COMPOSERS: Ostad Elahi
LABELS: Le Chant du Monde
ALBUM TITLE: Celestial Dances
WORKS: Celestial Dances: The Art of Oriental Tanbur Lute
PERFORMER: Ostad Elahi (lute tanbur)
CATALOGUE NO: 774 1327
This is like uncorking an ancient perfume. Ostad (‘Master’) Elahi lived from 1895 to 1974, and played in a style unique to that part of Sufi Western Iran where music was seen as the hotline to God. He performed for family and friends on the now-rare tanbur lute, and his playing is austere: a drone string underpins the simple melodies above, with the fifth rather than the octave being the basic interval. But there’s nothing simple about the harmonies: playing simultaneously in three registers, he superimposes layers of overlapping melodies, while the harmonic base shifts constantly. The earliest of these pieces dates from the early 1950s; you can still hear music like this in neighbouring Tajikistan, but it’s a dying form, so catch it here while you can. Michael Church
Ostad Elahi
This is like uncorking an ancient perfume. Ostad (‘Master’) Elahi lived from 1895 to 1974, and played in a style unique to that part of Sufi Western Iran where music was seen as the hotline to God. He performed for family and friends on the now-rare tanbur lute, and his playing is austere: a drone string underpins the simple melodies above, with the fifth rather than the octave being the basic interval. But there’s nothing simple about the harmonies: playing simultaneously in three registers, he superimposes layers of overlapping melodies, while the harmonic base shifts constantly.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:57 pm