65 – Mejnuni (Majnuni)

Range: D, E, F, G, A♭, B (B♭)

Variable notes: B.

Time signatures in the metric sections: 10/8, 7/8.

Lavach (sections): Beginning of the maqam and first avaz (unmetered vocal section), first zemzemeh (humming passage), second avaz, second zemzemeh, third avaz and third zemzemeh.

Tuning: Haft Dastan or Barz (C, C, G)

It is one of the majlesi maqams, the secular melodic-modal pieces of the tanbur repertoire played at gatherings; its main parts are performed in simple and limping (asymmetric) rhythms, and at the same time the metric section of Sahari is also performed within it. The lavach (sections) of Majnuni are as follows: 1- Beginning of the maqam and first avaz 2- First zemzemeh 3- Second avaz 4- Second zemzemeh 5- Third avaz 6- Third zemzemeh.

According to Ali Akbar Moradi, this maqam is amorous and lyrical, and its poem is taken from the Kurdish verse romances of Leyli and Majnun. This majlesi maqam and Do Vala share common lavach (sections), with the difference that Majnuni is played in the G tuning and Do Vala in the F tuning.

It is very interesting that the poem of this maqam presents the words of a woman, namely Leyli, and her open declaration of her love for Majnun. The difference between the majlesi maqams and the kalams (the sacred maqams) is very great. “Dujail”, which appears in the text of the poem, is a place located 60 km from Baghdad. Note that the story of Leyli and Majnun also comes from that same region and has its roots in the sphere of Babylonian civilisation and the region of Mesopotamia (the Euphrates basin).