Persian piano music

Persian piano music (Persian: موسیقی ایرانی برای پیانو) refers to piano pieces which have been composed based on Persian music. It can be also refer to pieces by Persian (Iranian) composers for the piano.

The first Persian piano piece was composed by the French musician Alfred Jean Baptiste Lemaire, who had a key role in teaching Western music in 19th century Persia.

Persian composers have composed piano pieces in different styles. Some, such as Morteza Mahjoubi, have been faithful to classical Persian music, and some, such as Fouzieh Majd and Hormoz Farhat, simply use the general atmosphere of Persian folk songs in their works.

Some ethnomusicologists have discouraged performing Persian music on the piano because of basic differences between Western and Persian music.

History

The first piano was imported to Persia (Iran) in 1806. It was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to the Persian emperor Fath-Ali Shah. There were very few similarities between the mechanism of the piano and the santur (a Persian musical instrument) and at the time there were no pianists in the country. Nevertheless, Sorourol Molk (a court musician) tried to play some melodies on the piano.

References

* Safai, Ebrahim. "History of Tehran Conservatory of Music", Ministry of Culture and Art Publications, Tehran, 1977.
* Sepanta Sassan. "An Outlook to Persian Music", Mashal Publications, Tehran, 1990.
* Akbarzadeh, Pejman. "Persian Musicians", Vol.3, Roshanak Publications/Iran Heritage Society, Tehran/Los Angeles 2008.

External Links

* [http://www.payvand.com/news/04/oct/1103.html Persian Piano Music in US]
* [http://www.payvand.com/news/08/jan/1200.html First Persian Piano Recital in Amsterdam]
* [http://www.payvand.com/news/08/jun/1020.html Behzad Ranjbaran's Piano Concerto to be performed by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra]