Raaz-o Niyaaz
Score and Parts Book

“Raaz-o Niyaaz” is a piece for an ensemble of Iranian instruments, composed by Faramarz Payvar in the 1970s and released as part of an audio album titled “Melodies in Shur and Mahour” by the “Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults.” The score and parts book of “Raaz-o Niyaaz” mentions arrangements in Shur Do and Shur Sol. It appears a larger orchestra has also performed the piece. Handwritten notes for the qanun and second oud are present in the manuscripts.

Raaz-o Niyaaz: Score and Parts Book

The book Raaz-o Niyaaz, along with a booklet featuring images of the manuscripts and annotations by “Vahid Tehrani Azad” consists of 78 pages and is in a large folio size. The paper material is bulky and fully colored. Payvar Foundation published the first edition in 550 copies in the winter of 2019. The advantage of purchasing this book from the Payvar Foundation website is that a PDF download link of 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, santoor, tar, robab, and oud.