

Celestial Dances
4 Tracks49 MIN2005
℗ Le Chant du Monde — Harmonia Mundi
Ostad Elahi’s boundless creativity and ever renewed inspiration in the art of tanbur are expressed through improvisations on the Bābā Faqīhī and Tchapī Suites, inviting the listener to join in the celestial dance toward the source of creation.
Tchapī Suite II
In Ostad Elahi’s repertoire, the Tchapī suite is often played, in a developed form or as a passing reference within another suite. Like for every other piece, it is never played in the same way. The five-string tanbur produces a multitude of different tones: sometimes dry and metallic, sometimes soft and velvety; sometimes round and full and other times snappy like percussions. All the technical possibilities of the instrument are being used here. The "bourdon", often played with two notes, underlies a steady rhythm. In the medium register, the master combines chords in a way that would be improbable in any western or even eastern structure. He produces unknown tones and harmonies with a totally novel instrument, created by him. And he is the only one to know its secrets. It is about this piece that Ostad once said, that everything that exists has an ever-lasting effect.
Tracklist
Tchapī Suite II
Celestial Dances
Tchapī Suite II
Celestial Dances