Āhang-e Farangī

Gūshe-ye Do Bālā dar kūk-e Farangī

Gūshe-ye Zīr Dastān dar Farangī

Gūshe-ye Karīm Khānī dar Farangī

Bargasht be Farangī

Zang-e Shotorī

Shān Jonbān

Yār Mobārak Bād dar Farangī

Sārū Khānī dar Farangī

 (“to move one’s shoulders”) could not be played correctly unless the shoulders were moved in the proper manner.

Ostad used to say that Shān Jonbānak (“to move one’s shoulders”) could not be played correctly unless the shoulders were moved in the proper manner.

This piece starts with an improvisation on the Sārū Khānī Suite, but in a special tonality due to the tuning of the instrument in fifths instead of the usual fourths, which makes it difficult to perform. This passage is followed by a supplication in the Bābā Jalīlī mode, a favorite of Ostad Elahi. Here, Ostad exceptionally sings the first verses of a poem in Kurdish by Sheykh Amīr.1<blockquote>Hey Dīn, Ali, Ali, yā Ali Delay gonāhkār yā Mowlām, yā Mowlām, yā Mowlām Delay zabūnbakht, Ali Ali Ali Āy cha azal gonāhkār, yā Ali Ar cha rūy azal Mowlā, Mowlām Ali, ay Djānam, ay Dīnem ay, ay Djānam, ay Ali Mowyāī borda-bār, hey Mowlām, hey Mowlām Ali, Ali pey chīsh makaftī, hey Mowlām amān, hey Ali, Ali Ali Dūr tcha qāpī yār, hey Dīnem, Ali Djān, Ali DjānO sinner heart, how weak and destitute Sinner since the dawn of creation If only you had shown more patience at the outset! How you have lacked respect and patience, What have you done to distance yourself from the divine abode?</blockquote>Ali, Mowlām (my Lord), and Djānam (my Beloved) are all different ways of invoking God. The invocation (zekr) that prolongs and completes this prayer was inspired to Ostad in the 1940s. It reminds the soul that everything is in the hands of its Beloved, and that He alone can solve all problems.<blockquote>Ali āmān yā Ali Dakhīlem wa to Ali Moshkelgoshā-ī Ali Hall-e moshkel-ī AliAli, help, O Ali You are my support, Ali You alone can unravel difficulties, Ali You alone can solve difficulties, Ali</blockquote><ol class="number"><li value=1>Sheykh Amīr was an 18th century Kurdish mystic. Following a sudden spiritual awakening, this illiterate shepherd composed numerous poems with deep spiritual meaning and rich symbolic imagery.</li></ol>

Sārū Khānī Suite (Monājāt)

This zekr by Ostad was also composed in the forties and evokes two spiritual personalities, Ali and Soltān, who are considered to be theophanies:<blockquote>Har va aw Soltān, Har va aw Soltān / wa pardey nūran Mowlāmān wey dowr / mowlāmān wey dowr / sāheb zehūran (Haqq) sāheb zehūranSoltān, O Soltān, Behind the veils of Light Lord of this age, Our Lord The Master of Time, The Manifestation of the Time</blockquote>Soltān is also a way of invoking the Divine, as are Haqq (Truth) and Hū (Him).

Har va Aw Soltān

Shāh Khoshīn was a great 11th century mystic who lived in Lorestān. It is reported that he was the first to introduce zekr-e jalī in spiritual assemblies, accompanying it with chants and musical instruments, including the tanbur. The suite that is performed here differs from other versions of Shāh Khoshīnī and is imbued with a majestic and somewhat strange kind of beauty.1 The richness of the sound expresses the sort of fervor that never lets the soul rest, even during the most peaceful segments of the piece, enjoining it to free itself from the grip of materiality.<ol class="number"><li value=1>See CD, Mystical Orison, Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi, 2000; republished 2004.</li></ol>

Shāh Khoshīnī Suite

This piece was recorded in Ostad Elahi’s home in Tehran on the occasion of a visit by a group of Kurdish devotees from his native region in western Iran. The atmosphere of the gathering was so warm and spiritual that Ostad played the tanbur for a long time, which was quite unusual. This track reproduces part of that session.The piece starts with a brilliant introduction of the Saharī Suite, a melody that used to be played at dawn to awaken dervishes and stir the soul. What makes this introduction remarkable is that it is played with a tuning in seconds instead of the usual fourths, which requires special skill and casts the melody in an unusual light.The first voice that appears is that of a singer (kalāmkhān) who was renowned for the quality of his Saharī interpretation, as well as his faith, fervor, and abnegation. Ostad Elahi pays tribute to his fervor by not only accompanying him on the tanbur, but also by joining him in singing. This duet of master and student is highly emotional and is further intensified when Ostad begins to sing an octave lower, invoking the Divine in various ways (Ali Hū, Mowlām Hū, Haqq Hū, Ali Ali jān, Ali Mowlām Hū, Ali Hū āmān) before carrying the whole gathering along into an improvised dance melody.The poem that is sung was composed by Malak Jān Nematī, Ostad Elahi’s younger sister, who was a poet of great sensitivity and an accomplished musician.1<blockquote>Qorbān zātet bām barq-e balāya Khosh va hāl kasī, khās mobtalāya Khot Haqq, zātet Haqq, maqāmet Haqqa Esmet azama, zātet motlaqaMay I be sacrificed for Your essence, which resembles mighty lightning Blessed are those who are struck by this lightning You are Haqq, Your essence is Haqq, Your rank is Haqq Your name is God’s name in majesty, Your essence is absolute.</blockquote><ol class="number"><li value=1>See Leili Anvar, Malak Jan Nemati (New York: Arpeggio Press, 2012).</li></ol>

Saharī Suite in the Farangī Tune

Following the previous piece, this melody is also played with a tuning in seconds.

Improvisation in the Khān Amīrī Suite

This suite of zekrs was recorded in the intimacy of Ostad’s home, with close family and friends spontaneously taking up the refrains of the melodies in unison. The first zekr dates back to a time before Hādj Nemat, Ostad Elahi’s father.1<blockquote>a) Dūs bejan bejan barza meli Jam-e rāsāna yār na deliO friend, play, play for the great man This is the gathering of the Righteous, the Beloved is among themb) Sāheb tūl-e zar Dāwed Zāmen-e āhū bar DāwedMaster with the golden stick, Dāwūd Protector of the fawn, Dāwūd</blockquote>The golden stick likely symbolizes the mission of spiritual guidance entrusted to Dāwūd, a manifestation of Raphael, the archangel of divine clemency.<blockquote>c) Jam neyān dūsān aw yāna Haqq shama mīrdān parwānaFriends have convened the gathering in this house God is the candle; men (companions) the butterflies</blockquote>This zekr was composed by Hādj Nemat shortly after his spiritual illumination around 1900.<ol class="number"><li value=1>See <a href="https://www.hadjnemat.com">www.hadjnemat.com</a></li></ol>

Suite of Zekrs

This piece unfolds as a kind of dialogue between two spiritual lovers, interpreted first in the Qatār mode.1 Qatār is an important Kurdish mode that includes elements from Persian music, rendered here in a profound, meditative, and essentially non-measured way. The tanbur is played like a setār, the strings plucked with the forefinger of the right hand rather than struck with all fingers, as is usually done. Despite these technical restrictions, Ostad manages to perform an extremely rich piece conveying calm, strength, and dignity. The melodic line depends on a delicate balance, and the fingers striking the sounding board give an impression of great determination.This passage is followed by improvisations in the Saharī mode (see track 4). The dialogue between the lovers continues; they respond to each other like two birds at the break of dawn, “perched” on two octaves at the top and bottom of the tanbur’s neck. They then fly away together, united in the consuming swirl of their love.The dance themes that conclude this piece are an invitation to allow oneself to be carried away by this impulse of pure love and to discover universes as varied as they are unexpected: in the midst of an exhilarating dance, Ostad suddenly changes the tuning of his instrument from fourths to seconds, casting the atmosphere in a new light.<ol class="number"><li value=1>See CD, Cascade, Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi, 2002; republished 2004.</li></ol>

Shān Jonbān

Details

Renditions of Shān Jonbān

More of Farangī on same Album