ABSTRACT
Musical creativity always takes place in relation to the conventions of a musical system, most often in the context of an organizing structure – a model or framework, a pre-composed piece, a memorized repertoire, a chord sequence – or simply the stylistics of a genre. Pressing refers to such conventions as a ‘referent’ (1998:52) and Nettl uses the expression ‘“points of departure” (POD)’ (2009:185). 1 Having explored concepts of creativity in Iranian classical music in Chapter 2, I now consider the repertoire which underpins it: the radif (lit. ‘row’, ‘series’), a collection of several hundred pieces (gusheh, ‘corner’) distinguished by mode and by characteristic melodies and motifs, arranged into the 12 dastgāh. 2 Each dastgāh and gusheh is individually named, some referencing regions or towns of Iran (and beyond), others alluding to a sentiment or quality of character; many of the names are shared with neighbouring Arab and Turkic traditions. But the radif is much more than a repertoire. As a concept it is imbued with great symbolic power, simultaneously indexing canonicity, ‘authenticity’, authority and even nationhood. In order to explore both the musical and symbolic significance of the radif, I start with a summary of its history, followed by discussion of the ways in which it can be understood as a musical model, and the processes of transmission from teacher to pupil. The final section examines the increasing importance of the radif since the 1960s, in particular how it has come to embody notions of authenticity.
