Composing a traditional Iranian opera using the Iranian modal system, dastgāh, has always been my dream. I first approached this by composing an opera called Ashura followed by the operas Rumi and Hafez. I believe that in order to attract an international audience for Iranian opera, it is essential to fuse dastgāh with Western classical forms.
Tag Archives: Behrouz Gharibpour
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.
Latest posts
- Celebrating 20 Years of Harmony Talk’s Journey: Resilience, Evolution, Honoring the Legacy and Navigating Future Growth
- HarmonyTalk Journal’s Twentieth Anniversary Celebration
- A combination of technique and musicality in the fingers of a pianist
- Jamshid Andalibi passed away!
- Homayoun Rahimian & Iran’s National Orchestra
- Negation of Changes in Iranian Music: Embracing Tradition
- Music education in third-world countries
- A brief examination of Ardavan Kamkar’s Santour playing style
- Lilly Afshar, Iranian Guitar Legend, passed away
- Mohammad Esmaili passes away
- Inefficiency of some chords and harmonization systems in Iranian music
- The response of the fired musicians to the interview of the managing director of Rudaki Foundation
From Past Days…
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DSC-reza-ziaei-stard-0-150x150.jpg)
The Mystery of Messiah
Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and is considered the most significant and greatest artisan in this field.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/s2-150x150.jpg)
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.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/motherland-orchestra-shimashahmohamadi-seda-sodeifi-maryam-khodabakhsh-sadjad-pourghanad-nezhat-amiri-Behzad-Abdi-zadbeh-150x150.jpg)
Motherland Orchestra Broke the Spell of the Covid-19 Restrictions
The Motherland Orchestra staged the first concert since the outbreak of the pandemic under the baton of Nezhat Amiri. The orchestra went on stage on December 23-24, 2021 in memory of Rouhollah Khaleghi and Golnoush Khaleghi at Vahdat Hall, Tehran, Iran. Since the pandemic outbreak, concerts were held online and restrictions were imposed on in-person concerts.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/rooholah-khaleghi-rouhollah-rouholah-khaleghy1-150x150.jpg)
From the Last Instrumentalist to the First Composer (II)
Rouhollah Khaleghi was the master of composing beautiful melodies. He was the premier of the course of history which was first established by Ali Naghi Vaziri and which improved the Iranian music from simply a gathering music to the classical music of the country. First efforts to compose independent and instrumental music can be also traced in Khaleghi’s works.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/sima-bina-444-150x150.jpg)
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.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/photo_2023-07-11_15-17-23-150x150.jpg)
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.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/afsdghm-150x113.jpg)
Illusion or Ingenuity?
Mohsen Renani in the preface of his book entitled “The Political Economy of nuclear conflict; an introduction to traversing the civilizations” writes:
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/violon-dast-3-150x144.jpg)
Principles of Violin Playing (II)
Since for playing violin, it’s necessary that the player’s palms and fingers be inclined toward the fingerboard, therefore, the player, while bringing up his hand, should turn it toward the fingerboard.
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/haj-ghorban-150x150.jpg)
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].
![](http://en.harmonytalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/5467523-150x150.jpg)
Lilly Afshar, Iranian Guitar Legend, passed away
The text you are reading is about Hamed Fathi, a guitarist and one of Lilly Afshar’s students, which was previously published on the Persian website HarmonyTalk.com: