2021 marks the 100th year since the appearance of the first Persian (Iranian) composition written for the cello. This piece, entitled “Tchahargah”, was written in 1921 by Souren Arakelian, a professor at the Tehran Conservatory of Music. To commemorate this anniversary, the Persian Dutch Network has published an anthology which includes cello works by four generations of Persian composers between the years 1921 to 2021.
Compiled by Pejman Akbarzadeh, these compositions have mostly been collected and restored from the private archives in Tehran, Paris, and Montreal. “A delay in working on this anthology could mean losing the first Persian cello pieces”, Akbarzadeh told BBC. “Early manuscripts were in poor condition and had to be preserved for posterity.” he added.
It is hoped that by publishing the anthology, public awareness will be raised on Persian cello music, a genre that has been ignored until now in the world of music. Another goal is to encourage the cellists around the world to perform these neglected but amazing pieces.
“A Century of Cello Music from Persia: 1921-2021” includes the following pieces:
1. Tchargah (1921) Souren Arakelian
2. Poem in Shur (1953) Hossein Nassehi
3. Sonate (1965) Alireza Mashayekhi
4. Dialogue (1975) Sheida Gharachedaghi
5. Persian Song (1984) Iradj Sahbai
6. Oriental (1992) Mehran Rouhani
7. Elegy (1998) Behzad Ranjbaran
8. Sonata for Cello and Piano (2003) M. Reza Tafazzoli
9. Sonata for cello and Piano (2012) Rebecca Ashooghian
10. Persian Folk Songs (2017) Reza Vali
11. A capella (2017) Alireza Farhang
12. Rapture (2017) Kaveh Mirhosseini
13. Avaz-e Jaan (2019) Shahab Paranj
14. Persian Suite (2021) Kazem Davoudian
The libraries and academic institutions are welcome to add this anthology to their collection. For more information please contact: info [at] persiandutch.com