Afghanistan: The Traditional Music of Herât

Various Artists

Located in western Afghanistan and a center of Islamic culture during the 15th century, the city of Herat has produced vocal and instrumental music uniquely identified as “Herati.”

The 14 tracks in these field recordings, made between 1973 and 1977 (prior to the Marxist coup in 1978 and subsequent political turmoil continuing into the 21st century), reveal influences of both Iranian and Indian music. Songs are sung in Dari (the Afghani dialect of Farsi), and accompanied by traditional instruments like the dutâr, a long-necked lute, the hand-pumped Indian harmonium, and tabla (paired, pitched hand drums.). Lyrics often draw upon texts derived from classical Persian poetry. In this collection, some songs have been abstracted from longer performances.

The liner notes detail the recording environments, instrumentation and vocal forms used in each song.

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N’at

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This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. More than 125 albums are being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to make the series publicly available again, including more than a dozen never-released albums of musical traditions from around the globe.

Track Listing

101	Chahârbaiti Koshki	Gada Mohammad	7:28
102	Na't	Sufi Abu Bakr	3:40
103	Shaikh Ahmad-e Jâm	Abdul Shâ'er	5:31
104	Bâdâ bâdâ	Hawa	2:06
105	Medley of wedding songs: Olang olang, Mobârak Bâdâ, Bib Gol Arus, Haina ba-Kârhâ	Sharafoddin, Nezâmoddin, Ostâ Mayin, Habibollah Jân	6:47
106	Shirin châi na khordom	Mâdar-e Zâher	3:15
107	Dokhtar Amu Jân	Abdurrahmân Saljuqi	2:53
108	Ai Zamân	Karim Dutâri	2:34
109	Chahârbaiti	Abdullâh	2:48
110	Sufi song	Mohammad Yusuf	2:50
111	Allâh Hu	Zainab Hairawi	4:09
112	Âsheq manam Laili	Gholâm Nabi Zendadel, Gada Mohammad	3:17
113	Jâm-e Nârenji	Mohammad Sâdeq Bolbol, Rahim Khushnawaz, Gada Mohammad, Naim Khushnawaz	6:40
114	Ghazal	Ostâd Amir Jân Khushnawaz, Rahim Khushnawaz, Naim Khushnawaz	5:45