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: Sufi
Latest posts
- Transition to Enlightenment: Six Lectures on Mozart’s String Quartets (5)
- Nasser Masoudi: The Voice of Gilan and a Legacy of Iranian Music
- Farhad Poupel: The Voice of the Shahnameh in the Orchestras Around the World
- Five Major Myths About Mozart’s Life
- Bahma Rajabi Passed Away!
- Reza Vohdani; Unveiling unpublished works, preservation of Iranian classical music
- Ahmad Pejman Passed Away!
- Timeless or Timely: The Role of Historical Context in Defining Artistic Value
- Leading the Charge in Censorship
- The Legacy of Khosrow Jafarzadeh
- Transition to Enlightenment: Six Lectures on Mozart’s String Quartets (4)
- Fereydoun Shahbazian, An Iranian Musical Icon Passed Away
From Past Days…
Whose dream?! Whose reality?!
(A review of the “So Faraway” album; Tar and Tonbak duet; Siavash Imani, Pedram Khavarzmini)
Persian Music: “Mahour the Great” in Austria
In 1990 an Austria-based Persian musician Khosro Soltani, in cooperation with Hossein Alizadeh, put out an album entitled, Ancient Call A New (Nobang-e Kohan). After many years, a few ancient Persian instruments such as Sorna, Karna, Naghareh,etc. have been used, instruments which have been left out of the circle of Persian classical musical instruments for centuries.
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.
Ennio Morricone’s music for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight
After watching Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie, The Hateful Eight, everyone was excited by its novel music besides the beautiful scenes of blood and guts.
The Hateful Eight is the first collaboration between the world-famous film music composer, Ennio Morricone, and Quentin Tarantino as a famous director.
Polyphony in Iranian Music (I)
Despite the fact that Iranian folk music (regional music of Iran), like the Radif of Iranian traditional music, is monophonic and follows heterophony in principal, we experience polyphonic forms, albeit, majorly unconscious.
A combination of technique and musicality in the fingers of a pianist
In the world of classical music, the position of soloist has always been exceptional. Apart from the technical ability that many orchestral musicians also have, the soloist must also have a special power to be able to present a different and unique perspective of a piece. The soloist must maintain its special power of expression not only in solo roles but also when interacting with the orchestra.
A Miracle in the Iranian Music: About Tehran Flute Choir’s Eight-year Tenacity
Tehran Flute Choir is a 40-member orchestra of Iran’s best flutists; Iran’s best flutists? Yes! If you write down the names of the greatest Iranian flute players who participate at concerts and contribute to academic centers in Iran, you will see that most of them are among the choir’s members.
Principles of Playing Violin (IV)
Pattern No.3/1 Left hand finger Placement: 3/1/1: Landing Fingers on one String: In preliminary stages of training, an apprentice should pay attention to the principle of keeping fingers while placing them on the fingerboard. Professional violinists pay less attention to this principle. Novice player’s complying with this principle, in preliminary stages of training, has several…
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Henry Cowell: “Persian Set”
Persian Set: Four Movements for chamber orchestra: Moderato; Allegretto; Lento; Rondo
Henry Cowell, one of the most innovative American composers of the 20th century, was born in 1897. Cowell and his wife visited Iran in 1956 and stayed there the whole winter, upon the invitation by the Iranian Royal Family, when he composed his album “Persian Set” in four movements for chamber orchestra. His composition is expressive of the characteristic quality of the Persian or the Iranian music.
Principles of Violin Playing (I)
The present series of training articles, “Principles of Violin Playing”, seek to help students, to appropriately understand this field, by gradually introducing, categorizing, and teaching the myriad relevant points. One of the principles of playing violin, which must be always kept in mind, is that the selection of the most natural position for the body parts while playing is the best and most appropriate solution. As a matter of fact, any unnatural body part position which requires lots of energy or unusual stretching to maintain, is wrong.