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Radio Radif Thursdays: Ali Akbar Khan Shahnazi’s Recordings
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Posted by
Farshad Tavakkoli
Report from the Twelfth Session – Thursday, February 15, 2024 (Bahman 26, 1402), Tehran, Payvar House
The twelfth session, the final meeting of the year 1402, focused on listening to and reviewing the recordings of Ali Akbar Khan Shahnazi. Besides his recordings from 1912, where Shahnazi performed at the age of 14, there are other gramophone recordings of him from three other periods: 1927, 1928, and 1929.
Shahnazi’s Playing Style
After the death of his father, Mirza Hosseingholi, Haj Ali Akbar Khan maintained his father’s teaching class. According to the gramophone records, which were made about a decade after Mirza Hosseingholi’s death, Shahnazi quickly developed his own personal style and unique approach to musical phrasing, technical execution, and artistic design. During this period, Iran was undergoing significant social transformations, including in its musical culture, and Shahnazi, like other artists such as Alinaghi Vaziri and Morteza Neydavood, established a music school. His desire to align with modern societal trends was reflected in both his works and playing style, blending his father’s teachings with his personal creativity.
Shahnazi’s compositions included prelude pieces (pishdaramads), rengs, chaharmezrabs, songs (tasnifs), and instrumental pieces known as “combinations,” which incorporated chromatic intervals and new techniques. An interesting note is that the melody of the tasnif Del-e man az eshgh-e to khoon shod in the shur mode, often attributed to its lyricist Mohammad Ali Amir-Jahad, is actually Shahnazi’s composition.
Recordings Overview
- 1927: Shahnazi recorded around 54 tracks. The vocalists accompanying him were Hossein Ali Nakisa (vocalist of the avaz pieces), Enayatollah Sheybani, and Majid Vafadar.
- 1928: He recorded 18 tracks, some with group performances and one with female vocalist Iran Khanom Sadeghi.
- 1929: Shahnazi recorded 24 pieces, including collaborations with singer Eghbal. These were his last gramophone recordings.
After the establishment of the radio in Iran in 1940 (1319), Shahnazi was invited to collaborate, though this did not last long. His later recordings mostly come from the 1950s and some private gatherings.
Selected Recordings Played in the Session
- Solo in Dashti, performed by Ali Akbar Shahnazi (1927)
- Solo in Abu’ata, performed by Ali Akbar Shahnazi (1927)
- Mahoor Tasnif “Sad Zakhm-e Zaban”, composed and performed by Ali Akbar Shahnazi on tar, vocals by Enayatollah Sheybani, violin by Ebrahim Mansouri, lyrics likely by Bahar (1927)
- Avaz Bayat Esfahan, tar by Ali Akbar Shahnazi, vocals by Hossein Ali Nakisa (1927)
- March for the Opening of Shahnazi’s School (1927)
- A piece from Shahnazi’s “Combinations” (1927)
- Abu’ata and Hejaz, tar by Ali Akbar Shahnazi, vocals by Iran Khanom Sadeghi, violin by Hossein Ostovar (1928)
- Mouyeh and Mokhalef Segah, tar by Ali Akbar Shahnazi, vocals by Eghbal (1929)
- Avaz Bayat Esfahan, tar by Ali Akbar Shahnazi, tonbak by Hossein Tehrani (mid-1960s)
- Dastgah Shur (Pishdaramad, Chaharmezrab, and Reng), tar by Ali Akbar Shahnazi, santur by Faramarz Payvar, tonbak by Hossein Tehrani (late 1960s)
