Thursday 30 June 2011

Hatem Askari Farahani - Radif Avazi Be Revayet-e Hatem Askari Farahani - Set of 4 cassettes - Iran


Hatem Askari Farahani  (Vocal)
Dr. Dariush Safvat (Setar)
Vocal Radif

"Two important lineages of vocal radif-ha exist.  The most influential and widely disseminated is that of Abdollah Davami (1891-1980), particularly as it was transmitted through his pupil Mahmud Karimi (1927-1984).  This radif is characterized by its cogency and (particularly Karimi’s) self-similarity: its dense transposition and recycling of  motives, tahrirs, and entire phrases.  The second line of vocal radif transmission is relatively little known.  The repertoire preserved by Hatam Askari Farahani (b. 1933) extends back through his teacher Seyyed Zia Rasa’i (a.k.a. Zakeri) to Seyyed Abdol Rahim, an influential and somewhat legendary master active at the turn of the 20th century.  Askari deliberately restricted his transmission of this very large repertoire to preserve its integrity from the abuses that can be associated with published radif-ha.  Askari finally recorded this radif but it remains unpublished as yet.  It is characterized by its large size due to the greater number of gusheh-ha, their lengthier duration, and the inclusion of rhythmic types that are normally only associated with instrumental radif-ha.  Askari’s nephew Farhad Farhani believed that the transmission of this radif included anecdotes describing the circumstances regarding the creation of particular melodies—a quasi-epic account of Persian music history (personal communication, 1998)."
From "Persian Vocal Music: Avaz" by Rob Simms

A short version consisting of parts of this vocal Radif was eventually published in Iran on 4 cassettes. This is the one we post here. There exist also complete recordings of Dastgah-e Mahoor on 6 cassettes or CDs and Dastgah-e Nava also on 6 cassettes or CDs. These were only distributed privately amongst students of Hatem Askari and are extremely difficult to get.

Volume 1:



Side 1:
Mahur (27:58)


Side 2:
Bayat-e Tork & Afshari (30:24)



Volume 2:


Side 1:
Shur (27:55)


Side 2:
Shur continued, Abu 'Ata, Dashti (29:22)



Volume 3:


Side 1:
Chahargah (29:46)


Side 2:
Nava (28:15)



Volume 4:


Side 1:
Homayun (28:24)


Side 2:
Bayat-e Esfahan, Segah (29:24)




Addition on 15th of march 2017:
Recently Mahoor in Teheran published several CDs and sets of CDs by the artist. These can be obtained from info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com.

Hâtam Asgari Farâhâni (Vocal) & Dâryoush Safvat (Setar) - Vocal Radif - Dastgah Nava, Set of 2 CDs, CD 1: Pishdaramad & Daramad (Instrumental) (1:42), Daramad-e Avval (6:22), Kereshme-ye Avval (2:07), Gardaniye (2:07), Naghme-ye Gardaniye (1:59), Jamedaran (2:58), Chaharbagh (4:33), Gushe-ye Khorasani (6:17),Raje, Part 2 (2:25), Hazin & Forud (1:16), Oshaq (3:16), Gushe-ye Sheydayi (3:12), Oshaq, Part 2 (2:47), Owj-e Oshagh (2:52), Zarbi-ye Oshagh (4:30), Araq, Part 2 (3:50), Hasti-o Nisti (2:50), Mohayyer (1:47), Ashur (2:55), Esfahanak (2:19), Gushe-ye Afsus (1:59), Neyshaburak (2:59), Naghme-ye Neyshaburak (3:11), Majosli (3:09),
CD 2: Naghmesara or Naghme-ye Nobaharan (in Nahoft mode) (3:54), Gerye-o Khande (Zarbi-ye Majosli) (2:46), Gavesht (2:48), Samarqandi (4:52), Gushe-ye Vesal (Zarbi-ye Gavesht) (2:51), Ashiran (2:29), Naghme-ye Ashiran (1:22), Ashiran interpreted by Aqa Zia (3:31), Naghme-ye Ashiran (2:00), Zarbi-ye Ashiran (2:35), Khojaste (2:34), Bahariye (3:11), Gushe-ye Tanhayi (in Hoseyni mode) (2:45), Busalik (4:07), Rahavi (1:37), Naghme-ye Rahavi (3:55), Masnavi-ye Rahavi (2:46), Gushe-ye Bikhabari (5:55), Masihi (2:47), Masnavi-ye Rohhab Masihi (5:08), Takht-e Taqdis (2:43), Naqus (4:17), MAHOOR, M.CD-399
Recorded in 1992. Total time: CD 1: 73:24, CD 2: 70:56.

Hâtam Asgari Farâhâni (Vocal) & Bahman Kâzemi (Setar) - Dastgah-e Shur - Vocal Radif: Pishahang-e Shur (7:28), Hoseyni (4:45), Kereshme-ye Hoseyni (2:15), Daramad-e Aram (4:54), Daramad-e Khara (1:59), Naghme-ye Khara (3:19), Chahar Naghme (5:19), Khosravani (4:23), Arezu (7:54), Rohab (2:38), Naghme-ye Rohab (3:00), Kereshme-ye Rohab (2:12), Vazn-e Sargashte (3:40), Zarbi-ye Akhar (3:02), MAHOOR, M.CD-400
Recorded in 2013. Total time: 56:54. Excellent CD by the outstanding master.

Hâtam Asgari Farâhâni (Vocal) & Bahman Kâzemi (Setar) – Dastgah-e Chahargah – Vocal Radif Interpreted & Performed by Hâtam Asgari Farâhâni, set of 3 CDs: CD 1: Dastgah-e Chahargah (67:07), CD 2: Dastgah-e Chahargah (71:54), CD 3: Dastgah-e Chahargah (68:02), MAHOOR, M.CD-420
Here another outstanding recording of exquisite beauty by the great Radif master Hâtam Asgari Farâhâni (born 1933). This time an "encyclopedic" Dastgah Chahargah of almost 3 and a half hours. With excellent Setar accompaniment. Very beautiful, very subtle, very refined music. Wonderful.
Hâtam Asgari Farahani is one of the most outstanding singers of the second half of the 20th century, with a very rare repertoire which goes far beyond any other known repertoires. His Radif is much vaster than the known Radifs. Here we have one more recording by the artist on CD, the third one in the edition of his Radif (see below for the former CDs). Before there existed only some cassettes which only circulated amongst his students and were extremely difficult to get.

Hâtam Asgari (Vocal) & Bahman Kazemi (Setar) - Masnavi in Persian Dastgâhi Music, Set of 2 CDs, CD 1: Dastgah-e Shur (10:28), Avaz-e Abu'ata (9:56), Avaz-e Dashti (10:25), Avaz-e Kord-e Bayat (9:24), Avaz-e Bayat-e Tork (11:39), Avaz-e Afshari (12:11), Dastgah-e Nava (9:49), CD 2: Dastgah-e Mahur (10:56), Avaz-e Bayat-e Esfahan (7:33), Dastgah-e Segah (9:05), Dastgah-e Homayun (12:13), Avaz-e Shushtari (10:51), Dastgah-e Chahargah (11:32), Rast (7:55), MAHOOR, M.CD-393
New studio recordings.

14 comments:

bolingo69 said...

Such a fantastic post Tawfiq!
Thank you very much!

arvind said...

What a wonderful gift!

Thank you very much, Tawfiq!

Anonymous said...

For hours? We’re no experts, but this is nothing short of wonderful! Many thanks!

Anonymous said...

”Four” hors.

AmbroseBierce said...

That's really fantastic. Thank you so much!

Andrew said...

A rather belated comment but just to re-iterate, this is an amazing, beautiful gift you have given here, Tawfiq. Thank you very much indeed.

João said...

i understang nothing of what is written in the covers. i understand nothing of what is sung. the musical structure and style is completely foreign to me. and, yet, this music moves me in a way i can't describe.

i thank you again and again for sharing this, and all the other great music.

youngdoug said...

Thank you for this. His voice...! The Emotions...!

Anonymous said...

this one has always been a favorite of mine. i found it, though in much lower fidelity, on one of the blogfa sites... I wonder if you could help a scholar who is especially looking for instrumental-only versions of Dastgahe Nava? i don't want to be greedy, asking for anything specific, like i'm not 101% appreciative of all the great music here... Many titles of which, I wouldn't have even known about w/o your introduction - THANK YOU
=)

Tawfiq said...

You can contact:
info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com
They carry the hugest collection of traditional music from Iran on CD and have a number of complete instrumental Radifs by old and by contemporary masters on Tar, Setar, Ney, Santur etc.
They also have many single CDs with Dastgah Nava.

Anonymous said...

nice one, thank you!

Likedeeler said...

This is pretty much blowing me away right now.

Anonymous said...

I had news about the complete Avazs recorded by Karimi and published in Teheren in 1997: possible to upload? Thnks very much!

Tawfiq said...

It is available on a set of 5 CDs on the Iranian label Mahoor. Can be ordered outside of Iran from: info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com
Recordings which are available on CD I normally don't post on my blog.