Photos: Persian Classical Music: Bahman Panahi & Ali Mojallal

Bahman Panahi performs at the Freer Gallery on the modern Persian lute known as a tar. The six-stringed instrument was created in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century by adapting the ancient rabab. The tar is played with a plectrum and has a double-chambered sound-box covered with a thin skin of animal parchment.

Bahman Panahi (right) performs on the ancient Persian lute known as a setar, accompanied by percussionist Ali Mojallal on tombak. The four-stringed setar was documented as early as the tenth century in Arab music treatises, and by the twelfth century it was mentioned in Persian poetry. By the sixteenth century, artists began depicting the setar in Persian paintings (see next three images). At that time the instrument lacked the modern fourth string, used today as a drone.

This sixteenth-century painting from Iran depicts an allegorical court scene with musicians playing the setar and doira, or frame drum. The image is part of a mystical treatise known as the "Effulgences [radiant splendors] of Light."

Detail, Lawa'ih (Effulgences of Light), Mir 'Ali, d. 1556; Nawwab Durmish Khan, Safavid period (ca. 1521-1525); opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper (origin: possibly Herat, Iran). Purchase, Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler. S1986.38

According to legend, the fifth-century king Bahram Gur had seven castles, each painted a different color and housing a different royal mistress. In some Persian paintings, each castle is also provided a different music ensemble for the king and his princess to enjoy. This sixteenth-century painting depicts his turquoise-blue pavilion with a duo of musicians on setar and doira.

Detail, Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; recto: Bahram Gur in the turquoise-blue pavilion; verso: text; Murshid al-Shirazi; Safavid period, 1548; ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; origin: Shiraz, Fars, Iran. Gift of Charles Lang Freer. F1908.275a-b

This image of a setar player appears in a painting that was created around 1600 in present-day Uzbekistan. The musician performs for a companion who is drinking a cup of wine.

Detail, album folio, A Seated Princess (Right-Hand Half of a Double-Page Composition), painting attributed to Muhammad-Sharif Musawwir, borders signed by Muhammad Murad Samarqandi; ca. 1600; opaque watercolor and gold on paper; origin: possibly Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Purchase--Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler. S1986.304

The Persian instruments used in the performance include two setars (left) and the modern tar (right).

Bahman Panahi delivered two presentations on the relationships between Persian music and calligraphy as part of his three-day visit to the Freer and Sackler Galleries, from October 30 to November 2, 2009. In the lower left image, he demonstrates the setar, the ancient Persian long-necked lute.

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Photographs by Michael Wilpers, concert manager. Images of musical instruments in Iranian paintings compiled from the Freer and Sackler Galleries' collections with the assistance of Moonsil Lee.