TEHRAN – The unveiling ceremony for the release of previously unpublished albums by the late legendary vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian was held on Saturday at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

Titled “Bang-e Dohol” and “Sar Dar Gariban,” the albums are the remaining projects from Shajarian’s final concerts, released as part of the “Eternal Memento” project, Mehr reported. 

The albums consist of two previously unreleased works recorded during his last concert tours in various European cities in 2014.

Speaking at the ceremony, Homayoun Shajarian, the late singer’s son, said: “What mattered most to us was releasing a high-quality work and separating the singer’s voice from the live performance using up-to-date technology. Fortunately, this process was completed over the past eight months, and with the support of the private sector, the albums are now presented to audiences”.

He also noted that an exhibition of his father’s photographs and his innovative musical instruments will be held in the coming days. “Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the museum’s schedule, the exhibition will only be open for a limited number of days, but in my opinion, it includes valuable attractions that I am confident audiences will warmly welcome”.

“My father’s motivation for creating these instruments was to draw society’s attention to new sounds alongside the extraordinary sounds of our traditional Iranian instruments. With this mindset, he began designing innovative instruments and sought to convey this approach, infused with an Eastern spirit, to audiences in the form of a quartet of instruments. It was a space he worked very hard on,” he added.

Known as Iran’s king of song, who once called himself the “son of Iran”, Mohammadreza Shajarian was born in the religious city of Mashhad and began his vocal career from childhood with his father, who taught him Quran recitation. His recitations of the Holy Quran were aired by Mashhad Radio when he was only 12. At the same time, he was also pursuing a career in vocal music. 

His collaborations with Golha, a professional music program of Tehran Radio that had many top musicians, in 1972 opened a window of opportunity for Shajarian. He started a friendship with many elites of Persian traditional music who played a key role in the development of his virtuosity.

As he was completing his education with the top maestros such as Faramarz Payvar, Nurali Khan Borumand, and Abdollah Davami, he also pursued his Quran recitations professionally. In 1978, he finished first in Iran’s nationwide Quran competition. In summer 1979, he took second place in the recitation category of a Malaysian Quran contest.

The epic song “Sepideh” (“Dawn”), composed by Mohammadreza Lotfi with a poem by their close friend Hushang Ebtehaj, who is also known by his pseudonym “Sayeh”, became a smash hit that Shajarian performed with the Sheida ensemble at National University in Tehran in 1980. “In Memory of Aref” and “The Soul of the Beloved” were among the albums Sheida recorded with Shajarian.

In 1980, a recitation of an invocation, known as “Shajarian’s Rabbana”, that he improvised for his students was recorded at Iran’s national radio. The divine recitation, which is composed of four verses of the Holy Quran, opens with a prelude featuring verses of a mesmerizing Rumi poem promoting the fast during Ramadan. 

In 2017, the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization registered “Rabbana” on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

In the 1980s, he pursued a teaching career in music courses, one of the outcomes of which was that his son, Homayoun, is now a popular vocalist of the new generation.

He worked with many musicians and finally, in 2008, founded his own group Shahnaz named after his master and tar virtuoso Jalil Shahnaz. His daughter Mojgan and composer and tar virtuoso Majid Derakhshani were among the members of the ensemble, along with whom he embarked on a world tour in 2010, using his innovative instruments, including the sorahi, arghanun, and barbad.        

He was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best World Music 2004 and 2006, and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a UNESCO Golden Picasso Medal in 1999. He was also decorated with France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in June 2014.

SS/