Gholam Reza Khan Minbashian: a pioneer in Iranian music (II)

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati

Gholamreza Khan Minbashian taught courses such as organology, orchestration of military music and harmony based on the books which were translated from French into Persian with the help of Aliakbar Mozayyan-o-Dolleh (1846-1932). Some pamphlets were also prepared based on Minbashian’s teachings on solfège and on wind instruments which were never published.
In 1914 (or 1917 as mentioned in some references), Gholamreza Khan founded a school for military music entitled “Music Class” and started teaching there. The courses taught at this school were four years long and civilians along with military personnel could take part in the courses and be trained on classical (non-military) music.
Ranking Brigadier General, Gholamreza Khan established the Army’s Music Department and became its director in 1921. Seven years later, when it was banned to simultaneously work for and receive salaries from two public organizations, he resigned as the head of the music school and handed over the responsibility to Colonel Ali Naqi Vaziri. Vaziri immediately removed military music courses from the curriculum of the school as there was an independent school for teaching military music, that is, Army’ Music Department run by Gholamreza Khan and his son Nasrallah.
Gholam Reza Khan Minbashian retired in 1930 and his son Nasrallah replaced him. Gholam Reza Khan passed away in 1935 and was buried in Qom, Iran.
Gholamreza Khan’s sons, Nasrallah and Gholamhossein Min Bashian, both studied music in Europe and rendered a lot of services in the scene of the Iranian classical music (Nasrallah Min Bashian’s sons, Fathollah Min Bashian and Mehrdad Pahlbod, both of whom were musicians assumed high ranking positions in the second Pahlavi dynasty. Fathallah became the Commander of the Army’s Ground Force and Mehrdad became the Minister of Culture and Arts).
Gholamreza Khan also played the Iranian instrument Tar and had learned to play the instrument under the supervision of maestros at the time. Therefore, he was keenly interested in Iranian Dastgah music and, unlike his son Gholam Hossein, who strongly opposed Iranian music, considered teaching Persian music necessary. Gholamreza Khan had consequently made Hossein Hang Afrin responsible for teaching Iranian music. For the first time, Gholamreza Khan prepared and published the score relating to a part of Mahour Radif which was performed by Hossein Khan Hang Afrin, in Tehran and in Leipzig, Germany. In the Radif which was notated by Gholamreza Khan, Arabic notation symbols were used to indicate quarter tones.
Gholamreza Khan also mailed the afore-mentioned Radif for Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac (21 January 1846 – 28 May 1916), the editor of the French Encyclopedia of Music, with whom he has been corresponding about the Iranian music.
Gholam Reza Khan also played Iranian music with the piano and changed the tunes to play quarter tones, but before him, Sarvar-ol Molk also used to play Iranian Dastgahs on the piano using a different hand position compared to the standard hand position which Gholamreza Khan used.
In addition to teaching piano, Gholamreza Khan also taught several wind and brass instruments and had founded some orchestras with his students, most notably among his students and except his children are, Zia Mokhtari, Hassan Radmard, Mohammad Najmi, Mosayeb Rezvani, and Hossein Ali Vaziri.
During the time of Qajar and Pahlavi, Gholamreza Khan’s pieces including hymns and marches were performed; however, their scores are hard to find. In his biography, pieces for piano entitled “Piano Fantasy”, Daramad-e Avaz-e Esfahan, Pish Daramad and Tasnif” and also the arrangement of pieces by Roknoddin Mokhtari for piano are mentioned which were published then.

Post a Comment

Required fields are marked *
*
*
Your email is never shared.

Timeless or Timely: The Role of Historical Context in Defining Artistic Value

Imagine that, in the course of historical research, we discover a musical piece whose compositional techniques (including form, melody, texture, and orchestration) resemble those of a second-rate 19th-century composition. But further investigation reveals that this work predates that period by 200 years. Can we still deem it insignificant? Certainly not. Here, the first major role of historical judgment becomes evident.

Leading the Charge in Censorship

Davoud Pirnia, writer and musicologist was the founder of “Golha” (Flowers of Persian Song and Music) programs on Tehran Radio (1956-1966). He received his early education from his father, Hassan Pirnia (Moshir al-Douleh), and several tutors of the time (Taraghi, interview, July 1989) and continued his studies at Saint Louis School in Tehran and then in Switzerland and graduated in law. While studying law, Pirnia got acquainted with European classical music. Upon returning to Iran, he was employed by the Ministry of Justice and founded the Lawyers’ Guild. Then he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and established the Department of Statistics in this ministry. Later, he became the head of the state inspection office at the Prime Ministry; he was, then, promoted to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Navab Safa, interview, August 1999)

From Past Days…

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.

Leading the Charge in Censorship

Davoud Pirnia, writer and musicologist was the founder of “Golha” (Flowers of Persian Song and Music) programs on Tehran Radio (1956-1966). He received his early education from his father, Hassan Pirnia (Moshir al-Douleh), and several tutors of the time (Taraghi, interview, July 1989) and continued his studies at Saint Louis School in Tehran and then in Switzerland and graduated in law. While studying law, Pirnia got acquainted with European classical music. Upon returning to Iran, he was employed by the Ministry of Justice and founded the Lawyers’ Guild. Then he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and established the Department of Statistics in this ministry. Later, he became the head of the state inspection office at the Prime Ministry; he was, then, promoted to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Navab Safa, interview, August 1999)

Polyphony in Iranian Music (V)

In addition to the above-mentioned, polyphony can be also formed when a melody is performed by several singers in different ambiances or different sound registers according to their physiologic abilities. An example of this has been performed in rituals of Khanqah of Ghaderi darawish of Mahabad[i].

Rare documents of Tehran Opera Company published in Europe

The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of Evlin Baghcheban’s death. She played a crucial role to promote opera and choral music in Persia (Iran). Born to an Assyrian-French family in Turkey, she studied singing and piano at the Ankara State Conservatory. In 1950 Evlin married the Persian composer and fellow student Samin Baghcheban and moved to Tehran.

Payam Taghadossi: Talented Iranian-Austrian Cellist

Payam Taghadossi (born in 1989) started his musical education at the age of 4 years with Monika Scherbaum in Bregenz (Austria). At the Conservatory Feldkirch he joined the class of Imke Frank and Martin Merker. Later he studied in Zurich (Switzerland) with Thomas Grossenbacher and Christian Proske, where he 2011 graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance. Two years later as the student of Rafael Rosenfeld he received his Master of Arts in Music Performance diploma and later graduated as a Master of Arts in spezialized Music Performance in 2016 from the Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW.

Hossein Aslani passed away!

Hossein Aslani, Iranian pianist residing in the US, passed away due to cancer in late January 2020. His last musical activity was an article written for Harmony Talk entitled “Iran amidst musical struggle” in 2016, his memoir entitled “I Play You Again” in the same year and his album “Symbolic Emotion” published by Arganoun Publications in 2014. Here is a brief biography of Hossein Aslani according to his own website:

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (IV)

Researcher: Mohammad Tarighat Translator: Fatemeh Alimohammadi Daf Structure The Structure of Daf in different cities of Iran has a great variety in terms of dimensions, components and even appearance; some of which are as follows: – Square Daf, on which the skin was stretched either on one or both sides, with strings installed inside it…
Read More »

Mohammad Esmaili passes away

Master Mohammad Ismaili, a prominent musician and renowned tombak player, passed away on August 13, 2023, after battling an illness in the ICU of Rasoul Akram Hospital. His funeral will take place on Thursday, August 17, at 10 am in front of Vahdat Hall, and he will be laid to rest in the Artists’ Section of Behesht Zahra Cemetery.

A Look at Ali Tajvidi’s Manifold Musical Activities (I)

Ali Tajvidi (1920 – 2004), one of the most prominent Iranian musicians, passed away sixteen years ago. He was one of the most distinguished Iranian artists. To specify one of the fields in which he was unique, one can refer to Tasnif composition. A brief review of his manifold musical activities is presented below.

Simorgh Criticised

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.