The Rise of a Musical Giant in Iran

By Reza Baraheni

Iran Melal Orchestra (Iranian Orchestra of Nations), an exquisite combination of musical pieces performed in a blend of more than two-dozen musical instruments of both Iranian and Western origins, made its first historical appearance in Tehran’s Vahdat Hall, October 2-3 of this year. The orchestra’s performance was by a colourful parade of men, women and children of different nationalities and ages, thoroughly dedicated to the cause of musical experimentation and innovation in Iran on a universal scale.

 Led by Payman Soltani, the young dynamic maestro and composer, the orchestra kept the audience in the packed hall nailed to their seats, with everybody holding their breath, only to burst into an unprecedented applause after each piece came to an end. To imagine that a piece by Mozart or Bartok could be played in instruments completely alien to Western musical roots, and to equally imagine that such a capacity lay dormant both in the pieces of these great composers, as well as the Middle Eastern instruments, required the shrewd and sharp imaginations that only Payman Soltani as maestro, Siyavash Beyzaie as composer, Bahman Rajabi, as Tonbak player, Kayvan Saket as tar-player, and Salar Aghili as singer, could muster and bring to fruition.  

Add to this rich plethora, the performance of the oldest Iranian national anthem, played first in Paris when the old Mozaffareddin Shah (who signed the first Iranian democratic constitution into law more than a hundred years ago), first stepped on the French soil. And equally add to this the beautiful hundred-year old politico-lyrical ode, “Morghe Sahar” (Morning Bird), the ode to freedom, sung beautifully by Salar Aghili, and the newly composed song which was said to have all the capacities to replace the old national anthem of Iran.

 The burning yearning of Payman Soltani for the music of the Other, for hybridity, and for the strange; his persistent championship of a combination of cadences from such diverse peoples as the Ghasghaies of Turkish origin in central Iran with those from Armenian roots, and his search for various harmonies among discordant elements, gave disharmony in music a new meaning, a fresh application. It was these and other qualities that made the vision of such a music possible.

 The structure of the orchestra was completely unique and unprecedented both by Iranian and Western standards. There were seventy players and a chorus, with most of them coming from the ranks of distinguished music students of Iran, the oldest of them being 37, with the average age of the members of the orchestra being 23. Among the composers one could see Italian, Rumanian, Hungarian, German, Armenian, Norwegian, as well as Greek and Iranian names. Bartok, Vivaldi, Brahms, Mozart and many others were there, and the aim was, according to the “Statement of the Iranian Orchestra of Nations,” the combining of the introvert, mystical Iranian (or rather, Middle Eastern) music, with the extrovert Western music of the post-renaissance period, particularly that of the 18th and 19th century. One other element in the orchestra was the mixing of male and female players and singers, which was a very great step to avoid male supremacy, endemic in traditional Iranian music.

 Traditional orchestras of Iranian music frequently visit Western capitals of the world, drawing a mixture of Iranians, as well as foreigners, to large and glamorous halls. With the rise of the star of the new Iranian Orchestra of Nations, the world is ready for a change. So is the Iranian music. A new spirit was needed. The historical upheavals of the last thirty years had to give birth to this new spirit. This is the spirit of a generation of people who were either only a few years old when the Iranian revolution took place, or were born around the birth of the revolution itself. The spirit required a complete dismantling of the old and its substitution with fresh musical thinking.

 We should welcome Payman Soltani. We should welcome this new spirit of music.