

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.
Ali Āmān Yā Ali
Several tunes are strung together here:
Ali āmān yā Ali / Dakhīlem wa to Ali
Ali, help, O Ali / Upon You I rely, Ali1
This verse is followed by Tchapī, a dance tune, which serves as a linking pattern to the next tune.
Yā Soltān āmān āgerem dāy
O Soltān, mercy, You have set me aflame!
This verse was composed by Ostad. The Tchapī theme keeps returning throughout this improvisation, as new forms emerge at every moment in a dazzling proliferation of sonorities.
1 The name of Ali in this context refers to the manifestation of the Divine; Ostad sometimes invoked the name “Soltān” as well.
Tracklist
Ali Āmān Yā Ali
Celestial Harmonies
Ali Āmān Yā Ali
Celestial Harmonies