From Napoleon with Love
200th Anniversary of Piano in Persian Music
The first piano known to have arrived in Persia was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to Fatḥ ʿAli Shah (q.v. Ḵāleqi, pp.157-8). This was a small 5-octave instrument and must have been hopelessly out of tune by its arrival in Tehran; it is unlikely that it was ever put to any use. In the second half of the nineteenth century, subsequent to Nāṣer-al-Din Shah's visits to Europe, pianos were imported with increasing frequency and gradually found a place in the homes of a few of the courtiers who had also been to Europe. At the same time, the establishment of a music school, within Dār al-Fonun, with French instructors, for training of military band musicians, gave an impetus to emerging interest in western music. Accordingly, the piano began to find some use, beyond an ornamental piece of furniture in the homes of the nobility. But lack of familiarity with piano music and musical notation, in addition to the absence of qualified teachers, made the integration of this instrument into the musical life of the country quite problematic. Yet, the grandeur of the piano, both in appearance and sound, was compelling enough for some Persian musicians, with means to acquire the instrument, to try their hands at it.
The first native musician who developed a piano style for Persian music was Moḥammad Ṣādeq Khan, a well-known santur player of Nāṣer-al-Din Shah's court (Sepantā, p. 77-78). Other notable piano players in traditional Persian music included: Mošir Homāyun Šahrdār (1885-1970), Mortezā Maḥjubi (1901-65), and Javād Maʾrufi (1915-93). .....
Excerpts from the Encyclopedia Iranica
Article by: Hormoz Farhat
Originally Published: July 20, 2004
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