The reference for traditional and authentic Iranian music
The reference for traditional and authentic Iranian music
Gholam-Hossein Banan was born on May 5, 1911 in Tehran. His father was Karim Khan Banan-ol-Dowleh Nouri and his mother was the daughter of Prince Rokn-ol-Dowleh, Naser al-Din Shah’s brother.
From the age of 6, he started singing and playing the organ and piano, and in this way, he benefited from the guidance of his mother, who played the piano very well.
According to Banan himself, he started his professional activity in 1927 and sang professionally only in private meetings and in the presence of friends and acquaintances, but eventually he entered the radio and with the cooperation of artists such as Rouhollah Khaleghi, he conveyed his voice to the people through Tehran Radio.
The late Rouhollah Khaleghi invited him to the Music Association Orchestra, and on the other hand, Banan also collaborated with Orchestra No. 1. Meanwhile, he was also invited to the Colorful Flowers program.
Gholam-Hossein Banan married Maryam Vaziri, the sister of Colonel Alinaghi Vaziri, and the result of this marriage was a daughter named Giti and a son named Bijan. After the death of his first wife, Banan married Pari Dokht Avar on February 28, 1966.
The first time Banan’s voice was heard on the radio was on May 21, 1942, and before that, Banan had only sung in private circles. He himself says about his singing on the radio: I did not intend to become a singer. Because of my interest and the orders of my teachers, such as Naser Saif, I sometimes sang. I didn’t start until I was thirty years old. When I joined the family of Colonel Vaziri, he brought me to music. For sure, the person who discovered and recognized Banan’s talent was Rouhollah Khaleghi. Khaleghi says about his first meeting with Banan that on the first day he saw him and asked him to sing a piece, he was so excited that he involuntarily got up and hugged him.
Gholam-Hossein Banan’s professional life was affected by an accident and changed a lot. On January 17, 1958, while returning home from a party with two of his friends, a tanker truck without rear safety lights and covered with mud suddenly appeared in front of him near the caravanserai Sangi and a severe accident occurred between Banan’s car and that tanker truck. After the severe collision, Banan was injured in the face and eyes.
With the publication of the news of this accident in newspapers and magazines, a large number of people went to the hospital, so that due to the large number of people and the disruption of the hospital’s order, a notebook was placed in the hospital’s waiting room so that people who had not been able to visit Banan could express their sympathy in that notebook and leave a message for him.
Banan traveled abroad for treatment and after returning from this trip, he decided to review his artistic positions. He said: From now on, I will try to perform works that have a happy tone and a hopeful poem. I am tired of continuing the old method that resembles mourning; Of course, in this field, the song makers must help and cooperate with me.
The influence of Banan’s voice on Iranian music is such that some have divided Iranian singing into before and after Banan, and this is because singers before him mostly sang loudly, and this caused the poems to be heard disjointedly and incomprehensibly. Banan, considering his family upbringing and the teachings of Rouhullah Khaleghi, understood that he should not abuse his throat and be an intermediary between the poet and the listener; That is why we do not see unnecessary shouting in his songs and the poems are well pronounced and reach the audience.
Banan performed about 350 pieces during his artistic activity, and what makes his voice a definite advantage is the ups and downs and edits of his voice, which are specific to him.
Gholam-Hossein Banan passed away in Tehran on the evening of February 27, 1986, and contrary to his will to be buried in Zahir al-Dawlah cemetery, he was buried in Imamzadeh Taher of Karaj on March 1. He had been suffering from digestive system disease and depression for a long time.
The works collected from this artist are as follows on the private site:
