Artist
Njål Sparbo vocal (bass)
Amalie Kongssund vocal (soprano)
Marika Schutze vocal (mezzo soprano)
Dimitris Spouras conductor
Tora Røstvik flute
Gracia Ortega Navarro clarinet
Espen Nystog Aas bass clarinet
Jonathan Sandqvist bassoon
Mari Birgitte Bølgen Halvorsen violin 1
Kaja Pernille Østervold violin 2
Christopher Rossebø viola
Marek Bienkunski cello
Mirsaeed Hosseiny Panah – chromatic santoor, composer
CD info
Catalogue No: LOS 280-2
EAN: 7090025832802
LP info
Catalogue No: LOS 280-1 (180 gram LP)
EAN: 7090025835162
CD digisleeve in the link below:
Download Press Release (PDF)
Recorded September 21 & 22, 2022 by Martin Abrahamsen at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, Norway
Mixed and mastered by Martin Abrahamsen at Rainbow Studio
Produced by Mirsaeed Hosseiny Panah
Front cover photo by Kjersti Holst
Cover design by Max Franosch
Supported by FFLB, FFUK, Norsk Kulturfond, Creo vederlagsfond
Kjøp plater direkte fra Losen Records
Kr 200,- per CD inkl. porto
Kr 350,- per 180gram LP inkl. porto
Vipps til 99 00 61 90 og mail navn og adresse til odd@losenrecords.no
Confrontation between large nations and different ideologies characterizes the news
picture today. But under the headlines, a rapprochement between people across
national borders and cultural differences is happening. We don’t have to go further
than a street in central Oslo to note that fusions between foreign food traditions and
Norwegian taste have been a great enrichment for our everyday life.
With his background in Iranian traditional music, jazz and Western modernism,
Mirsaeed Hosseinypanah is a composer who searches for syntheses between Eastern
and Western cultural expressions. He has chosen texts by the great poet Ahmad
Shamlou. Shamlou himself represents such a synthesis in that he mixes Iranian
tradition with Western-inspired modernism. Hosseinypanah’s music eloquently
captures the complexity and often dark uncertainty that characterizes this secular
poet’s work. He weaves instrumental textural patterns with tonal material from
traditional scales around the beautiful, almost expressionistic song lines.
Hosseinypanah’s eminent santur playing slips in and out of the orchestral textures
and creates a distinctive atmosphere.
Mirsaeed Hosseinypanah shows with this CD release that he is a composer who has
dared to move on from his cultural background without abandoning it, doing so
with the clear intention of establishing a new and more comprehensive musical
identity. Important breakthroughs in music have often occurred in border lands. In
such a land, Mirsaeed is a strong voice and it will be exciting to follow his further
exploits in this terrain.
Lasse Thoresen
composer, professor
Ahmad Shamlou (1925-2000) is one of the most outstanding Iranian poets in the field of
contemporary Persian poetry. Before him, it was Nima Yooshij (1895-1960) who
transformed classical Iranian poetry into a modern style called «new poetry»/»she’r-e no».
Influenced by Nima, Ahmad Shamlou went further and created the distinguished style of
«white poetry»/»she’r-e sepid», which he introduced to the world. Each of his poems has a
unique form and structure that contrasts with all previous traditional styles that rely on their
rigid structures.
Inspired by Shamlou, I try to loosen the rigid structure of classical Iranian music and give it
some freedom. In this album, I simply observe and follow the form that each lyric suggests;
and then interpret it through musical expressions that bring out the hidden form of the
poem. Along the way, I use my interpretation of the knowledge and techniques I have taken
from Western classical music and jazz.
Here you can read two of his poems, to which I have composed music in this album. I should
mention that I have only made a literal translation of these poems. A real poetic translation
requires a different specialisation that goes far beyond my knowledge. For more information
about his books and also these poems you can visit this website: http://shamlou.org
October 2022
Mirsaeed Hosseiny Panah