Twitter | Instagram | Facebook Born in 1980 in Shiraz, Pejman Akbarzadeh is a documentary maker, journalist and pianist, based in The Netherlands. His reference book on the 20th-century composers and conductors of Persia (Iran), written when he was just 18, has been used as a source for academic publications including the Encyclopaedia Iranica. He has also performed Persian piano recitals in various European venues such as Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw.
In 2009 Pejman started a new phase of his career. Recognising the wider catchment of visual media over literature, that same year he completed his first documentary, the feature-length film Hayedeh: Legendary Persian Diva. The film was screened at festivals in both Europe and the United States and nominated for Best Documentary at the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Pejman began working as a journalist in 2000 – while still in Tehran – with media outlets including Yas-e Now, Shargh Newspaper and BBC Persian Service. Following a rise in state oppression of the press, he was invited to the Netherlands in 2006 to work with the Persian-language Radio Zamaneh as a senior producer for eight years. After that period he mainly contributes to BBC Persian Television/Radio and website from Europe, Middle East and Caucasus.
Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture (2018) is Pejman Akbarzadeh’s second documentary film, for which he traveled to Iraq twice, despite the lurking presence of ISIL nearby.
Funded by Soudavar Memorial and Toos Foundations, the film premiered at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) in February 2018 and subsequently screened at various international conferences, museums and universities including the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer|Sackler Gallery in Washington DC, Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yale University, the 8th Biennial Convention of the Association for the Study of the Persianate Societies in Tbilisi and the 12th Conference of the Iranian Studies Association at UC Irvine.
Currently Pejman Akbarzadeh working on a documentary film on the UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Derbent Fortifications‘ which is the largest defensive structure of Sasanian Persia in Caucasus. The site is now located in Russia’s Dagestan region.
National Museum of Antiquities (RMO: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) is one of the favorite museums in the Netherlands for those who are interested in the history and culture of the Near East (Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia…). The museum is based in the student city of Leiden.
In regard of ancient Persia, RMO holds a great collection of metalworks from Luristan province, jewelleries from Hamedan, potteries, arms, etc.
Rare Persian artifacts are on display at the Art and Exhibition Hall of Germany (Bundeskunsthalle) in an exhibition entitled “Iran: Ancient Cultures between Water and Desert”. The exhibition is organized in the city of Bonn with cooperation of Iran’s National Museum and Cultural Heritage Organization in Tehran.
An exceptional part of the current exhibition is showing the carved vessels which have been discovered around the city of Jiroft and Halil River in South East Persia. In 2001 police seized a large number of these objects looted from the Bronze Age necropolises in the Kerman province.
The archaeologists believe the finds shed new light on the Bronze Age in the region and the production of vessels made of chlorite, alabaster and other stones; but because the objects were looted, their original find context and the knowledge it might have yielded will forever remain lost to archaeological research.
Pejman Akbarzadeh (originally published in 2013, updated in 2018) An expanded version of this article is scheduled to be published in 2025 as a book chapter in The Cultural History of Late Pahlavi Iran.
In this article, the term “Persian choral music” refers to:
Choral arrangements of Persian (Iranian) folk or urban songs
Western-style choral works composed by Persian composers
Choral works by non-Persian composers inspired by Persian music or poetry
The Western concept of the “choir,” as an element of Western art music, was introduced to Persians primarily in the early 20th century, when the Tehran Conservatory formed a student choral group. This ensemble later collaborated with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra to perform European classical works and, occasionally, Persian compositions.
1940s : Rubik Gregorian Arrangements
In the early 1920s, Gholam-Reza Minbashian (1861-1935) arranged Persian anthems for SATB choir and performed them with the Conservatory Choir. These early efforts were later continued in a more systematic way by Rubik (Ruben) Gregorian (1915–1991), a Persian-Armenian violinist and composer who served as the director of both the Tehran Conservatory of Music and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra for a few years. Gregorian arranged folk songs from various provinces of Persia for choir. In addition to performing these works with the Tehran Conservatory Choir, he published the arrangements as a book in Tehran. In 1951, he moved to the United States and continued his work, primarily at the Boston Conservatory of Music.
While tempering the microtones, Gregorian aimed to remain faithful to the original atmosphere of the songs, without seeking to alter or develop any part. Since the publication of his arrangements, choral groups in Persia and abroad have performed them regularly.
Gregorian’s use of chromaticism complements the character of Persian folk songs. He was inspired by choral arrangements of Armenian folk music, and since Persian and Armenian musical traditions are related, this approach proved effective. However, some critics argued that Gregorian had “Armenized” Persian folk melodies rather than simply harmonizing them.
From a harmonization perspective, his arrangements feature minimal voice movement; each part typically sustains a single note at a time, creating a predominantly vertical texture. This stylistic choice clearly reflects the composer’s artistic intent and the specific effect he sought to achieve.
Tehran Choir & Farah Chore: Evlin Baghcheban Since the 1950s, opera singer Evelyn (Evlin) Baghcheban played a key role in advancing choral music in Persia/Iran. She served as the conductor of the Tehran Conservatory Choir for several years, and in early 1967, she founded the “Tehran Choir.” That same year, Evlin Baghcheban conducted choral performances with this group during the coronation ceremonies of Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi.
Tehran Choir, conducted by Evlin Baghcheban, Rudaki Hall, Tehran, ca. 1969.
The “Tehran Choir” was active for nearly four years. In 1973, Evlin Baghcheban founded the Farah Choir, supported by the Farah Pahlavi Charity Foundation. This choir recorded two albums in Austria in 1978 but was disbanded during the 1978–1979 Islamic Revolution in Persia/Iran. (See: First Ever Release of 1978 Farah Choir Recording)
Most members of the Farah Choir were students of the Farah Conservatory in Tehran. Here is a rare recording of the choir performing a choral arrangement of the folk song “Baboli Koreh,” arranged by Evlin Baghcheban’s husband, Samin.
Samin Baghcheban arranged several other Persian folk songs for the choir, including “To Bio,” which had previously been arranged by Gregorian. Baghcheban’s style differs significantly; he tends to treat folk melodies as themes to be developed further. His arrangements also incorporate techniques such as imitation and drone.
Stephen Ackert, an American musician who worked in Tehran during the 1970s, believes that Baghcheban was inspired by the Orthodox church music tradition, which he may have encountered through Armenian composers. Ackert notes that, compared to Gregorian’s arrangements, Baghcheban’s sound is more modern. He explains that Gregorian’s approach resembles what Western composers like Brahms did with folk music in the 19th century—using four-part SATB choir settings and a wide range of chromatic harmonies.
Here you may listen to Samin Baghtcheban’s arrangment of “To Bio”:
1972 : National Iranian Choir, Conductor: Alfred Mardoyan
In 1972, the National Iranian Choir (Kor-e Melli-e Iran) was founded under the direction of Alfred Mardoyan, who arranged both Persian folk and urban songs for the group. Below is Mardoyan’s choral arrangement of “Rudaki’s Lyre” (Chang-e Roudaki), originally composed by Rouhollah Khaleghi in the 1950s. The lyrics were written by Rudaki, a 9th-century Persian poet.
This work was originally performed by celebrated vocalists Marzieh and Banan at Radio Tehran (Listen to the original version). Choral version was performed in ca. 1976 in Tehran. The conductor is also Alfred Mardoyan.
1974; Hamavazan (National Iranian Radio and Television / NIRT Choir. Conductor: Golnoush Khaleghi
In 1974, Golnoush Khaleghi was invited by the National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT) to establish a choral school and ensemble in Tehran. She served as the conductor of Hamavazan until 1979. The group primarily performed Western classical repertoire, but in one concert, they performed a Persian composition accompanied by the NIRT Chamber Orchestra. The piece, composed and conducted by Ruben Gregorian at Golestan Palace in 1977, was based on Persian folk songs.
In the 1990s, Golnoush Khaleghi arranged and recorded three choral works by her father, Rouhollah Khaleghi: “Negah-e Ashegh” (lyrics by Fereydoun Moshiri), “Bahar-e Delneshin,” and the legendary anthem “Ey Iran.”
– Other Choral Works by Persian Composers:
“Niayesh-e Yazdan” / Praise (1963), with poems by Ferdowsi, by Heshmat Sandjari “Sarbaz” [Soldier] (1966), with poems by Ebrahim Safaei, for choir and orchestra, by Hossein Dehlavi “Chehreh-ye Gol” [Face of Flower] (1969), on poems by Jamshid Moayed, for Choir & Organ, by Mehran Rouhani “Three Pieces on Khayyam Rubaiyat” (ca. 1970) for a cappella choir, by Mostafa-Kamal Pourtorab “Matal” (1973) for Choir, Piano and Percussions, by Samin Baghcheban “Azadi” [Freedom] (1979), by Golnoush Khaleghi “Asrar-e Azal” [Mysteries of Eternity] (?), on poems by Khayyam, by Kambiz Roshanravan “Persian Folklore” (1984), for a cappella choir, by Reza Vali “We are One” (2011), on Poems by Sa’di, for a cappella choir, by Behzad Ranjbaran “O! Friend” [Ey Yaar] (?) for a cappella choir, by Ahmad Pejman “Awaiting Your Advent” (2016), by Amin Honarmand “We Passed” (2018) for a cappella choir (text: Saeb Tabrizi), by Mohammad-Reza Tafazzoli “Goli azdast beraft” (2018) for a cappella choir, by Daniel Sabzghabaei
– Persian Choral Pieces by non-Persian Composers:
– “Water of Kharabat“, on Poems by Hafez, for a cappella choir, by Liselotte Sels (Watch)
TAGS: Persische chor musik / Iranian choral music / Musique chorale perse / persane / iranienne / Perzische koor / iranische / coro persa / persisk / persiska
A unique collection of tens of Persian manuscripts is kept at the autonomous Republic of Dagestan.
Dagestan which is a Russian republic, until almost 200 years ago was part of Persia (Iran). Persian was popular amongst the educated layer of Dagestani society.
Afsharid era [1736–1796] is just one of the historical periods that Dagestan was part of the Persian territory. At the time the Persian emperor, Nader Shah sent a tiny Quran to Dagestan local ruler as a memento. Dagestanis believe their ruler sent a letter to Nader Shah and asked for a larger copy of the holy book considering its importance. The emperor, therefore, sent him this huge Quran. This work is just one of the many unique manuscripts kept at the library of Dagestan Scientific Centre.
“This library was established in 1963. Since then Dagestani orientalists study the manuscripts at private collections or mosque depos and have them digitized.” Patimat Alibekov says.
Narrator: When the Soviet Union was formed based on communism, one of the priorities was erasing religion from society: whether it was Islam or Christianity. According to the scholars at Dagestan Scientific Center, at the time keeping Persian and Arabic manuscripts was dangerous for the owners as the manuscripts showed ties with the Islamic world. Therefore most of the manuscripts were either sold or donated to the library.
Patmet: Post the collapse of Sovient Union, the situation changed. Nowadays owners keep manuscripts for blessing their home, memento of their forefathers or reading.
Pejman: Currently over 100 Persian manuscripts are kept at Dagestan‘s Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography which is affiliated with Russian Science Academy.
The institute’s oldest manuscript is “Akhlaq-e Nasseri” [Nasirean Ethics], dated 1235 AD; one of the most famous works of the Persian scholar, Khajeh Nassiredin Tusi. Its content mainly covers social and private ethics.
Another fascinating work is Mohammad ibn Mahmud Amoli’s “Nafaes-ol-fonun” , dated 1339 AD. It is one of the most known Persian scientific treatise that was used to train students.
Patment: It needs to be said that relations between Persia and Dagestan predates the Islamic era. Archaeological research and Sasanian-era inscriptions indicate the importance of Persian language in the region along with the impact of Persian culture on Dagestani culture.
Pejman: Past the emergence of Islam, Arabic dominated the region, however writing Persian manuscripts remained popular.
Patmet: Although Dagestani scholars were fluent in Arabic, they had more tendency toward Persian. They used Persian scientific books as refrences for compliting their studies. In addition, they issued scientific research and poetry in Persian. They even used to translate Persian literary and scientific works into their local languages.
Pejman: One of such works is a Persian-Arabic-Turkish dictionary. It was compiled in the late 18th-century by Dabir Ghazi Khunzakhi in Dagestan. In front of each Persian word, its Turkish translation and also a description in Arabic is mentioned. Occasionally a poem using that word is mentioned as well; mostly works of Hafez. Cataloging the manuscripts is currently in process at Dagestan Scientific Centre.
Patmet: We are going to publish a three-volume catalogue of the Persian manuscripts, lithographic books and royal orders. Inshallah!
Pejman: Some of the manuscripts were badly damaged prior to reaching the library, however Dagestan Scientific Centre is going to save what has survived through digitalizing them.
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