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SHARED MUSICAL TRADITIONS OF RUSSIA AND IRAN IN 'EAST OF MELANCHOLY'
National Public Radio
July 16, 2014 Wednesday
GUESTS: Tara Kamangar
SHOW: Tell Me More
JACKI LYDEN: This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden.
Michel Martin is away. Classical pianist and composer Tara Kamangar
grew up in central California's agricultural regions. Her father
had given up medicine in Iran and become a fig farmer in the United
States. You can hear the layers of her heritage for Persia's rich
history which she brings to the concert halls of Los Angeles and
New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MIKHAIL GLINKA SONG, "THE LARK")
JACKI LYDEN: in her new album "East Of Melancholy" she guides us along
the 1,200 mile border that Iran shares with Russia - a rich history in
the area of the Caspian Sea in the caucuses of mountains dating back
to at least 4,000 BC. In both countries, music has been a passion and
articulation of identities and also sporadically suppressed. You're
listening now to "The Lark" composed by the father of Russian classical
music, Mikhail Glinka.
(SOUNDBITE OF MIKHAIL GLINKA SONG, "THE LARK")
JACKI LYDEN: Tara Kamangar joins us now from our studios in New York
City. Tara, welcome to the program.
TARA KAMANGAR: Thank you, Jacki, for having me.
JACKI LYDEN: I have absolutely loved reading descriptions of these
works. I've been lucky enough to visit some of that territory and I'm
thinking of the poetry the migrations, the revolutions, both former
empires. "East Of Melancholy" - elaborate on that just a little bit.
TARA KAMANGAR: The title, "East Of Melancholy", I chose because it's
the translated title of a book of poems by an Iranian contemporary
poet Sohrab Sepehri. And I think it speaks to the fact that a lot
of the pieces on the album are inspired by poetry - both the Persian
and Russian ones.
JACKI LYDEN: Well, I also note in your work here that the Russian
composers were really influenced by folk music from the Caucasus
and there's a great quote by Glinka who lived between 1804 and 1857
he says love with us is always mixed with sorrow. There 's no doubt
that our melancholy, our plaintive song, which is the child of the
North, also has an oriental strain. Just listen to the Volga boatman's
mournful song - one almost feels the Tartar's domination. And that's
going back to the 19th century. So you're really drawing on strains
of this mixing.
TARA KAMANGAR: Yes, yeah I love that quote. There's a Russian proverb
that says scratch a Russian and you'll find a Tartar. Also with Glinka
it's interesting that he's known as the father of Russian classical
music and he was also moving around a lot. He had a cosmopolitan
upbringing and he was taught several languages as a child including
Persian. And he went on to write the first opera sung in Russian based
on Russian folk music and he inspired summary composers after him,
even like Tjeknavorian wrote the 1st opera sung in Farsi.
JACKI LYDEN: Let's listen to the "Fantastic Dances" clip. This is the
"Dance Of Elegy."
(SOUNBITE OF TJEKNAVORIAN SONG, "DANCE OF ELEGY")
JACKI LYDEN: Tell us what's going on here.
TARA KAMANGAR: This is a work by Tjeknavorian, he was born in Iran,
but of an Armenian family, and who's actually the conductor of the
Armenian Philharmonic for 10 years. And this particular sweep the
fantastic dances was written when he was only 20 years old. I got the
score directly from Tjeknavorian he's still really active in Iran he
just finished the sixth Opera. And he's doing such amazing work under
such restrictions. For example one of his operas it wasn't allowed to
be performed in Iran due to the women and men not being able to sing
together and they performed it as a puppet opera. And it's really -
I have a film of it and it's really mesmerizing.
JACKI LYDEN: Wow. So here's a composer Mr. Tjeknavorian working under
theses really difficult circumstances but he has at least managed to
accomplish many many pieces. What was the effect of the 1979 revolution
on the classical music in Iran?
TARA KAMANGAR: So all the pieces on this album were composed before
the 1979 revolution of course there's a lot being composed today but I
felt that a lot of these works were being sort of forgotten. The effect
of the revolution was that a lot of the best performers and teachers
left the country and so there were few performers remaining in Iran
to preserve and promote the works and also prior to 1979, there was
a lot of funding going into Western classical music. For instance,
they had the annual Shiraz Festival which was a music festival set in
the ruins of Persepolis with artists coming from all over the world
like for instance Houdie Menduin(ph), Shtaukousen(ph), John Cage, Ravi
Shankai(ph) etc. etc. And after 1979 that was discontinued. And also
even during the Iran-Iraq war there was really no music performance
allowed during this time. The atmosphere was really kind of perpetual
mourning. And actually selling pianos was even banned during that time.
JACKI LYDEN: Let's go to this track. I want to play little bit from
Spartacus.
(SOUNDBITE OF KHACHATURIAN SONG, "ADAGIO")
JACKI LYDEN: I had never heard of Aram Khachaturian and this ballet
that we're hearing, Spartacus. This is one where there's a love theme.
We are seeing the reunion of the hero and his wife and you write that
it's in the style of a classical Armenian lament. A lot of lamentation
going on in general. In these pieces.
TARA KAMANGAR: Yes, and I think you can hear - in Armenian music
you often have this descending chromatic line and you have that in
this work. And I just love the harmony changes. This is originally a
ballet and it was arranged for piano just a few years ago by a Brooklyn
-based pianist Matthew Cameron. And at first I discovered this from
a performance of his own YouTube before the score was actually printed.
And I just fell in love with it I couldn't stop - I wanted a repeat.
And actually learned from ear because the score wasn't available and
I couldn't get in touch with him.
JACKI LYDEN: I'd like to be just a little personal - tell us a little
about your own family. Your father left the practice of medicine in
Iran before the revolution. You have two brothers, one of them Saular
has quite a high profile in tech. How do they inspire you?
TARA KAMANGAR: We're a very close family so I'm really lucky to have
very supportive parents and many parents probably wouldn't like that
their child becomes a musician, they prefer more stable profession
but my parents are big music lovers. My mom studied the piano in Iran
and my dad studied the violin and all Persian instruments. And he
want to be actually a professional violinist and his father told him
that musicians aren't respected enough in Iran so if you want to be
a musician you should move West but if you stay here you should be a
doctor. So I think for my brothers and I, we actually all play piano
and violin and music is kind of what we all have in common as a family.
JACKI LYDEN: Has your brother Saular encouraged you to put these
pieces on YouTube?
TARA KAMANGAR: I kind of did that myself but I think he was happy
about it. He is a great pianist himself and we played duets together.
So he's always been supportive.
JACKI LYDEN: I just thought that as the former CEO of YouTube he
might have, I don't know, done a work around or something for you.
TARA KAMANGAR: That would be great I wish he could up my view counts.
JACKI LYDEN: Exactly. So when you perform these pieces now what kinds
of audiences are you searching for in terms of their own backgrounds
or age range of parts of the country?
TARA KAMANGAR: I really would love for this music to be heard I think
anyone who hears it will appreciate it and maybe be interested even
to learn more about Iran I know some of my American friends after
seeing Persian miniature paintings or reading Persian poetry they were
inspired to learn Farsi or learn more about the country and that's
always been the case for me for other cultures. And I'm hoping that
the inclusion of the Russian Romantic composers, so the more familiar
works, will encourage more people to pick up the album because I know
that I probably wouldn't pick up a novel of completely unknown works
but hopefully the Russian works will service as a good bridge to the
Iranian ones.
JACKI LYDEN: Absolutely and I can say that there's a love story behind
almost any one of these pieces and you've got a lot of those. This
is classical music with a back story.
TARA KAMANGAR: Yes I love that about it. I love knowing the story
behind the work.
JACKI LYDEN: Let's go out on "Etude." Do you want to tell us a little
bit about this piece?
TARA KAMANGAR: Sure, that's a composition of mind I couldn't album.
And I thought it fit into the album to the mood of the piece. Is
definitely melancholic and restless. So I think it works with the
flow of the album.
(SOUNDBITE OF KAMANGAR SONG, "ETUDE")
JACKI LYDEN: I've been speaking with classical pianist and composer
Tara Kamangar. Her new album is called "East Of Melancholy" and
she joined us from our New York bureau. Tara, thank you so much for
speaking with us it's an exquisite album.
TARA KAMANGAR: Thank you so much for having me.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
National Public Radio
July 16, 2014 Wednesday
GUESTS: Tara Kamangar
SHOW: Tell Me More
JACKI LYDEN: This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden.
Michel Martin is away. Classical pianist and composer Tara Kamangar
grew up in central California's agricultural regions. Her father
had given up medicine in Iran and become a fig farmer in the United
States. You can hear the layers of her heritage for Persia's rich
history which she brings to the concert halls of Los Angeles and
New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MIKHAIL GLINKA SONG, "THE LARK")
JACKI LYDEN: in her new album "East Of Melancholy" she guides us along
the 1,200 mile border that Iran shares with Russia - a rich history in
the area of the Caspian Sea in the caucuses of mountains dating back
to at least 4,000 BC. In both countries, music has been a passion and
articulation of identities and also sporadically suppressed. You're
listening now to "The Lark" composed by the father of Russian classical
music, Mikhail Glinka.
(SOUNDBITE OF MIKHAIL GLINKA SONG, "THE LARK")
JACKI LYDEN: Tara Kamangar joins us now from our studios in New York
City. Tara, welcome to the program.
TARA KAMANGAR: Thank you, Jacki, for having me.
JACKI LYDEN: I have absolutely loved reading descriptions of these
works. I've been lucky enough to visit some of that territory and I'm
thinking of the poetry the migrations, the revolutions, both former
empires. "East Of Melancholy" - elaborate on that just a little bit.
TARA KAMANGAR: The title, "East Of Melancholy", I chose because it's
the translated title of a book of poems by an Iranian contemporary
poet Sohrab Sepehri. And I think it speaks to the fact that a lot
of the pieces on the album are inspired by poetry - both the Persian
and Russian ones.
JACKI LYDEN: Well, I also note in your work here that the Russian
composers were really influenced by folk music from the Caucasus
and there's a great quote by Glinka who lived between 1804 and 1857
he says love with us is always mixed with sorrow. There 's no doubt
that our melancholy, our plaintive song, which is the child of the
North, also has an oriental strain. Just listen to the Volga boatman's
mournful song - one almost feels the Tartar's domination. And that's
going back to the 19th century. So you're really drawing on strains
of this mixing.
TARA KAMANGAR: Yes, yeah I love that quote. There's a Russian proverb
that says scratch a Russian and you'll find a Tartar. Also with Glinka
it's interesting that he's known as the father of Russian classical
music and he was also moving around a lot. He had a cosmopolitan
upbringing and he was taught several languages as a child including
Persian. And he went on to write the first opera sung in Russian based
on Russian folk music and he inspired summary composers after him,
even like Tjeknavorian wrote the 1st opera sung in Farsi.
JACKI LYDEN: Let's listen to the "Fantastic Dances" clip. This is the
"Dance Of Elegy."
(SOUNBITE OF TJEKNAVORIAN SONG, "DANCE OF ELEGY")
JACKI LYDEN: Tell us what's going on here.
TARA KAMANGAR: This is a work by Tjeknavorian, he was born in Iran,
but of an Armenian family, and who's actually the conductor of the
Armenian Philharmonic for 10 years. And this particular sweep the
fantastic dances was written when he was only 20 years old. I got the
score directly from Tjeknavorian he's still really active in Iran he
just finished the sixth Opera. And he's doing such amazing work under
such restrictions. For example one of his operas it wasn't allowed to
be performed in Iran due to the women and men not being able to sing
together and they performed it as a puppet opera. And it's really -
I have a film of it and it's really mesmerizing.
JACKI LYDEN: Wow. So here's a composer Mr. Tjeknavorian working under
theses really difficult circumstances but he has at least managed to
accomplish many many pieces. What was the effect of the 1979 revolution
on the classical music in Iran?
TARA KAMANGAR: So all the pieces on this album were composed before
the 1979 revolution of course there's a lot being composed today but I
felt that a lot of these works were being sort of forgotten. The effect
of the revolution was that a lot of the best performers and teachers
left the country and so there were few performers remaining in Iran
to preserve and promote the works and also prior to 1979, there was
a lot of funding going into Western classical music. For instance,
they had the annual Shiraz Festival which was a music festival set in
the ruins of Persepolis with artists coming from all over the world
like for instance Houdie Menduin(ph), Shtaukousen(ph), John Cage, Ravi
Shankai(ph) etc. etc. And after 1979 that was discontinued. And also
even during the Iran-Iraq war there was really no music performance
allowed during this time. The atmosphere was really kind of perpetual
mourning. And actually selling pianos was even banned during that time.
JACKI LYDEN: Let's go to this track. I want to play little bit from
Spartacus.
(SOUNDBITE OF KHACHATURIAN SONG, "ADAGIO")
JACKI LYDEN: I had never heard of Aram Khachaturian and this ballet
that we're hearing, Spartacus. This is one where there's a love theme.
We are seeing the reunion of the hero and his wife and you write that
it's in the style of a classical Armenian lament. A lot of lamentation
going on in general. In these pieces.
TARA KAMANGAR: Yes, and I think you can hear - in Armenian music
you often have this descending chromatic line and you have that in
this work. And I just love the harmony changes. This is originally a
ballet and it was arranged for piano just a few years ago by a Brooklyn
-based pianist Matthew Cameron. And at first I discovered this from
a performance of his own YouTube before the score was actually printed.
And I just fell in love with it I couldn't stop - I wanted a repeat.
And actually learned from ear because the score wasn't available and
I couldn't get in touch with him.
JACKI LYDEN: I'd like to be just a little personal - tell us a little
about your own family. Your father left the practice of medicine in
Iran before the revolution. You have two brothers, one of them Saular
has quite a high profile in tech. How do they inspire you?
TARA KAMANGAR: We're a very close family so I'm really lucky to have
very supportive parents and many parents probably wouldn't like that
their child becomes a musician, they prefer more stable profession
but my parents are big music lovers. My mom studied the piano in Iran
and my dad studied the violin and all Persian instruments. And he
want to be actually a professional violinist and his father told him
that musicians aren't respected enough in Iran so if you want to be
a musician you should move West but if you stay here you should be a
doctor. So I think for my brothers and I, we actually all play piano
and violin and music is kind of what we all have in common as a family.
JACKI LYDEN: Has your brother Saular encouraged you to put these
pieces on YouTube?
TARA KAMANGAR: I kind of did that myself but I think he was happy
about it. He is a great pianist himself and we played duets together.
So he's always been supportive.
JACKI LYDEN: I just thought that as the former CEO of YouTube he
might have, I don't know, done a work around or something for you.
TARA KAMANGAR: That would be great I wish he could up my view counts.
JACKI LYDEN: Exactly. So when you perform these pieces now what kinds
of audiences are you searching for in terms of their own backgrounds
or age range of parts of the country?
TARA KAMANGAR: I really would love for this music to be heard I think
anyone who hears it will appreciate it and maybe be interested even
to learn more about Iran I know some of my American friends after
seeing Persian miniature paintings or reading Persian poetry they were
inspired to learn Farsi or learn more about the country and that's
always been the case for me for other cultures. And I'm hoping that
the inclusion of the Russian Romantic composers, so the more familiar
works, will encourage more people to pick up the album because I know
that I probably wouldn't pick up a novel of completely unknown works
but hopefully the Russian works will service as a good bridge to the
Iranian ones.
JACKI LYDEN: Absolutely and I can say that there's a love story behind
almost any one of these pieces and you've got a lot of those. This
is classical music with a back story.
TARA KAMANGAR: Yes I love that about it. I love knowing the story
behind the work.
JACKI LYDEN: Let's go out on "Etude." Do you want to tell us a little
bit about this piece?
TARA KAMANGAR: Sure, that's a composition of mind I couldn't album.
And I thought it fit into the album to the mood of the piece. Is
definitely melancholic and restless. So I think it works with the
flow of the album.
(SOUNDBITE OF KAMANGAR SONG, "ETUDE")
JACKI LYDEN: I've been speaking with classical pianist and composer
Tara Kamangar. Her new album is called "East Of Melancholy" and
she joined us from our New York bureau. Tara, thank you so much for
speaking with us it's an exquisite album.
TARA KAMANGAR: Thank you so much for having me.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress