The Mystery of Messiah

Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and is considered the most significant and greatest artisan in this field.

The Messiah-Salabue Stradivarius , was crafted in 1716 and is considered to be the only Stradivarius in existence in as new state [1].
The Messiah, sobriquet Le Messie, remained in the Stradivarius workshop until his death in 1737.Later in 1775 it was sold by his son, Paolo, to an Italian collector, Count Cozio di Salabue. and for a time, the violin bore the name Salabue. In 1827, it was purchased by a dealer, Luigi Tarsio.
Once when Tarisio was speaking about it to Vuillaume on the merits of this unknown and marvellous instrument, the violinist, Delphine Alard, said : “Your violin is like the Messiah: we wait for it constantly and it never appears!”. This is how Messiah was given the name by which it has been known ever since [2].
Upon Tarisio’s death, in 1854, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume bought and restored it. He added the tunning pegs and the tailpiece(that shows the Nativity of Christ) [3] .
The instrument is in wonderful condition, otherwise. The top of the Messiah is made from the same tree as a P.G. Rogeri violin of 1710 [4].
In its long history ,Messiah, has been very rarely played . It has suffered none of the wear that is common to almost all old violins. That is why the varnish sustain its original orange-brown colour and peg-box and the black paint along the edge of the scroll has not worn away with handling.[3]
As many violinists really believe that the instrument sound better than newly made violins , researches have tried to figure out why.
Some pointed the finger to the dense wood which was harvested from Alpine spruces that grew during an Ice Age. Others suspected at the varnish , or even the chemicals that the master used to treat the wood [5].
It is known that the master made very precise calculations to work out the perfect shape for the instrument, the height of the bridge, the size of the sound holes and so on, each instrument uniquely sculpted by hand and ear [6].
The unusual narrowness of the rings in the spruce wood was noticed by US scientists who forward the idea the unique Stradivarius sound could be the result of these narrow rings. Certain violin-makers , however, were outraged by this hypothesis [6].
It is still a mystery why a Stradivari violin should sound so perfect, and why nobody has been able to reproduce it.

References:
The Nippon Music Foundation and the ‘Lady Blunt’.. Andrew Hill (tarisio.com). 16 June 2011.
The Hill Collection of Musical Instruments, David D. Boyden, Oxford University Press, London, 1969.
Ashmolean Object of the month Sep 2004
Messiah Dendrochronology , Arjan Versteeg, The Strad 03/2011
Violinists can’t tell the difference between Stradivarius and new ones By Ed Yong, 2012
Stradivarius instruments are rare, beautiful, and worth a fortune By Andy MsSmith , 2007

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The Legacy of Khosrow Jafarzadeh

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the passing of Khosrow Jafarzadeh (Khosrow Djafar-Zadeh), a distinguished architect and pioneering researcher of Iranian music, whose contributions to the magazine “Harmony Talk” have left an indelible mark on the field. The absence of this remarkable individual has significantly impacted the expansion and advancement of his theories, which are heralded as some of the most progressive in the history of Iranian music

Whose dream?! Whose reality?!

(A review of the “So Faraway” album; Tar and Tonbak duet; Siavash Imani, Pedram Khavarzmini)

From Past Days…

The Mystery of Messiah

Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and is considered the most significant and greatest artisan in this field.

Parviz Meshkatian’s Heart Beat for People (I)

Amidst the popularity of traditionalism in the Iranian music, Parviz Meshkatian (1955- 2009) moved from Neyshabur to Tehran. He learnt to play Santour and became educated in the Radif of Iranian music at the Centre for Preservation and Promotion of Music which was at the forefront of promoting the return to musical traditions. Despite his studies at a centre which promoted the use of the phrase “traditional music” in Iran, Parviz Meshkatian emerged as a creative artist whose innovative and unique ideas attracted the admiration of Iranian artists and people from different walks of life. This article studies the reason behind Meshkatian’s deviation from the wrong approach of traditionalism strongly promoted by the Centre and argues that apart from the issue of theory of Iranian music, he can be considered as Ali Naqi Vaziri’s successor.

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Ali Rahbari & Recording Iranian Symphonic Compositions

In the few days prior to the New Iranian year (March 2015), the news of the revival of Tehran Symphony Orchestra under Ali (Alexander) Rahbari’s conductorship was announced. Ali Rahbari, who served as assistant to Herbert von Karajan in Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at a very young age, was also invited to conduct Tehran Symphony Orchestra in 2005; however, the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government put an end to his collaboration with this Orchestra. Recently, it was announced that Rahbari is invited to conduct an orchestra in the U.S.

Iranian Fallacies: Iranian Chords

Finding a way to harmonize the Iranian music has been the subject of controversy among Iranian musicians for a long time. Some believe in the creation of harmonies for Iranian music based on a method which is similar to the tierce harmony; while others have either selected or invented some other methods. There are also some musicians who do not basically agree with the harmonization of the Iranian music.

Persian Music: “Mahour the Great” in Austria

In 1990  an Austria-based Persian musician Khosro Soltani, in cooperation with Hossein Alizadeh, put out an album entitled, Ancient Call A New (Nobang-e Kohan). After many years, a few ancient Persian instruments such as Sorna, Karna, Naghareh,etc. have been used, instruments which have been left out of the circle of Persian classical musical instruments for centuries.

Is the Iranian National Anthem a Copy? (I)

The alleged similarity between the Iranian and South Korean National Anthems has been a matter of discussion among musicians in Iran for several years. Earlier in 2021, the issue was taken to the media again with not only claims that the anthem is very similar to another song but also the suggestion that its musical content should draw more on the Iranian national music. Some even went to the extent to suggest replacing it with the song “O, Iran” composed by the late Rouhollah Khaleghi. Before delving more into the main issue, it would not go amiss to consider some technical characteristics of the song “O, Iran” composed in 1944.

Women and the Music Environment in Iran

The life territory of the female-male relations in the Iranian cultural context is basically a domestic territory and not a social-living one in the labour and leisure domains. To prove this, it only suffices to consider the Iranian men’s viewpoints about women. For the Iranian men, there are three perspectives regarding the women: mother, sister and wife. Mother represents the emotional territory; sister represents the logical territory at home while wife represents the sexual territory.