Persian music
From the tar in a Tehran concert hall to wedding music from the Persian Gulf: playlists, instruments and voices worth knowing.
Playlists
The golden era: Persian pop of the 1970s
The songs played in every Iranian home: Googoosh, Vigen, Farhad, Hayedeh and other voices from before 1979.
موسیقی کلاسیک ایرانیPersian classical music: where to start
Great voices and instrumental masters: a good start to discover the dastgahs and the sound of tar, santur and kamancheh.
پاپ امروز ایرانModern pop from Iran
Well-known songs of the last twenty years, sung in Iran and heard all over the world.
موسیقی جشن: عروسی، نوروز، یلداMusic for celebrations: weddings, Nowruz and Yalda
Persian wedding songs and festive music from all regions. The links open a search so you always find current recordings.
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Lyrics with translation: Morgh-e Sahar
مرغ سحر ناله سر کنداغ مرا تازه‌تر کن
Bird of dawn, begin your lament, / make my wound burn anew.
Lyrics by Mohammad-Taghi Bahar (Malek-o-Shoara), music by Morteza Neydavoud, written in the 1920s. The song laments oppression and longs for freedom; Mohammad-Reza Shajarian’s recording made it immortal.
The dastgahs: the system of classical music
Persian classical music organises its melodies into seven dastgahs and five derived avaz. Each mode has its own mood, and the traditional repertoire, the radif, was recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in 2009.
The “mother” of the dastgahs: intimate, melancholic and mystical; several avaz derive from it.
Majestic and solemn, yet full of longing.
Tender, sad and plaintive; often for farewell and grief.
Powerful, heroic and lively, with great tension.
Bright and joyful, close to the Western major scale; popular at celebrations.
Balanced and ceremonial; rarely played because it travels through many other modes.
Calm, thoughtful and wise; music of inner reflection.
Folk-like and yearning, close to rural songs.
Cheerful and buoyant, often for happy songs.
Sad and pleading, very emotional.
Wistful and folk-like; typical of shepherd songs and northern Iran.
Sweet, sad and nostalgic; belongs to dastgah Homayun.
Instruments
Great voices and masters
Classical music
Mohammad-Reza Shajarian
محمدرضا شجریان 1940–2020
Homayoun Shajarian
همایون شجریان 1975
Shahram Nazeri
شهرام ناظری 1950
Gholamhossein Banan
غلامحسین بنان 1911–1986
Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri
قمرالملوک وزیری 1905–1959
Hossein Alizadeh
حسین علیزاده 1951
Kayhan Kalhor
کیهان کلهر 1963
Mohammad-Reza Lotfi
محمدرضا لطفی 1947–2014
Parviz Meshkatian
پرویز مشکاتیان 1955–2009
Faramarz Payvar
فرامرز پایور 1933–2009
Marzieh
مرضیه 1924–2010
Delkash
دلکش 1924–2004
Pop before 1979 and in exile
Googoosh
گوگوش 1950
Vigen
ویگن 1929–2003
Farhad Mehrad
فرهاد مهراد 1944–2002
Kourosh Yaghmaei
کوروش یغمایی 1946
Hayedeh
هایده 1942–1990
Dariush
داریوش 1951
Pop today
Mohsen Yeganeh
Mohsen Chavoshi
Sirvan Khosravi
New Persian songs 2026: where to listen
New songs come out almost daily. The quickest way to find them is a search for “آهنگ جدید” (new song) on YouTube and Spotify, or Radio Javan, the largest platform for Persian music.