Millennium of Tanbur – Farid Elhami

I speak of lovers, he of their opponents; / my tanbur and reason will never be in tune.
— Saeb Tabrizi

This work is the result of years of research into the Haqqani (sacred), ancient, figurative and contemporary maqams of the tanbur. The tanbur is an enduring heritage that the Kurdish Yarsan people have guarded for centuries against the onslaught of outsiders.

In this album the tanbur maqams (following the view of the narrators of the Sahneh region) are presented in three parts:

1. Haqqani: the maqams of the Pardivar period and those from before and after Pardivar, all of them sung with kalam (sacred Yarsan verse). (Pardivar is regarded as a turning point for the maqams and the kalams.)

2. Ancient and figurative (majlesi, for gatherings): maqams surviving from ancient times that the Yarsan people have preserved by oral tradition.

3. Contemporary compositions (sardams): pieces that well-known narrators and notable Yarsan figures composed for zekrs (devotional invocations). Some of these pieces are more than a hundred years old.

Collected and performed (tanbur and vocals): Farid Elhami
Recording, mixing and mastering: Vahid Mehri
Chorus: Forud Khamushian, Navid Ghazvinei, Touraj Aliyoun, Ramtin Kakavandi
Translation: Azita Rabbani and Elham Keramati; booklet editor: Elham Keramati
Graphics and photography: Reza Salehi
Funding: Shahpar Ghahari and Goudarz Tatari
Publisher: Parseh Sorush Ferdowsi Institute (ferdowsimusic.com)

Full introduction from the album booklet · The booklet note on each maqam is given under that track.