Last Year under the Light of Music

1 June 2023 – 1:23 pm Posted in Articles' List, Contemporary Music, General Information, Iranian Classical Music

Written by Hadi Sepehri

Almost three months into the new Iranian year (starting March 21), it is still not too late to have a look at the last year and the challenges that the musicians faced. The following article was published on the first day of the New Year in the Persian edition of the HarmonyTalk journal.

It is March 21st, 2023 today; a solar year has passed with myriads of problems for Iranians including musicians. I would like to briefly go through these bitter events. It is needless to say that music concerts are not allowed on at least 120 calendar days due to religious mourning occasions. There are many obstacles on the way of getting permits for live or recorded concerts and new paragraphs might have been even added to the existing shoulds and shouldn’ts. With regard to musical training, music institutes and centers struggle with lots of problems including lack of coordination in asset departments, imposing high taxes and stopping tax waivers, high municipality levies, exorbitant property rents and the decreasing number of pupils caused by ever-increasing cost of musical instruments which has led to the exclusion of groups of people who cannot afford buying them. Basically arts and music have never been a priority which is understandable under the circumstances that people’s basic needs are not fulfilled.

The unpleasant developments since September 2022 even led to more unfortunate incidents in the Iranian musical scene ranging from refraining to hold any concerts by musicians to their arrests and filing lawsuits against hundreds of them. Although many of them were bailed out and later pardoned, these incidents badly affected their families while they are still struggling with their lingering consequences. Forced shut down of music institutes led to heavy financial losses and disoriented their businesses.

In the second half of the year, many musicians, residing in Iran or abroad, composed, re-arranged or adopted hundreds of vocal or instrumental pieces, old or new, Iranian or foreign to protest the status quo and shared them on the social media. Under these circumstances, staging commissioned concerts or presenting concerts at Fajr Music Festival provoked musicians’ harsh criticisms. Consequently, many members of orchestras boycotted these events. Additionally, a song by a young Iranian musician won him a Grammy Award. Probably the only positive development in this situation was the publishing of several books on music (scores, training material, research and analysis) as well as research papers.

In conclusion, I would like to reminisce about the musicians who passed away during the last year: Hassan Nahid, Ali Akbarpour, Davood Jafari Omid, Ebrahim Ghanbari Mehr, Saeed Tahvildari and Abol Hassan Mokhtabad.

This entry was written by HarmonyTalk
Tagged: .

Nasser Masoudi: The Voice of Gilan and a Legacy of Iranian Music

In Iranian music, certain singers have become emblematic of their homelands through their distinctive voices. Historical figures such as Eghbal Sultan, who epitomized the grandeur of Azerbaijani music, and Taj Isfahani, who conveyed the authentic essence of Isfahan, serve as notable examples from the Qajar era. Nasser Masoudi occupies a similar position; his voice emerged as a symbol of Gilan while also achieving national acclaim. Before him, Master Ahmad Ashurpur represented Gilan’s musical landscape, but his extended residence outside Iran limited his continuous engagement in the music scene. In contrast, Masoudi’s consistent presence allowed him to introduce the voice of Gilan to audiences across Iran.

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.

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Farhad Poupel’s piece, Road to Bach, performed at Suntory Hall

On June 19, 2021 , young Iranian composer and pianist, Farhad Poupel’s piece, Road to Bach, was performed at the prestigious Suntory Hall by the great Japanese pianist, Kotaro Fukuma. The piece was commissioned by Kotaro Fukuma to have its world premiere in Suntory Hall during a concert by the same name.

“Symphonic Poems from Persia” Released in Germany

While the name “Persia” (Western historical name of Iran) has attracted tens of thousands of people from around the world to London’s British Museum to visit ancient Persian artifacts, the Nuremberg-based music company, Colosseum, invites Europeans to listen to eight masterpieces of Persian symphonic music.

Violin’s inner mold, an essential factor in developing the idea of violin

A part of the secrets of the masterpieces from the golden era lies in the special design of the instruments, as a result of a profound insight to and awareness of the significance of the precise calculation of the various components of the object of arts being created, such as making a violin or a bow.

Principles of Violin Playing (IX)

4.3.1. To practice playing of doubles of notes involving two different fingers, each note is played at separate bows with slow tempo, each note is played perfectly regarding its bass and tenor sounds and then the considered double is played at another bow while considering the resulted sound of the double.

A year without Mohsen Ghanebasiri

The year 1396 (21 March 2017-20 March 2018) was the most sorrowful year for HarmonyTalk journal. One month after holding HarmonyTalk’s 13th establishment anniversary in Mohsen Ghanebasiri’s house in Tehran in April 2017, he untimely passed away. Mohsen Ghanebasiri was the prominent HarmonyTalk author.

Interview with Farhad Poupel (II)

Fantasia on One Note was my first professional work for piano, which had its world premiere by the great pianist Peter Jablonski in Sweden, and it has been performed by various pianists in the UK, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic. The recording of this work has also been broadcast on the Dutch public radio, NPR Radio 4.