Darius' Words - Epic Iranian Music
Music & vocals by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn't reconstructed Achaemenid era music, it's entirely modern Iranian music sung to Old Persian lyrics from that era.
The lyrics are part of the Behistun inscriptions in Kermanshah, Iran, a monumental set of rock reliefs and inscriptions written inside Mount Behistun not long after the coronation of Darius I as emperor of the Achaemenid Empire.
The music uses a variation of Segah, one of our traditional modes and one of our most microtonal ones. The melody modulates between Segah and Shur from time to time. I also employed a technique of playing the tanbour found most often in Eastern Iran and especially Iranian Turkmenistan, the latter region in which I grew up as a child. Iranians in these regions play the dotar using parallel fifths, which gives it a distinct sound to the purely monophonic forms of playing found in other parts of the country. The instruments used are the tar, the dotar, the oud, the ney and the daf drums.
Lyrics in Old Persian:
Thâtiy \ Dâra yavauš \ xšâyathiya \ imâ \ dahyâva \ tyâ \ manâ \ patiyâita \ vašnâ \ Auramazdâha \ manâ \ badakâ \ âhatâ \ manâ \ bâjim \ abaratâ
Hya \ âgariya \ âha \ avam \ u
bartam \ abaram \ hya \ arika \ âha \ avam \ ufrastam \ aparsam
English translation:
King Darius says: These are the countries which are subject to me; by the grace of Ahuramazda they became subject to me; they brought tribute unto me.
Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have I surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have I utterly destroyed.
The lyrics are part of the Behistun inscriptions in Kermanshah, Iran, a monumental set of rock reliefs and inscriptions written inside Mount Behistun not long after the coronation of Darius I as emperor of the Achaemenid Empire.
The music uses a variation of Segah, one of our traditional modes and one of our most microtonal ones. The melody modulates between Segah and Shur from time to time. I also employed a technique of playing the tanbour found most often in Eastern Iran and especially Iranian Turkmenistan, the latter region in which I grew up as a child. Iranians in these regions play the dotar using parallel fifths, which gives it a distinct sound to the purely monophonic forms of playing found in other parts of the country. The instruments used are the tar, the dotar, the oud, the ney and the daf drums.
Lyrics in Old Persian:
Thâtiy \ Dâra yavauš \ xšâyathiya \ imâ \ dahyâva \ tyâ \ manâ \ patiyâita \ vašnâ \ Auramazdâha \ manâ \ badakâ \ âhatâ \ manâ \ bâjim \ abaratâ
Hya \ âgariya \ âha \ avam \ u
bartam \ abaram \ hya \ arika \ âha \ avam \ ufrastam \ aparsam
English translation:
King Darius says: These are the countries which are subject to me; by the grace of Ahuramazda they became subject to me; they brought tribute unto me.
Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have I surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have I utterly destroyed.
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