A brief examination of Ardavan Kamkar’s Santour playing style

This entry was written by Ali Farahani

I still think of those fish in a crystal bowl for the Haft sin table and those disappointed old men who went out to sell blackfish.

This subtlety and great imagination become the basis of the work “The Fish for the New Year” A clear music with clear expression.

“The Sea” was released in the late 1980s and then “The Fish for the New Year” promised a musician with a different approach than the path of the past, using techniques and songs of Iranian music and Kurdish folk music. This music brought a fundamental change in contemporary Iranian music, and also especially in Santour playing contemporary style.

“Ardavan Kamkar” was born in July 1968 in Sanandaj to a family of culture, and art. He started Santour playing when he was four years old. He studied Santour with his father, Hassan Kamkar, and he immigrated with his family to Tehran in 1980. In his youth, he presented the Santour Concertino with his brother Houshang Kamkar, on the album “In the Highest of Dawn”
The Sea was composed before 1985 and then he performed in 1990 in Vahdat Concert Hall and then was released to the music market.

“The Fish for the New Year”, which was released in 2005.
He had some combinations with other composers such as a Santour player in the album “Night, Silence and Desert” by Kayhan Kalhor and “Mandir” Album composed by Mohammad Ali Kianinejad, Touraj Mansouri’s “Iranian Landscape” Soundtrack and Santuri movie directed by Daryoush Mehrjouei and some other soundtracks are among his works. The music of this movie had a profound effect on the popularization and widespread popularity of the Santoor instrument and even in the field of instrumentation and construction of the Santour, which made this instrument penetrate into the cultural depths of society.
The book Notes of Santuri film was published in 2023.

Album of “Diamond Fine Grains” in 2013 Enjoying and looking at local Baluchi and Afghan themes The publication of Ardavan Kamkar’s Pieces Collection in 2015 ended the years of waiting for enthusiasts to play the modern Santour style ،a specialized book with a new outlook on the techniques of playing Santoor has increased the sound and play of the Santour.

In recent years, music has always seemed to be remarkably backward compared to poetry and literature, and perhaps one of the reasons for this is the lack of new and knowledgeable personalities of today, looking at distant horizons who have realized the necessity of newness and from opposition, and blaming old retrogressive thoughts.

Fearless and fearful of those who do not fear Evolution and innovation are urgent necessities and necessities in the arts that in each period should communicate with its audience at the same time Ardavan Kamkar is a remarkable and avant-garde figure such as Nima in contemporary poetry, Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh in literature and short stories, and Alinaghi Vaziri, who is considered one of the pioneers of reform in Iranian music and Santour players.

The use of unconventional tuning and scales how derived from Western music knowledge along with familiar themes and themes, parallel movements of the right and left hand. Rapid execution of notes with the preservation of the clarity of the melody of the pieces in both hands and equal abilities of the right and left hands is one of the characteristics of his playing.

He has created a new path of playing the Santoor of contemporary times through a new transformation in Persian music and imaginary, magical and very audacious music.
A new expression mixed with analysis and clear emotion has attracted many listeners and enthusiasts
In Iranian music, and today it is still fresh after thirty years and its green buds have grown to become a great
Tree in Iranian music.

Post a Comment

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

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 Structure of Kurdistan Daf (III)

“Our ancestors believe powerful blows upon the Daf scatters evil spirits of disease and distress to create a clean and holy space filled with health and prosperity. Adding tools to Daf increases this instrument’s purification, spreading, and summoning powers of evil forces and goddesses. Daf was mostly depicted by red, color of blood, in ancient times or sometimes it was depicted with green, the color of plants and nature. There were probably some mysterious designs painted upon the wooden body and frames of these instruments just like today” (Pahlavan, 2013: 44).

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

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.

Last Year under the Light of Music

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.

Three singers in one larynx

Sima Bina (b. 1945) is a unique singer among the singers of Golha radio programmes which were broadcast on Iranian National Radio for 23 years from 1956 to 1979. She received her first lessons in music from her father who was a poet, a musician and the most important supporter of Sima’s cultural activities.

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.

Inefficiency of some chords and harmonization systems in Iranian music

Discussions and research have been conducted on the harmonization of “dastgah” and melodies in Iranian music, and several books have been published on this topic, including “Armenian Music of Iran” by Ali Naghi Vaziri, “Harmony of Iranian Music” by Farhad Fakhreddini, and “Harmony of Iranian Music” by Ali Ghamssari. A master’s thesis titled “Presenting a Solution for Harmonizing Based on the Structure of Tritone Intervals” was written by Atefeh EinAli in 2014. Additionally, the invention and use of “Even Harmony” by Morteza Hannaneh should be mentioned.

Tehran Flute Choir Established

Tehran Flute Choir was established in 1394 (late 2015) by Firouzeh Navai. Tehran Flute Choir, Iran’s first largest flute choir, recruited its members mostly from young talented flutists of Iranian Flute Association. Featuring piccolo, flute, alto flute and bass flute, Tehran Flute Choir, directed by Firouzeh Navai, premiered under the batons of Saeed Taghadosi on January 7-8, 2016 at Roudaki Hall in Tehran.

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

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).

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.