Leila Khaanom,
Score and Parts

The collection of “Birjandi” songs consists of seven pieces performed at Rudaki Hall between 1972 and 1977 by “Sima Bina,” accompanied by the National Instruments Ensemble, and arranged by Faramarz Payvar. In a brochure in Faramarz Payvar’s archives, one of these performances is titled “National and Folk Music of Iran: Village vs. City.” Compared to Payvar’s other works, these songs often have mixed or asymmetrical rhythms (quintuple with fractions 1, 2/1, 2, 3 or septuple with fractions of 1, 2, 3/1, 2, 3, 4). Iranian musicians probably became familiar with these rhythmic combinations after the stage performance and official recording of these few songs in 1972.

Excerpt from the Song “Leila Khanom”

Negarina qade charshune dari, Leila Khanom, kenare khune-ye ma khune dari, Leila Khaanom
Hamun khune ke ro bar qeble bashe, Leila Khaanom, khodet mast o mu re divune dari, Leila Khaanom
Leila vafaye to* gardom, naz ghamze-haye to gardom, cheshmaye siyaye to gardom, rah miri nazok nazok jan, qad o balaye to gardom vay, Leila Leila Leila

• to ra

Leila Khaanom, Score and Parts Book

The book “Leila Khanom,” annotated by Ali Samadpour and Nazanin Ghanizadeh, is published in 61 pages, in large folio size, printed on high-quality paper. The Payvar Foundation released the first edition in the summer of 2023 in 550 copies. The advantage of purchasing this book from the Payvar Foundation website is that a PDF download link to the parts is attached to your invoice. Hence, you can print the parts multiple times and use them to play in an Iranian instrument orchestra or to practice in a group with Iranian instruments.

Group Performance Scores and Parts at Payvar Ensemble

This series of books from the “Payvar Foundation” is practical for many musicians, students, and Iranian instrument players. One of the challenges faced by Iranian music is the lack and weakness of group performance resources. Throughout his artistic career, Faramarz Payvar composed and arranged for his Iranian Instruments Ensemble for over thirty years. He wrote invaluable pieces for the Iranian ensemble that would be great for analysis, group practice, understanding the history of group performance in Iran, and many other ideas and activities. Having access to his manuscripts, the Payvar Foundation has paved the way for correction, comparison, and publication. It is crucial to note that Faramarz Payvar recorded these works not as scores but as separate parts. The Payvar Foundation, while preserving the original characteristics of his registration in the books, has also published these works as scores, which is very useful for composers and leaders of Iranian ensembles. Each book initially includes necessary explanations for notation and comparison of versions, followed by the score of the work, and then the separate parts for each instrument, usually including parts for ney, kamancheh, gheychak alto, santour, tar, robab, and oud.