PDN – The Persian Dutch Network in Amsterdam has, for the first time, published the score of In Memory of Forugh Farrokhzad, a piano solo work by Sheida Gharachedaghi. This publication is funded by the Persian Heritage Foundation (PHF) in California.
Sheida Gharachedaghi composed her solo piano piece In Memory of Forugh Farrokhzad in 1987. This four-movement work pays tribute to the iconic Persian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, with each movement drawing inspiration from one of her distinguished poems. The composition was premiered by the composer herself on 14 June 1987 at the Premiere Dance Theatre in Toronto, in a recital organized by the Mithra Cultural Organisation.
In Memory of Forugh Farrokhzad is imbued with a post-Romantic atmosphere. Although the composer does not explicitly employ elements of Persian music, traces of such elements— modified and presented in an abstract manner—can be heard in some passages. The piece features dark, tense harmonies, at times dissonant and occasionally taking on an expressionistic character. Gharachedaghi, however, makes no attempt to merge Romanticism with contemporary techniques, focusing instead on tone color and ambiguous harmonies.
Although the work has been performed on several occasions in Europe and Canada, no recording was available at the time of this volume’s publication.
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Sheida Gharachedaghi (b. 1941) studied at the Vienna Music Academy in Austria and began her professional career in Tehran. In 1971, she established the music department at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where she served as its director for five years. She also founded and led the Music Department at Farabi University and taught piano at the Tehran Conservatory for a decade. During this period, she composed around forty motion picture scores, notably for the film Downpour, directed by Bahram Beyzai.
From Tehran to Montreal: BBC Persian TV program about Sheida Gharachedaghi
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, she relocated first to Germany, and settled in Canada in the mid-1980s. There, she founded the Iranian-Canadian Philharmonic Society in Montreal and continued to perform actively in concerts.
In 1989, Gharachedaghi composed an opera based on the English translation of Ahmad Shamlu’s The Fairies, marking the first Persian opera with an English libretto. The translation was made by Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, former director of the Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland.
Gharachedaghi has also composed significant chamber works, including a String Quartet, Chahargah for clarinet and piano, and Dialogue for cello and piano—all inspired by Persian classical or folk music.
Music institutions and academic libraries are encouraged to add this volume to their collections. To purchase a copy, please contact info [at] persiandutch.com.
SEE ALSO: THE FAIRIES, an opera by Sheida Gharachedaghi
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