MUSIC

A collection of stunning Persian-tuned piano pieces cut from Iranian national radio broadcasts made for the Golha programmes between 1956 & 1965...

Morteza Mahjubi (1900-1965) was a Iranian pianist & composer who developed a unique tuning system for the piano which enabled the instrument to be played in all the different modes and dastgahs of traditional Persian art music. Known as Piano-ye Sonnati, this technique allowed Mahjubi to express the unique ornamental and monophonic nature of Persian classical music on this western instrument - mimicking the tar, setar & santur and extracting sounds from the piano which are still unprecedented to this day.

An active performer and composer from a young age, Mahjubi made his most notable mark as key contributor and soloist for the Golha (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry) radio programmes. These seminal broadcasts platformed an encyclopaedic wealth of traditional Persian classical music and poetry on Iranian national radio between 1956 until the revolution in 1979.

Presented here is a collection of Morteza Mahjubi's stunningly virtuosic improvised pieces broadcast on Golha between the programme's inception until Mahjubi's death in 1965 - mostly solo, though at times peppered with tombak, violin & some segments of poetry.

The vast collection of Golha radio programmes was put together thanks to the incredible work of Jane Lewisohn & the Golha Project as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives programme, comprising 1,578 radio programs consisting of approximately 847 hours of broadcasts. 

Meditations super strong recommendation board! The jacket artwork is a 2017 piano solo work by French pianist / composer Melaine Dalibert from elsewhere, a new label launched by Yuko Zama, who is also involved in the management of David Sylvian (!) Erstwhile Records and Gravity Wave. Imposing release! This work is inspired by the work of French media artist Vera Molnar from Hungary, and is inspired by the transition of natural phenomena. Dalibert developed an algorithmic procedure for the composition of this piece. A meditative, layered piece of resonant music by Morton Feldman's mode. A delicate touch that makes you feel ephemeral and powerful, it is finished as a pretty and beautiful piano solo masterpiece that blends well with the clear air of this season. This pure sound just sinks ... Taku Unami is in charge of mastering! Limited to 500 sheets. For those who like Gigi Masin and Satsuki Shibano! It is one of the big, big, big, big, big recommended for all music lovers!