Esfahan – Chamber Music of Reza Vali
Various Artists
Navona Records NV6647 (navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6647)
At the University of Toronto’s recent New Music Festival, Reza Vali (b.Qazvin, Iran 1952), professor emeritus at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, was the Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition. This two-CD collection of his music is named for its longest work, the rhapsodic 15-minute Esfahân (Calligraphy No.17) for string quartet. Persian-infused modal melodies and rhythms celebrate the cultural riches and architectural splendour of everyone’s favourite Iranian city (mine, too; I visited there in 1996). The Carpe Diem String Quartet also performs Vali’s melismatic Châhârgâh (Calligraphy No.19) and the drone-filled Dashti (Calligraphy No.18), featuring vocalises by the musicians and contralto Daphne Alderson.
The shortest work, the four-minute Zand (Calligraphy No.2) for ney (end-blown flute) and string trio is sweet and soulful. I found the over-repetitive, minimalist figurations of Hajiani (Reality Music No.1) for karnâ (valveless trumpet) and electronics less pleasing. Four Persian Mystic Poems for mezzo-soprano, guitar, percussion, harp and piano are set to verses about “love,” “sorrow,” and “eternity” by Hafez, Rumi and Sepehri. They’re sung in Farsi by Kara Cornell, the instrumentalists occasionally adding their voices to the fervent, ecstatic music.
The five-movement Persian Suite No.2 for flute(s), piano and string quintet contains lighter fare, suggesting cinematic travelogue music, except for the fourth movement, a mournful solo for alto flute. Winds and percussion dominate Vali’s four-movement Sornâ (Folk Songs. Set No.17) for Persian wind instruments and ensemble, ending this intriguing collection with a richly exotic, colour-drenched sonic barrage.
