Simorgh Criticised

1 August 2014 – 7:26 pm Posted in Iranian Classical Music, News

Simorgh (Simorq) Orchestra was founded by the renowned Iranian composer, Hamid Motebassem, in 2011. Simorgh Orchestra is the largest orchestra featuring Iranian national instruments. Although the orchestra established by Master Hossein Dehlavi, the great Iranian composer, in 1993 was larger than Simorgh Orchestra, it only featured the Iranian plucked string instruments unlike the latter one. The first album which was recorded by the Orchestra, conducted under Motebassem’s baton, was his Simorq based on Zal story from Shahnameh by Ferdowsi, the great Iranian poet.

The orchestra performed several times both in Iran and Europe led by Mohammad Reza Darvishi, Hamid Motebassem and Hooman Khalatbari with Homayoun Shajarian as the soloist singer.

The third session of Naghd-e Naghmeh (Naghmeh Criticism) series which was held in Andished Cultural Center on September, 04, 2012 was dedicated to Simorgh Album.

Five critics, Peyman Soltani, Sadjad Pourghanad, Abdolhossein Mokhtabad, Arvin Sedaghat Kish and Kamyar Salavati were invited by Abolhassan Mokhtabad to participate as the session’s critics.

Siavash Sahb Nasagh who was supposed to attend the session did not appear due to the reasons mentioned in a letter he had sent to the session moderator, Abolhasan Mokhtabad, who read it at the session’s end.

The first critic to make his remarks on the album was Peyman Soltani who stated that some Iranian musicians tried to make the Iranian music polyphonic through crossing horizontal lines. Hamid Motebassem is one of them the result of whose attempts in this connection we heard in albums such as “Bamdad” and “Bouye Norouz”.

Motebassem, however, commented that after all these years and despite the effort made by musicians ranging from Colonel Alinaghi Vaziri to Morteza Hannaneh for making the Iranian music polyphonic, we still do not have a method for polyphony. So we have to experience it on our own, that is, we achieve it by combining Iranian musical modes.
Then, Abolhassan Mokhtabad, the moderator, asked Motebassem: how does the fact that you play Iranian instruments affect your composition?
Motebassem: I started composition based on Iranian instruments and came to know their problems, capabilities and techniques through experience. So if I write for Iranian instruments, it is in accordance with those instruments.

Sadjad Porghanad, instrumentalist and opera singer, was the second critic to voice his views:
Faramarz Payvar set up an orchestra with a special combination of Iranian instruments which in the melodic aspect included both the bowed string instruments and plucked string instruments. Later, Hossein Dehlavi more seriously proposed a larger orchestra with only plucked string instruments as he was dissatisfied with the many acoustic problems of the bowed string instruments. So he suggested a combination of plucked string instruments for performing Iranian music with specific standards. Simorgh Orchestra resembles neither Payvar’s nor Dehlavi’s orchestras. It actually is a combination of available Iranian bowed string instruments, plucked string instruments and other Iranian instruments which has a long way to go before it reaches a desired point. We were supposed to conduct a research in collaboration with Reza Ziaee, instrument maker and Shahin Mohajeri, acoustician on Simorgh Orchestra instruments so that I could attend this session with the graphs which were prepared as the result of this research. But unfortunately this session was held much earlier than we expected.

Therefore, I can only point to some of the technical problems of Iranian orchestra instruments.
Sadjad Pourghannad further mentioned some of the acoustic problems of the Simorgh Orchestra and suggested that with the collaboration of educated instrument makers and acousticians familiar with music an instrument-making workshop be established besides Simorgh Orchestra.
Regarding Homayoun Shajarian’s singing, Pourghanad added that our experience with him in Rumi Opera proved that despite the fact that Homayoun Shajarian draws on Iranian singing technique and style, he also has a strong voice. However, it is possible that if Simorgh is sung by another singer with the Iranian style, the singer’s voice would not go beyond the orchestra.
Seyed Abdolhossein Mokhtabad, the singer, was the third speaker to go on the stage. Regarding the album he commented that composing on several ten-line poems with identical meter is very difficult and requires the composer to organize the musical contrasts and similarities.

Mentioning Homayoun Shajarian’s role in this project, he added that Hamid Motebassem along with Homayoun Shajarian have created a work which is truly Iranian with an Iranian identity. They have succeeded in creating an Iranian dramatic work; however, it might have been better if there were two singers involved in the project as they could enhance the dramatic effects of this work.
Arvin Sedaghatkish, another critic, stated that: I will briefly talk about the technical issues and explain, firstly, why these problems occur and, secondly, the solution Motebassem could find and thirdly, the ones he has chosen. He added that Iranian music is mostly based on lyrical poems which are less narrative and in which every line is self-sufficient as far as the meaning is concerned. Even the composer can omit one or some of the lines without any damages to the meaning of the poem while in Shahnameh the poems are narrative so there is little possibility for ellipsis. Moreover, the meters are identical which makes the composer’s job more difficult.
The last critic to voice his views about this album was Kamyar Salavati: in criticizing Simorgh I kept in mind two important points: the poem and the orchestration both of which should simultaneously exist. Another valuable point in this regard is the effort made by the composer in creating a musical project on this level under the current circumstances. Salavati mentioned the fact that the whole work has been sung by one singer and added that this fact is reminiscent of Naqqāli (Iranian dramatic story-telling) which is an old tradition in the Iranian music.

At the end of the session, the singer, Homayoun Shajarian, was also invited on stage and mentioned in response to Sadjad Pourghanad that Iranian singers can sing with a higher volume of voice but this is not in harmony with the spirit of the Iranian music and singing; moreover, the techniques are totally different.
The session ended with Abolhassan Mokhtabad’s reading of Kiavash Sahebnasagh’s letter.

This entry was written by Mahboube Khalvati
Tagged: Mokhtabad, Motebassem, Naghmeh Criticism, pourghanad, salavati, sedaghatkish, Simorgh, soltani.

Farhad Poupel: The Voice of the Shahnameh in the Orchestras Around the World

In an era when almost no trace of contemporary Iranian music can be heard in international concert halls, except (so-called!) avant-garde works that owe their existence solely to the fashionable slogans of the “pseudo-intellectual” crowd who have seized the already meager resources for performing classical music from the true artists of the field, the numerous performances of Farhad Poupel’s works shine as a ray of hope for lovers of sincere musical art. Without resorting to trendy slogans, he has kept the flame of Iranian classical music alive purely through the power of his artistry.

Five Major Myths About Mozart’s Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the renowned Austrian composer, is undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses in the history of classical music. However, his life is surrounded by numerous myths and legends, some of which are not based on facts. This article explores five of the most common misconceptions about Mozart’s life.

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Loss of Development in Iranian Music

The mention by music instructors, academicians, students, and music enthusiasts about the lack of development in Iranian music is a topic that has been repeatedly heard, resulting in a superficial understanding and misinterpretation of Iranian music, which has been conveyed to students of the arts. This short essay aims to critique and examine this claim.

History’s Impact on Evaluating a Work of Art

With this description, we have automatically included a criterion called “History”, Until we know the time of the creation of a work of art, we cannot judge whether it has been easy to create or not. Suppose that, in a historical study, we find a musical work that is similar in compositional techniques (including form, melody, context, and orchestration) to a minor work of the nineteenth century; however, our research proves that, this work dates back to 200 years prior to that date. Can we still consider this work insignificant? Definitely not! So this is where the first use of history-based judgment comes into play.

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.

New Technique for Playing Classical Guitar (II)

When the author was working on the piece “Playing Love” by Ennio Morricone (from the legend of 1900), he realized a failure of the Lip Technique. Needing to play a chord in the 14th position of the guitar and in order to complete the harmony, it is necessary to play a harmonic note on the 7th or 5th position; it was not possible to touch the string to play this harmonic note, because the Lip Technique is used for getting the notes and not to touch the string and producing harmonic notes. Naturally, the only possible way to touch the string was to use the nose at the required position and playing the note with the right hand, and this was the best option the author found to how to play such harmonic notes, and where the Nose Technique was generated.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (II)

With regard to each polyphonic form, only one specific and distinguished example is analyzed. These polyphonic forms are as follows:

Principles of Violin Playing (I)

The present series of training articles, “Principles of Violin Playing”, seek to help students, to appropriately understand this field, by gradually introducing, categorizing, and teaching the myriad relevant points. One of the principles of playing violin, which must be always kept in mind, is that the selection of the most natural position for the body parts while playing is the best and most appropriate solution. As a matter of fact, any unnatural body part position which requires lots of energy or unusual stretching to maintain, is wrong.

Kayvan Mirhadi and O.R.P Qaurtet

Establishing O.R.P. Quartet is Kayvan Mirhadi’s latest activity as a guitarist, composer and conductor of Kamerata Orchestra. Besides working with this Quartet, Mirhadi is busy these days recording and mixing some of his own works as well as some pieces by 20th century composers. O.R.P Quartet performed a concert in Rasht, Gilan Province in late May 2016 and offered a master class.

Farshad Sanjari, Forgotten Iranian Conductor Met His Tragic End

Farshad Sanjari, one of the most renowned Iranian conductors in the 1970s in Iran died after fire broke in his apartment in Vienna on November 22, 2019. Farshad Sanjari was not involved in politics; however, he was one of the victims of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, his name was never seen as the conductor of any programmes.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (V)

ehrouz Mohammadi, “Daf and its feasts in Ghaderieh’s Tekyeh” mentions that the outer thickness of arch where studs are located, [is] between one to one and a half centimeters (Mohammadi, 2001: 12). The thickness of arch should be gradually reduced from the installation place of rings to skin (Avazeh of Daf) to create a high volume, clear sound from Daf; also, the connection of arch to skin should not be less than one millimeter, because in this case the skin will be torn due to the sharpness of the wood (Mogharab Samadi, 2009: 79-78). The thickness of wood on the skin side is about two to three millimeters (Tohidi, 2002: 79).

The response of the fired musicians to the interview of the managing director of Rudaki Foundation

Following an interview by Mehdi Salem, the director of the Rudaki Foundation, with the “Our Music” website, a response from the dismissed musicians was published in response to this conversation, which you read: