Bahma Rajabi Passed Away!

Bahman Rajabi, the renowned Tonbak player and educator (Persian goblet drum), passed away at his home at the age of 86 due to a heart condition. He was the founder of a distinctive school of Tonbak playing, and his teaching methods have been widely used by instructors of the instrument for decades.

Rajabi was born in 1939 in Rasht. His passion for music emerged in childhood, and he began serious study of the tonbak during his teenage years. Influenced by the great master Hossein Tehrani, Rajabi later studied with Amir Nasser Eftetah, ultimately developing his own unique style and methodology for tonbak performance.

His published works include Tonbak Instruction, Volume I (Elementary and Intermediate), Tonbak Instruction, Volume II (Advanced and Mastery), and Tonbak and Perspectives on Rhythm from Different Angles.

Although Rajabi did not leave behind an extensive discography, several significant recordings feature his artistry. Among them are his tonbak performance in Savaran-e Dasht-e Omid by Hossein Alizadeh; Goft-o-gu-ye Chap-o Rast (Dialogue of Left and Right) with Farbod Yadollahi; the album Dar Maktab-e Eshq (In the School of Love) composed by Maziar Shahi; Nazm-e Vezn, Tonbak Solo by Bahman Rajabi; Avaye Chakad (in recognition of his half-century of unrelenting work as a teacher of tonbak), with Alireza Javaheri; and the collections Golchin 1 and Golchin 2 (works of Reza Shafieian for santur), also in collaboration with Javaheri.

Rajabi was equally known in the music community as a sharp-tongued critic, writer, speaker, and satirist. In his lecture-concerts, presented under the title Concert-Research, he combined forceful critiques with live tonbak performances.

He also published numerous open letters addressed to various Iranian musicians, which he widely circulated and offered to music enthusiasts. Rajabi was known for his frequent remark during humorous talks: “He who weeps has one pain, he who laughs has a thousand and one, and he who makes others laugh has infinite pains.”

Politically, Rajabi leaned toward leftist thought, which led to several years of imprisonment during the 1980s. After his release, he devoted himself primarily to teaching and lecturing, though he occasionally appeared on stage with individual musicians or ensembles.

Many tonbak players studied under Rajabi’s guidance. A number of them completed full courses directly with him and received his personal endorsement—among the most notable are Farbod Yadollahi and Reza Kharashadizadeh.

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Bahma Rajabi Passed Away!

Bahman Rajabi, the renowned tonbak (Persian goblet drum) player and educator, passed away at his home at the age of 86 due to a heart condition. He was the founder of a distinctive school of tonbak playing, and his teaching methods have been widely used by instructors of the instrument for decades..

Reza Vohdani; Unveiling unpublished works, preservation of Iranian classical music

Reza Vohdani is a renowned name among tar (traditional Iranian instrument) players, especially within the Iranian music community that values the meticulous practice and teaching of traditional music. While Vohdani honed his skills in music theory and tar playing under the guidance of masters like Ali-Naghi Vaziri, Ali-Akbar Shahnazi, Hossein Dehlavi, and Ahmad Forutan-Rad, it is his unwavering dedication to studying, documenting, and teaching the Iranian classical music repertoire that has solidified his prominence in the field. Recently, Vohdani’s family decided to make his preserved works accessible to the wider art and music community. In this regard, The Persian-language newspaper ‘Iran’ spoke with Sadjad Pourghanad, a musician, university instructor, and music researcher, who shared his opinion into the project, as detailed in the interview below.

From Past Days…

Musical Sense or Technique?

One of the most popular terms used by Iranian instrumentalists is the existence or a lack of musical “sense”. Both musicians and fans of music consider having “sense” while playing music as an important principle to the extent that they use it vis-a-vis having technique.

Homayoun Rahimian & Iran’s National Orchestra

The Roudaki Foundation presented the permanent conductor of the National Orchestra (Orchestr Melli), Homayoun Rahimian, in a ceremony, and finally, after four years, the national orchestra found a permanent conductor. Homayoun Rahimian is the fourth permanent conductor of this orchestra after Farhad Fakhreddini, Bardia Kiaras, and Fereidoun Shahbaziyan. He, who has previously had experience of conducting concerts besides being Meister’s concert of this orchestra, performed the concert “Autumns” on the 20th of Tir, performing works by Rouhollah Khaleqi, Javad Ma’roufi, and Hossein Dehlavi.

Illusion or Ingenuity?

Mohsen Renani in the preface of his book entitled “The Political Economy of nuclear conflict; an introduction to traversing the civilizations” writes:

Maestro Hassan Nahid’s Role in Promoting the Ney

Maestro Hassan Nahid is one of the most prominent and distinctive artists who values high morals, discipline and hard work. His music activities include playing the Ney as both soloist and an accompaniment in the most important Iranian music orchestras and ensembles during the last fifty years, including the Orchestra of Iranian Instruments (Nusratullah Golpayegani), the Orchestra of National Instrumentalists of the Ministry of Culture and Arts (Payvar Orchestra), the Orchestra of Iranian Instruments (Morteza Hananeh) , Darvish Orchestra, Samaie Orchestra, Roudaki Orchestra, Maestros’ Ensemble, Aref Ensemble, as well as performances in various radio programs, many concerts in different countries, as well as a long teaching experience in the National Conservatory of Music, music universities and other music institutions to name but a few.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (IV)

Two choirs alternatively perform Veŝ Tavaré Na avaz (Transcription 5). The second group starts the avaz before the first group finishes it; consequently, two different voices coincide (Transcription 5, staves 2 and 5).

Polyphony in Iranian Music (III)

In heterophonic variant, two performers perform a single melody simultaneously and change it. Performing and changing a single melody simultaneously by two performers leads to the coincidence of different voices.

New Technique for Playing Classical Guitar (I)

Joint application of the two techniques of “Lip” and “Nose” could be effectively applied for hearing and playing far-away intervals, by the Classical Guitar. Before this, a Classical Guitar player had to waive playing intervals not possible with the left hand, and had to replace or eliminate some notes, making it possible to play such intervals; specifically the capability of the left hand of the musician, was also a factor in such a selection. These methods are hereby illustrated by photographs and a video-file, in order to provide optimum comprehension of applying these methods, invented by the author; specifically the “Lip” technique, which is considered to be a more significant technique, emphasized by the author.

Principles of Violin Playing (VII)

4.3.1.3 Regarding the great linear distance and the unusual distance between the first and forth fingers, the first finger while playing the doubles of ninth and tenth interval, can be twisted in the knuckle area and the point mentioned in 3.1.2.5 paragraph in relation to the way first finger is placed indicating that the first joint of this finger in back of hand must be in line with the direction of forearm and left hand is not true here.

Avaye Naerika Percussion Orchestra

Avaye Naerika Percussion Orchestra is an Iranian percussion orchestra featuring 40 lady percussionists. The Orchestra was established as Iran’s largest all-female percussion orchestra in 2008 by Ms. Minoo Rezaei under the title Naerika Percussion Orchestra and changed its name to Avaye Naerika in 2017.

Ashoura Opera

Ashura Opera was composed by Behzad Abdi, the Iranian composer, in 2008 based on librettos compiled by Behrouz Gharib. The main source for the libretto is poems by Mohtasham Kashani, a sixteenth century Iranian poet.