The Ancient Call | Reza Vali

Record Label:

Albany Records

Catalog Number:

TROY1653

Year Released:

2016

Iranian-American composer Reza Vali has a unique and very personal ethos in that his artistic output attempts to understand the dialogue between the ancients and the moderns. It addresses his conviction that what has been historically and artistically camouflaged can be revealed. Since 2000, Vali has been composing exclusively within the demanding palette of Persian polyphony. The works on this recording include a works for microtonal trumpet and orchestra; songs using Persian folksongs as their inspiration; a work originally written for Persian wind instruments and ensemble, scored for clarinet and ensemble here; and a work for Persian Ney, Kamanche, and orchestra.

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Composer Reza Vali will mark retirement with a pair of Persian music concerts at Carnegie Mellon

by JEREMY REYNOLDS
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nov 2, 2022

The rhythms of Persian traditional music defy Western music notation. They’re intricate and complex and give the music a fluid sense of motion.

Persian music is also mostly improvised, or made up on the spot, according to stylistic rules.

“In a way it comes closest to jazz,” said Reza Vali, an Iranian-American composer who writes traditional and cross-cultural music for chamber ensembles and orchestras like the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has also been recorded widely, most recently at the Smithsonian Museum, and has also published books on Persian traditional music.

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette