F.A.Q.
For pianists--Links to order scores to some of the pieces in Tara's repertoire:
Aminollah Hossein- Prelude No. 1 "Homage to Omar Khayyam" and Persian Legend:
http://www.di-arezzo.co.uk/sheet+music/classical+score/sheet+music-for-piano/TRANS00024.html
Aminollah Hossein - "Mosaics" Suite (including "Scenes from Summer" and "Serenade Tartare")
http://www.di-arezzo.co.uk/sheet+music/classical+score/sheet+music-for-piano/ENOCH01312.html
Aram Khachaturian arr. Matthew Cameron- Adagio from "Spartacus"
http://www.jwpepper.com/Adagio-from-Spartacus/10083151.item#.U5co5JRdXno
Behzad Ranjbaran- Nocturne "A Night in a Persian Garden"
http://www.jwpepper.com/Nocturne/10023333.item#.U5cp3JRdXno
Sites of selected composers:
Behzad Ranjbaran - http://www.behzadranjbaran.com/
Loris Tjeknavorian - http://www.loristjeknavorian.com/
Avner Dorman - http://dormanavner.com/
Golnoush Khaleghi - http://www.rkac.com/pages/gkhaleghi.htm
Matthew Cameron - http://pianistmatthewcameron.com/
Omid Zoufonoun - http://omidzoufonoun.com/
East of Melancholy: Piano Music from Russia to Iran offers a pianistic guide through a fascinating region in which continuous settlement and musical activity dates back to 4000 B.C. Rarely performed pieces by Iranian, Armenian, and Tajik composers born in twentieth-century Iran are showcased, as well as works by Russian composers influenced by folk music from the Caucasus. There has been a considerable interchange of artistic techniques and inspiration in this region--considered to be one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions in the world--and much of the Caucasus was under Persian rule as recently as the mid-nineteenth century, when Imperial Russia conquered the territory from the Persian Qajars.
The ancestor of the piano--the santour, or dulcimer--is widely believed to have originated in the land of present-day Iran over two thousand years ago. The modern piano, however, did not appear in Iran until 1806, when Napoleon gifted this instrument to the Persian emperor. The piano does not lend itself easily to traditional Persian music, because the piano's fixed tuning is incompatible with the microtones of Persian music. In addition, the piano’s ability to act simultaneously as melodist and accompanist is lost with traditional Persian music, which is mainly monophonic. However, innovative composers have managed to incorporate elements of Persian music into their piano compositions through various methods,such as imitating its structure and ornamentation, using quickly repeated notes to evoke the santour, and incorporating fragments of folk songs from the region.
Link to 1973 interview with composer Aminollah Hossein: https://soundcloud.com/tara-kamangar/sets/aminollah-hossein-interview-1973
