Ahmad Pejman Passed Away!

1 September 2025 – 11:46 pm Posted in Articles' List, Iranian Classical Music, News

Composer and music teacher Ahmad Pejman (1935–2025) passed away on August 29 in Los Angeles, USA, after several weeks of illness. His most recent symphonic work performed in Iran was Land of the Brave Symphony (Sarzameen-e Delavaran), staged in 2017 with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. According to the family’s decision, his body will be laid to rest in the United States.

Ahmad Pejman, born on July 9, 1935, in Lar, Fars Province, was an Iranian composer and musician. As a child and teenager, he became familiar with the rhythms and folk music of southern Iran. In high school, he studied violin with Heshmat Sanjari and music theory with Hossein Nassahi. Later, he joined the Saba Orchestra under Hossein Dehlavi and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Heshmat Sanjari and Heimo Teuber as a violinist.

In 1963, he completed his undergraduate studies in English language and literature at Daneshsara-ye ‘Aali (Teachers College). In 1964, on a scholarship, he traveled to Austria and studied composition at the Vienna Academy of Music under professors Thomas Christian David, Alfred Uhl, and Hans Jelinek.

In 1968, after completing his studies, he returned to Iran and began working as a composer for Rudaki Hall and as a professor at the University of Tehran. Works from this period include Jashn-e Dehqān Opera (The Farmer’s Festival, for the opening of Rudaki Hall), Delavar-e Sahand Opera (based on the life of Babak Khorramdin), and Samandar Opera—all staged before the 1979 Revolution.

In 1975, he went to Columbia University (New York) to pursue a doctorate in composition and studied electronic music with Vladimir Ussachevsky, Jack Beeson, and Bülent Arel. From the 1990s onward, he occasionally taught harmony, counterpoint, and composition at the Faculty of Music, University of Art, Tehran.

—

Selected Works

By the Brook and Rustic Song, and other early compositions prior to his academic studies

Concerto for Nine Instruments (his first work written and performed at the Vienna Academy of Music)

Rhapsody for Orchestra (1965)

Sonata for Viola and Piano (1966)

Persian Overture (1966)

Jashn-e Dehqān Opera (1967, for the opening of Rudaki Hall)

Delavar-e Sahand Opera (1968, based on the life of Babak Khorramdin)

Roshana’i Ballet (Light, 1969)

Samandar Opera (1970, his last opera before the Revolution)

Baba Barfi (children’s music, 1971)

Gol Oomad, Bahar Oomad (children’s music, 1971)

Nima Youshij Poetry Music (1972)

Impression Ballet (1973)

Ayyaran Ballet (folk ballet, 1974)

Symphonic Sketches (1975)

Epic Collection (works before the Revolution, 1976)

Seven Little Pieces (1978)

Hameh Shahr-e Iran (All of Iran, folk music, 1979)

Khorramshahr (1992)

Mokhtar Choral Work / Lone Rider of Love (1993, for a musical play)

Haft Khan-e Rostam (The Seven Labors of Rostam, 1996)

Sarāb (Mirage, 2001)

Khaterehā-ye Fardā (Memories of Tomorrow, 2002)

Nâgahan Rastakhiz (Sudden Resurrection, 2007)

Sāyehā-ye Khorshid (Shadows of the Sun, 2010)

Nowruz Symphony in five movements (2011)

Divertimento / House of Wisdom for string orchestra in four movements (2016)

Pars-Avā / Perso for piano in five movements (2016)

Sarzameen-e Delavaran Symphony (Land of the Brave, 2017)

Sohrab Sepehri Poetry Music (2017)

—

Film Music

A Documentary about Iran (Manouchehr Asgari-Nasab, 1971)

Delirān-e Tangestān (Homayoun Shahnawaz, 1971)

Samak the Ayyar (Mohammadreza Aslani, 1974)

Prince Ehtejab (Bahman Farmanara, 1974)

Tall Shadows of the Wind (Bahman Farmanara, 1979)

Made in Iran (Amir Naderi, 1980)

The Highway of Civilization (David Frost, 1980)

Hedid (Sirous Norsasteh, 1986)

The Actor (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1992)

Zinat (Ebrahim Mokhtari, 1993)

Kimia (Ahmadreza Darvish, 1994)

Blue Scarf (Rakhshan Banietemad, 1994)

A Documentary about Iran (Mostafa Razagh Karimi, 1996)

Lost Love (Saeed Asadi, 1997)

Temptation (Jamshid Akrami, 1998)

Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine (Bahman Farmanara, 1999)

Baran (Majid Majidi, 2000)

Journey to Tomorrow (Mohammad Hossein Haghighi, 2001)

A House on the Water (Bahman Farmanara, 2001)

With the Wind in the Desert’s Solitude (Manouchehr Tayyab, 2001)

Astan-e Qods Razavi (Manouchehr Tayyab, 2003)

The Willow Tree (Majid Majidi, 2004)

A Little Kiss (Bahman Farmanara, 2004)

The Persian Gulf (Manouchehr Tayyab, 2005)

The Ancient Land (Kamal Tabrizi, 2008)

Alborz (Manouchehr Tayyab, 2011)

This entry was written by HarmonyTalk
Tagged: Ahmad Pejman.

Tafazzoli: Monolingualism drives music into obscurity (1)

Between the year 1403 (2024–25) and today, the name of Mohammadreza Tafazzoli—composer and faculty member of the Faculty of Music at the University of Art, Iran—has appeared several times as a composer with various orchestras. In 1403, part of his suite *Dena* was performed by the National Orchestra; in 1404, the same work was performed in full by the Mitra Orchestra, and in the same year, his symphony *Vaghouyeha* (*Murmurings*) was staged with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. Recently, in Mordad of the current year, we witnessed the performance of *Elegy* for string orchestra by the Vivo Orchestra, composed by him. Tafazzoli has tested diverse languages in his works—from the neotonal and at times atonal language of the twentieth century to a fully tonal language. But in most of his works, the combination of Iranian melodies with the neotonal language of the first half of the twentieth century is most visible. Below, on the occasion of the staging of *Elegy* by the Vivo Orchestra, we spoke with him about his activities and the atmosphere of his works. What follows is the text of that conversation.

Parva, Iranian Singer, Passes Away!

Parva, a singer of Iranian music, has passed away after a period of illness. In recent years, she had been residing in both Iran and Austria.

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Book “Iranian modal system (Dastgah music) modes” Published

The Rudaki Foundation has presented the latest research achievement in the field of Iranian dastgāhī (classical modal) music to enthusiasts and researchers with the publication of the book “Modes of Iranian Dastgāhī Music”. This book is the result of years of effort by music researchers and specialists and can serve as a comprehensive and practical resource for performers, composers, and scholars.

“Pledge of Love”

The “Pledge of Love” is the first album in a series composed based on the tasnifs by the renowned Iranian tasnif-maker Mohammad Ali Amir Jahed and recorded by Sahba Kohan Ensemble with Ramin Bahiraie as signer.

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.

Principles of Violin Playing (II)

Since for playing violin, it’s necessary that the playerâ€™s palms and fingers be inclined toward the fingerboard, therefore, the player, while bringing up his hand, should turn it toward the fingerboard.

Principles of Playing Violin (VI)

B. applying force: the force needed for putting finger on finger board is applied through finger tips and using the rest of hand set especially wrist is not allowed. To practice this, it is possible to hold violin without the bow and throw the fingers on the finger board from 1-2cm distance; apply force only through finger tips.

Iraj Passes Away!

Iraj (Hossein Khajeh-Amiri), born on January 1, 1933, in Natanz, and one of the most renowned figures in Iranian vocal music, passed away at the age of 94 after several months of illness. He was born into an artistic and cultivated family; his ancestor was a celebrated singer during the era of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, and his father, who himself possessed a fine voice and was well-versed in the radifs (modal systems) of Persian music, devoted years to training his son’s voice. In his early youth, Iraj also participated in Ta’ziyeh (religious passion plays) and learned the subtleties of vocal performance step by step from Ta’ziyeh performers who had mastered the radifs and modes.

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.

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).

Is the Iranian National Anthem a Copy? (II)

In response, it should be said that it is better for the national anthem of a country to use the musical material exclusive to that country; however, some problems might come up in doing so the most important of which include: lack of familiarity of other countries’ music performer with the concerned country’s specific music intervals and special musical technique; and secondly, the strangeness of that music to the foreign listener.

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).