The Art of Improvisation in Abuata
Setar and Vocals: Mohammadreza Lotfi
Tombak: Mohammad Ghavi-Helm
San Francisco Concert, 1999
Art Design: Sima Zangi
Without a doubt, in the past few decades, the solo performances of Master Mohammadreza Lotfi are among the most important works of Iranian classical music. The importance of these solo performances is considerable and profound for experts from both the aesthetic perspective of Iranian classical music and the technical characteristics of playing, and also abundant sources of inspiration for solo performance, improvisation, and composition.
This duet, which was performed in 1999 with Tombak by Mohammad Ghavi-Helm at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, USA, is undoubtedly one of the best examples of the art of improvisation and Setar playing. In this performance, Lotfi displays the lyrical atmosphere of Abuata vocals with new interpretations of the row melodies. The percussive sections of this performance, while having classical forms such as Pishdaramad and Chaharmezrab, have a beautiful artistic frenzy and madness that invites the listener of artistic music to a magical space. Lotfi also performed one of his poems at the end of this concert.
Hoping that the art of improvisation continues its path with such quality.
With love
Kourosh Taghavi
Many thanks to Mr. Kourosh Taghavi for sending this performance.
The second part of this concert, The Art of Improvisation in Dashti, listen here.
Online broadcast of the Art of Improvisation in Abuata concert:
We are prisoners of affliction in the path of your love
No one is such a helpless lover as we are
Take a look at us, for we are strangers in this city
Have mercy on us, for we are beggars in this city
Not ascetic enough to sit in the corner of prayer
Not ecstatic enough to enter the circle of taverns
We are neither people of virtue nor drunkards in ruins
Neither here nor there, where do we reside?
We are like Hallaj, unafraid of the gallows
We are like Majnun, in love with God
We have neither the sorrow of hell nor the greed for paradise
Lift the veil from your face, for we yearn to see you
**************
Go lay your head on the pillow, leave me alone
Abandon me, a ruined, wandering, afflicted one
We and the wave of melancholy, all night until dawn, alone
If you wish, come and forgive, if you wish, go and be unfaithful
Flee from me so that you (the Truth) may not fall into calamity either
Choose the path of safety, abandon the path of affliction
In a dream last night, I saw an old man in the street of love
He gestured with his hand, telling me to set my sights on us
**************
O my sun, O my light, O my intoxicating cupbearer
Let it fly like a hen, the heart-pleasing bird of my heart
My heart throbs in your bond, in the bond of your unboundedness
Free my soul, O my free lily
Love is a sea of madness, bubbling in a wave of blood
There you are, O organon, O instrument of my harmony
I have roamed the world, freed from the bonds of sorrow
From your passionate شور, my heart is alive, my beloved
Mighty, mighty is my work, shame of my heart and soul
Towards … these enmities, O garden of my گلزار
The face of the rose has withered, the soul of the rose has died
We must clap our hands, O Rostam of my Dastan
Give life to the tall reed, like the sun of the world, the burning of the soul
So that it may traverse the chest, O my burning fire
