causation or correlation.)