

Celestial Harmonies
6 Tracks53 MIN1999 Reissued 2004
℗ Le Chant du Monde — Harmonia Mundi
This CD unveils another facet of Ostad Elahi’s music: his improvisations not only on the setar and the tanbur, which each have their own specific techniques, but also on a five-string tanbur that he himself created, probably to realize a synthesis between the Persian and Kurdish lutes. Some of the pieces are also chanted. The combination of such inimitable style, mysterious tones, and audacious dissonances takes the listener into uncharted territories.
This CD unveils another facet of Ostad Elahi’s music: his improvisations not only on the setar and the tanbur, which each have their own specific techniques, but also on a five-string tanbur that he himself created, probably to realize a synthesis between the Persian and Kurdish lutes. Some of the pieces are also chanted. The combination of such inimitable style, mysterious tones, and audacious dissonances takes the listener into uncharted territories.