Hatem Askari Farahani - Radif Avazi Be Revayet-e Hatem Askari Farahani - Set of 4 cassettes - Iran

Hatem Askari Farahani  (Vocal)

Dr. Dariush Safvat (Setar)

Vocal Radif



"Two important lineages of vocal radif-ha exist.  The most influential and widely disseminated is that of Abdollah Davami (1891-1980), particularly as it was transmitted through his pupil Mahmud Karimi (1927-1984).  This radif is characterized by its cogency and (particularly Karimi’s) self-similarity: its dense transposition and recycling of  motives, tahrirs, and entire phrases.  The second line of vocal radif transmission is relatively little known.  The repertoire preserved by Hatam Askari Farahani (b. 1933) extends back through his teacher Seyyed Zia Rasa’i (a.k.a. Zakeri) to Seyyed Abdol Rahim, an influential and somewhat legendary master active at the turn of the 20th century.  Askari deliberately restricted his transmission of this very large repertoire to preserve its integrity from the abuses that can be associated with published radif-ha.  Askari finally recorded this radif but it remains unpublished as yet.  It is characterized by its large size due to the greater number of gusheh-ha, their lengthier duration, and the inclusion of rhythmic types that are normally only associated with instrumental radif-ha.  Askari’s nephew Farhad Farhani believed that the transmission of this radif included anecdotes describing the circumstances regarding the creation of particular melodies—a quasi-epic account of Persian music history (personal communication, 1998)."

From "Persian Vocal Music: Avaz" by Rob Simms

(http://www.yorku.ca/robsimms/word/Published_Writings.doc)

A short version consisting of parts of this vocal Radif was eventually published in Iran on 4 cassettes. This is the one we post here. There exist also complete recordings of Dastgah-e Mahoor on 6 cassettes or CDs and Dastgah-e Nava also on 6 cassettes or CDs. These were only distributed privately amongst students of Hatem Askari and are extremely difficult to get.

Volume 1:

Side 1:

Mahur (27:58)

Side 2:

Bayat-e Tork & Afshari (30:24)

Download Vol. 1

Volume 2:

Side 1:

Shur (27:55)

Side 2:

Shur continued, Abu 'Ata, Dashti (29:22)

Download Vol. 2

Volume 3:

Side 1:

Chahargah (29:46)

Side 2:

Nava (28:15)

Download Vol. 3

Volume 4:

Side 1:

Homayun (28:24)

Side 2:

Bayat-e Esfahan, Segah (29:24)

Download Vol. 4