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A defiant participant from the June 12 demonstration
This article was written by our friend “K” for greeklish.org.
On June 12 at around 5:00 PM, more than one thousand people assembled
in Tehran to demonstrate in support of equal rights for Iranian women. The police had
assembled at the location prior to the event and they attempted to
prevent participants from displaying placards, shouting slogans and
distributing brochures. Police ultimately suppressed the demonstration
by using tear gas, electrical batons and other types of physical force.
It’s
been a little while now since I became acquainted with the music of
Zoya Sabet. I don’t really know how long it’s been, but I do
remember what I was doing when I first discovered her music...At the
time I was searching for an alternate version of Shostakovich’s music
from the film "Zoya" (Some versions of op. 64 include a vocal
arrangement in the "Adagio" portion of this particular work). As
I searched and searched, the name "Zoya Sabet" kept popping up in my
search results. With the help of Google, I did a little reading on
Ms.Sabet and I learned that she is a very accomplished performer of
classical Persian music and that she has performed abroad for a number
of years, accumulating a very respectable body of work. I enjoy
corresponding with a few Iranian friends from time to time, but we
mostly discuss Iranian politics and I know little about Iran with
respect to its art or culture. With my curiousity piqued, I
listened to a few tracks by Zoya Sabet that were readily available over
the Internet and despite the fact that I do not understand Persian, I
found the music and vocals to be absolutely amazing. I enjoy a
fair amount of Greek and Indian music and while classical Persian has
some similarities to these styles, it is very compelling and hypnotic
in its own right. For those of us who grew up listening Led
Zeppelin, it is very interesting to experience some of the music that
served as a profound influence over some of Zeppelin's more intricate
works.
Over the course of a few months, I accumulated a small sampling of
songs by Ms. Sabet and I listened to them over and over again for quite
a while. I checked with some of the larger Internet sellers
like Amazon and Barnes & Noble to try and order some full-length
CDs, but I found that neither of them carry works by Ms. Sabet.
So last week I ordered Zoya Sabet’s "Mehregan Concert: The Harvest
Festival" on CD from an Iranian/Persian music specialty store. I
received the CD in the mail last night and I have listened to it 4 or 5
times already. I had already heard a few tracks on the album, but
it is an altogether different experience to hear the entire
presentation. Most of the writing on the CD is in Persian (I
think) but there are a few notes in English on the back:
Mehregan: The Harvest Festival
A tribute to knowledge through festival of friendship and music
This
album features a harvest of songs featuring the most memorable and
well-known Iranian Poets and composers of the past fifty years.
This retrospective honors those creators through the voice of Zoya
Sabet.
Perhaps I can persuade some of my Iranian friends to share a little
insight on the lyrics of these songs and the stories behind them.
But even if the lyrical content remains a mystery to me, I will still
enjoy the music immensely.
Khatereh
Parvaneh, c. 1974
Although Ms. Sabet's work is a bit difficult to come by,
a CD entitled "Iran - Classical Persian Music" is widely available in
the US
(it’s even listed on Amazon.com). I purchased this CD a few
months ago and I have been quite happy with it. A few of the
tracks feature vocals by a very famous Iranian vocalist named Khatereh
Parvaneh. Shortly after I found this CD, I found an article by Najmeh
Fakhraie in which she describes a 2001 performance by Khatereh
Parvaneh. The story describes Ms. Parvaneh's descent into virtual
obscurity following the rise of Political Islam in Iran. The
story also recounts one of the only performances by Khatereh Parvaneh
in recent years, noting that the performance was in relative seclusion
and the the audience was composed of women only, which is a requirement
under the law:
I've
seen showers that only women can use, salons that only women can go to
and I've even heard of a hospital for females alone when those crazy
goats in parliament were talking of starting one. But this one I had
not even dreamed of: a concert performed and attended only by females.
It sounded too bizarre to be real. "Do they ask the guys standing
outside to cover their ears?" I ask a friend.
[...]
The
staff there, who are always males wearing light green, have given way
to females for this exclusive performance. There is not a man in sight.
I feel like I've stepped on another planet and I know I don't like the
change.
Once
inside the main hall, things are even more different. A concert I had
planned to attend looks more like a fashion show. "This is sick," I
tell myself a million times. And I wonder what has brought these people
all the way here today. The chance to show off their wardrobe and
pretty hair? Boredom? The love of music?
But
when the singer comes on stage looking older and more wrinkled up than
her pictures, when she opens those lips to let out that heavenly voice
that has been bottled up for two decades, and I see the tears rolling
down the face of the old lady sitting beside me with that awful
tank top, I know that none of those reasons would be complete.
Khatereh
Parvaneh sounds as beautiful as she did when she first stepped on stage
more than 30 years ago. Bringing to life Parvaneh's memory better than
anyone on earth. I am not an eyewitness, but I have all of my
grandfather's tapes and records that clearly tell me that. [full
article]
It is unfortunate that more recent examples of Khatereh Parvaneh’s work
are not readily available outside Iran, but the "Classical Persian
Music" CD is a stirring example of Khatereh Parvaneh in her
heyday. As recently as last year, Ms. Parvaneh was still
performing, although the work of female artists is still under the
heavy constraints of government regulation. But it would seem
that Khatereh Parvaneh is not one to go along quietly. Parvaneh
publicly criticized restrictions on performances by women in 2005:
TEHRAN,
Jan. 26 (2005)--Popular Iranian singer Khatereh Parvaneh has criticized
the time constraints for women singers in Fajr International Music
Festival.
The
festival is making progress each year, but, women singers have always
faced limitations in timing the concerts at the event, she said.
She
told ILNA that women perform at the festival, but, the time of the
performance is too short for the singer to communicate with the
audience and understand what they expect from the artists.
She
said that only one day has been allocated for three women's musical
groups in the festival and this is not sufficient for the program.
"Both the singers and the audience are dissatisfied with the time
constraints at the festival," she complained.
[...]
She
appealed to the organizers of the festival to review their policies
towards women singers and deal with them as they do with the male
vocalists. [full article]
"Iran - Classical Persian Music" includes notes in English which
provide selected translations of lyrics as well as commentary on the
theory and performance of classical Persian music. As noted
above, the album features work by Khatereh Parvaneh as well as other
noted Iranian musicians and this compilation is an excellent starting
point for those who are interested in classical Persian music.
