In its intervals, the lower tetrachord of Homayun is close to that of the dastgah of Shur, and its gushehs (constituent pieces) allow modulation to the dastgahs of Nava, Segah and Chahargah. The āvāz of Bayat-e Esfahan is classified as a derivative of Homayun, and the gusheh of Shoushtari is sometimes counted as a further derivative āvāz. Among its other important gushehs is Bidad. Homayun is known for its majestic, aristocratic character.
History
The name derives from the word homāgun, meaning "auspicious" or "blessed".
In the medieval treatises of the "Systematist" school, Homayun was not a principal mode. The 13th-century theorist Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi described it as a tarkīb (combination), and the 15th-century musicologist Abd al-Qadir Maraghi listed it among the 24 shuʿab (branches). Maraghi describes it as combining notes of the maqams Zangula and Rahawi. In mid-16th-century Iran it was still a branch, while Isfahan was one of the twelve principal maqams. The intervals of Maraghi's shuʿba do not match the modern dastgah, so it cannot be regarded as its direct origin.
It is not known exactly when Homayun became a principal mode. An undated treatise, Bihjat al-Qulub, probably from the 18th century, already counts it among four main dastgahs. The musicologist Kioumars Poorhaydari has traced the modern Homayun scale back to a cycle described by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi. In his account, the medieval five-note Isfahan tetrachord lost one note and became the ḥijāz tetrachord, which is the core of the modern Homayun.
Structure
The modern scale of Homayun, written on G, is G–A–B–C–D–E♭–F–G, where A (A koron) is a quarter tone flat. Most of the radifs studied by the Iranian musicologist Farhad Fakhreddini notate Homayun either on E or on A.
Variants of the scale
Fakhreddini also discusses a variant of the scale given by Abolhassan Saba in his violin radif, in which the sixth degree is raised by a quarter tone. Saba wrote this form on E. The intervals of this variant correspond to those of Chahargah, and Fakhreddini notes that in some radifs Homayun, after a brief stop in the daramad, modulates to the Chahargah on the same tonic. Hormoz Farhat goes further and lists a gusheh named "Chahargah" within Homayun.
The theorists disagree on whether the sixth degree carries a microtonal accidental:
Fakhreddini describes both the second and the sixth degrees as carrying quarter-tone accidentals.
Farhat holds that the sixth degree is not microtonal. He notes that the note a third below the tonic is usually microtonal, but the sixth degree is not.
Relationship to Shur
The scale of Homayun is close to that of Shur: in both, the second degree lies three quarter tones above the first. In Shur, however, the third degree is a semitone lower. As in Shur, the second degree is regarded as the shahed (dominant note) of the daramad. Some theorists have compared this difference in the third degree with the difference between the major and minor scales of Western music.
Tetrachord theory
In the Systematist theory of cycles, the shuʿba Homayun had intervals that differ from the two tetrachords of the modern dastgah.
Dariush Talai holds that all Persian dastgahs can be built from four basic tetrachords. In his analysis, Homayun joins a Shur tetrachord to a Chahargah tetrachord.
Modulation
The gushehs that provide modulation in Homayun are Oshshaq, Ozzal and Mansuri. Other modulations, more common among older musicians, lead to Chahargah and Segah. The main routes are:
To Shur: because of the similarity of the two scales, lowering the third degree of Homayun by a semitone leads into Shur.
To Chahargah: raising the sixth degree by a semitone and lowering the fifth by a quarter tone evokes the gusheh Mansuri. The reverse passage, from Chahargah to Homayun, occurs in the gusheh Mokhalef of Chahargah.
To Segah: the gusheh Zabol makes this possible, because the degrees of the lower tetrachord of Segah lie close to the degrees around the tonic of Homayun. Zabol can therefore be performed in both dastgahs.
According to Farhat, modulation in Homayun begins sooner than in any other dastgah: after the daramad the performer quickly moves to another dastgah or āvāz. The cadences back to the main axis of Homayun are correspondingly longer, so that the listener is reminded of the home mode.
Gushehs
Besides the daramad, the most important gushehs of Homayun are the following. Degrees are counted from the tonic of Homayun.
Chakavak
According to Fakhreddini, it usually opens with a short instrumental phrase, followed by one or two sung verses. Its shāhed is the fourth degree, and its melodies close on the shāhed or the tonic. Farhat describes the melody as centred on the seventh degree, with the shāhed on the fourth degree; the second degree, which was the shāhed of the daramad, loses its importance.
Bidad
This gusheh also opens with an instrumental phrase followed by one or two verses. Its shāhed is the fifth degree and its ist (stopping note) the fourth. Bidad is performed in the middle register of Homayun, and by rising toward the sixth degree it prepares the climax (owj) of the dastgah. According to Farhat, Bidad is probably one of the newer gushehs of the radif. It is always performed, even in short renditions of Homayun, usually in the middle of the performance, and it has been described as having an amorous character.
Ney-Davud
According to Fakhreddini, it begins on the third degree; its shāhed is the fifth degree and its ist the tonic. Farhat considers it similar to Bidad and possibly part of it.
Oshshaq
Performed in the high register (owj). Its shāhed is the eighth degree, and its ist first the fifth and then the fourth degree. The sixth degree is a variable note, raised by a quarter tone in ascending melodies. The ninth degree is also lowered by a quarter tone to a natural, which resembles the owj of Shur.
Bavi
Its melody revolves mainly around the fourth and fifth degrees, giving it a character similar to Bidad and to Bayat-e Esfahan, though it sometimes rises to the owj of Homayun.
Abolchap
Its shāhed and ist are the fourth degree and it ends on the tonic. It has a wide range, spanning a minor seventh.
Ravandi
Its shāhed and ist are the fourth degree, and it is sometimes considered part of Abolchap. Its name probably refers to Ravand, a district formerly belonging to Qazvin.
Mouyeh
A cadential return to Homayun performed after Abolchap and Ravandi. The third degree is lowered by a quarter tone and the fourth by a semitone, so that they form a diminished second, before both return to their places.
Leyli o Majnun
Its shāhed is the fourth degree; its ist is first the second degree (the shāhed of Homayun) and then the tonic. It is usually sung to one or two verses of the narrative poem Layla and Majnun.
Tarz
Its shāhed is the fourth degree and its ist the second degree.
Nowruz-e Arab, Nowruz-e Saba, Nowruz-e Khara
In the past these were performed after Tarz and returned to Homayun through a cadence called Bal-e Kabutar ("dove's wing"), joining the eighth degree to the fourth. Today they are known and performed within the dastgah of Rast-Panjgah.
Nafir
Also performed in the owj; its name probably refers to the trumpet-like (nafir) voice of the singer in the high register. Its shāhed is the eighth degree and its ist the fifth. As in Oshshaq, the sixth degree is variable, and the ninth degree is lowered by a quarter tone. Its range spans a diminished seventh.
Farang
A metred instrumental gusheh played after Nafir. Forsat-od-Dowleh Shirazi wrote in Bohur al-Alhan that it is also called Shoushtari-gardan.
Zabol
Its shāhed and ist coincide with the tonic of Homayun, and its melody uses only the degrees of one tetrachord. Zabol belongs originally to Segah. It can be performed in Homayun because the degrees of the lower tetrachord of Segah match those near the tonic of Homayun, and it can also be used to modulate to Shur.
Bayat-e Ajam
A variant of Zabol. Its shāhed is the eighth degree and it ends on the fourth. According to Farhat, in Homayun Zabol is usually followed by Bayat-e Ajam and a Segah cadence, and then the music returns to Homayun.
Ozzal
Originally a gusheh of Shur. All the owj gushehs of Homayun (Oshshaq, Nafir, Zabol and Bayat-e Ajam) prepare a shift from Homayun to Shur on the eighth degree, and Ozzal completes this modulation by lowering the tenth degree a semitone to match Shur. Farhat classifies Ozzal among the owj gushehs of both Homayun and Shur.
Denaseri
Its melodic axis is first on the seventh degree with the ist on the fourth. The melody then passes the eighth degree and returns after a while to the fifth, where it ends. Its character resembles Oshshaq, and it is best played after it. Denaseri lies on the path back from the owj: through it Homayun returns first to the middle register and finally to the home mode.
One of the most important gushehs of Homayun. Its shāhed is the fourth degree, its ist the second, and it ends on the tonic. Its main focus is a five-note segment spanning a perfect fifth from the first to the fifth degree. The gushehs Migoli, Marvdashti and Behbahani belong to it.
Mansuri
Originally from Chahargah, it provides a path from Shoushtari to Chahargah.
There are two ways to modulate from Homayun to Chahargah. The first moves to the Chahargah on the same tonic (for example, from Homayun on E to Chahargah on E); Farhat calls the resulting gusheh "Chahargah". The second moves to the Chahargah a perfect fourth higher (for example, from Homayun on E to Chahargah on A), passing through Shoushtari into Mansuri. Because the two tetrachords of Chahargah have the same intervals, either can take the place of the lower tetrachord of Homayun, which is why the gusheh Mavaliyan of Chahargah can also be used to modulate to Homayun.
Like Shoushtari, Mansuri has its shāhed on the fourth degree. Its ist is first the tonic and later the fourth degree. The fifth degree is lowered and the sixth raised by a quarter tone, which amounts to the change into Chahargah. Its range is about an octave. Mansuri can descend to Shoushtari and then return to the home mode of Homayun.
Mavaliyan
Farhat mentions it after the daramad and the modulations to Chahargah. He explains that Homayun usually begins in the middle of the neck of instruments such as the tar and setar. Other dastgahs start from the lowest notes and gradually rise to their climax, but this is not possible in Homayun, because the music would go beyond the instrumental and vocal range. Mavaliyan therefore first brings the stopping note several degrees lower, so that the owj can be performed in proportion to these lower degrees. Fakhreddini, however, does not count Mavaliyan as a gusheh of Homayun and assigns it to Chahargah.
Bakhtiari
Its shāhed is the second degree and its ist the first. It is usually sung to the do-bayti quatrains of Baba Tahir. Its range is a minor seventh, but it concentrates mainly on the degrees of the lower tetrachord, a perfect fourth.
Moalef (Mo'alef)
The third degree is first lowered by two semitones, forming a diminished second with the second degree, and then returns to its place. Its shāhed and final note are the tonic and its ist the fifth degree. Farhat notes that this is one of the rare uses of the diminished second in Persian music. In his view, Bakhtiari or Moalef are the last gushehs of Homayun, after which the music descends to the main axis and the performance ends. Fakhreddini lists several further gushehs, given below.
Delnavaz
Its shāhed and ist are the fourth degree and it ends on the fifth.
Neyriz
Its shāhed is the fifth degree, its ist the third, and it ends on the tonic. Neyriz is also performed in the dastgahs Mahur, Rast-Panjgah and Nava.
Jameh-daran
Its shāhed is the fifth degree and its ist the second; it ends in the home mode of Homayun. Forsat-od-Dowleh wrote in Bohur al-Alhan that Jameh-daran is fitting as the completion of Homayun.
The name means "garment-rending", referring to the tearing of one's clothes in ecstasy. The legendary minstrel Nakisa is said to have played a piece of this name so movingly that his listeners tore their garments and fainted. Jameh-daran is also used in the āvāzes Bayat-e Tork and Afshari. Some sources call the Afshari version Mouyeh-ye Afshari to distinguish it. The poet Vahshi Bafqi alludes to it in one of his tarjiʿ-bands:
مطرب به نوای ره ما بیخبران زن / تا جامه درانیم ره جامه دران زن
Minstrel, play the tune of us who are lost to ourselves;
play Jameh-daran, that we may rend our garments.
—Vahshi Bafqi
Sufi-nameh or Saqi-nameh
Originally from Mahur, but its degrees match those of Homayun, so it is commonly performed there as well. The piece performed in Mahur is sometimes called Saqi-nameh and the one in Homayun Sufi-nameh. Many poets, among them Hafez, Nizami Ganjavi and Saadi, wrote poems titled Saqi-nameh, and a few verses of such a poem are sung in this gusheh. After the Saqi-nameh a reng is usually played, and the performance of Homayun ends.
Rengs
The best-known rengs played at the end of Homayun are the Reng-e Farah (or Farah-angiz) and the Reng-e Shahrashub. Bohur al-Alhan also lists a reng named Nastuuri or Nastari for Homayun, but Fakhreddini assigns it to Nava.
Reng-e Farah is a slow, heavy dance piece in triple metre, specific to Homayun. It is written in 169 measures and has a distinct rhythm. Its form is built around a refrain that recurs between the other sections and is also heard at the start. The refrain has six measures, two of which are repeated, for eight measures in all.
Reng-e Shahrashub is in compound duple metre (6 8) at a moderate tempo. One transcription runs to 344 measures and lasts nearly seven minutes.
The āvāz of Esfahan, or Bayat-e Esfahan, is a derivative of Homayun. Its tonic is the fourth degree of Homayun, which also serves as its ist. The fourth degree is the boundary between the two conjunct tetrachords of Homayun and so always keeps its central role in the dastgah. The first degree of Homayun appears in Esfahan as the dominant (namāyān) and is the lowest melodic support of the āvāz. The scale of Esfahan, almost identical to the harmonic minor scale, can thus be built on the fourth degree of Homayun. Its gushehs include Jameh-daran, Bayat-e Raje', Hazin, Oshshaq (owj), Rohab, Shah-Khata'i, Suz-o Godaz, Raz-o Niaz, Masnavi and the Reng-e Farah-angiz.
Character
The composer and theorist Ruhollah Khaleghi described Homayun as magnificent, luxurious and calm, yet moving, captivating and beautiful. He saw it as a blend of all the lofty spiritual emotions, "auspicious" (homayun) like its name. Homayun is credited with a royal, aristocratic mood. Writers have noted as one of its unique features that, despite this mood, it is also the setting for lullabies and for the songs of the zurkhaneh (traditional gymnasium). Dariush Safvat called Homayun a "strange" dastgah that can evoke happiness and sadness at the same time, and described its gusheh Saqi-nameh as having a sacred quality.
Fakhreddini, Farhad (2015). Tajziyeh va tahlil va sharh-e radif-e musiqi-ye Iran[Analysis and Commentary on the Radif of Iranian Music] (in Persian). Tehran: Moin. ISBN978-964-165-098-0.
Khaleghi, Ruhollah (2002). Nazari be musiqi[A Look at Music] (in Persian). Tehran: Mahvar.
Khazrai, Babak (2016). "Pishdaramad, chahar-mezrab, reng va tasnif va mozu'-e form va guneh (zhanr)" [Pishdaramad, chaharmezrab, reng and tasnif, and the question of form and genre]. Mahoor Music Quarterly (in Persian) (74): 69–88.
Safvat, Dariush; Caron, Nelly (2012). Musiqi-ye melli-ye Iran[The National Music of Iran] (in Persian). Translated by Susan Salimzadeh. Tehran: Aras. ISBN978-600-5630-37-4. Persian translation of Iran: Les traditions musicales (1966).
– B – C – D – E♭ – F – G