The Iranian composer and conductor Alireza Mashayekhi (b. 1940 and hopefully still alive after Israel’s unprovoked and therefore criminal bombing of Tehran last month) is a giant in Iranian art music. His music bridges Persian and Western classical music so seamlessly that you (or at least I) barely notice the “exotic” elements. Despite titles like “Persian Gardens”, there is almost never a hint of corny about his music. He was a serial composer early in his career and an early explorer of electronic music, and is generally labeled “avant-garde” despite most of his work being tonal or close.
There is very little info available via the internet on Mashayekhi. There is a Wikipedia page that has been flagged as needing help, a couple blurbs here and there, and there’s his discography page on the Mahoor label site.
Here’s what I do know about Mashayekhi – almost all of it culled from the issue-flagged Wikipedia page. (By the way, I give money to Wikipedia every year and you should think about it if you don’t…)
He was born in Tehran in 1940, attended music schools in Vienna and Utrecht, initially worked extensively in electronic music, and formed the Iranian Orchestra for New Music in 2005 (or 2003, which I read elsewhere), and probably had something to do with the Hermes label, which released that orchestra’s first disc in 2002. Presumably, he had a teaching career, and presumably that would have been in Tehran; at any rate, his Wikipedia page lists 15 books of music theory and history under his authorship. That’s about it. When – if – I find out more, I will update this page and remove this sentence.
Mashayekhi passes several key tests on the great composer checklist:
– he is able to write compelling serial music as a young man (like Schnittke and Part)*
– he incorporates folk elements into his music without it sounding cute or pandering
– his solo piano music is excellent
– he writes memorable tonal music when he wants to.
His electro-acoustic music, meanwhile, is on a par with Saariaho’s for general excellence (in my opinion, of course – I do not listen to a lot of strictly electronic music).
He’s also a prolific composer, with works in multiple genres (electronic, electroacoustic, chamber, solo piano, and orchestral – including at least nine symphonies), so his is an extensive discography. While I was able to accumulate a lot of his music through my usual back-alley sources (classical-music-online.net, Soulseek, Youtube), what I have represents but a fraction of his output. There are a couple discs on European labels, but the bulk of his output is on the Iranian Mahoor label (www.mahoor.com), which lists 28 albums on its website and offers samples of tracks. There are many discs I would buy, but we in the U.S. are not allowed to purchase items from Iranian companies.
Which is completely fucked up, but this is not the time or place for that. None of the 28 are listed on Discogs, though there are listings for releases on the Benelux Sub Rosa label, an old U.S. label called Retro(?) and the Iranian new music label Hermes. I got some of the Mahoor stuff from Soulseek.
This mixtape is the result of my OD’ing on Mashayekhi’s music the past few weeks. It spans most if not all genres of those he works in, from electronic pieces to music for brass quintet, and I feel reasonably confident in thinking this is a pretty solid representation of a remarkably talented composer who should be much better known in the West. Nearly everything is from the Mahoor label. The electronic piece “Iranian Aesthetic”, the first minute of which begins this mixtape, is used to link tracks throughout.
0:00:00
Iranian Aesthetic, for electronics
Alireza Mashayekhi
0:00:47
Avaz for cello and orchestra,
Iranian Orchestra for New Music
0:07:51
Persian Gardens, Op. 111; Episode 2
Farimah Ghavamsadri (p) w/ Volodomyr Sirenko: National SO of Ukraine
0:13:38
Kristall I, Op. 113
Elnaz Bekham
0:18:09
Stories for brass quintet, Op. 94; Phrygian 83
Wind Ensemble of the Ukrainian National SO
0:21:14
Meta – X, No. 5 for piano and flute/recorder orchestra
Mehrdad Taymoori: Flute Recorder Orchestra
0:32:59
Ost-West, Op. 45 (excerpt)
Alireza Mashayekhi
0:34:58
Pearly Gates
Ata Ebtekar: Iranian Orchestra for New Music
0:40:33
Short Stories, Op. 106
Farimah Ghavamsadri
0:44:05
Garden of the Lord, Op. 144
Iranian Orchestra for New Music
0:48:27
Concerto for Orchestra, Op. 2; II.
Volodomyr Sirenko: Natl. SO of Ukraine
0:55:19
Stories for brass quintet, Op. 94; “Trumpet Affair”
Wind Ensemble of the Ukrainian National SO
0:58:14
Persian Gardens, Op. 111, Episode 3
Farimah Ghavamsadri (p) w/ Volodomyr Sirenko: National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
1:06:04
This Loneliness for electronics and narrator, Op. 145
Iranian Orchestra for New Music
Concentration Camp 