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Fanfare

This release (entitled In Absentia) is devoted to string chamber music of two contemporary
Iranian composers of different generations: Fozie Majd (b. 1938), and Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour (b.1974). Irish violinist Darragh Morgan (best known for his membership in the Fidelio Trio and his duo performances with pianist Mary Dullea) is the common performer in all works. He is joined by three other colleagues to form an (unnamed) string quartet. Majd was educated at the University of Edinburgh, followed by studies in France with Nadia Boulanger. Tafreshipour was educated at the Esbjerg Academy of Music in Denmark and Brunei University in London (where he studied with Christopher Fox). Both composers have had active careers, with many performances of their work in both Iran and abroad. During the 1970s, Majd took a hiatus from composing to direct an enormous research and recording project devoted to the traditional music of remote villages in the Iranian provinces. She did not begin composing again until 1988.

Most of the disc’s music is Majd’s, in the form of two substantial works (c. 20 minutes each): a string quartet (Dreamland; 1997, rev. 2008) and a violin and cello duo (Faraghi; 2017). Both pieces are in two movements and inspired by elements of traditional Iranian music. The musical lan¬guage is very clean in texture and expressive in affect, including the use of microtones in the manner of traditional music. The duo takes its title from a kind of Iranian song that deals with separation from a loved one. Tafreshipour’s two works are significantly shorter. The very compelling Broken Times (2013) for string quartet is dedicated to Majd and is circular in form; the composer sees it as a progression from light to dark. Pendar (2017) for solo violin is part of a project to write a solo piece for every instrument in a classical orchestra.

I imagine neither composer will be especially familiar to most readers/listeners, and this disc provides an intriguing introduction to their work (if a perhaps somewhat “monochromatic” one, given that all the pieces are for strings). I would certainly be interested to hear more from both composers. There is a very good 2018 CD of orchestral music by Tafreshipour available on Naxos. Unsurprisingly, Morgan and his colleagues perform with excellent conviction and character.