Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri ( ; (1905 – 5 August 1959), born Qamar Khanum Seyed Hosayn Khan
(), commonly known as "Qamar" ( ), was a celebrated
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian singer, who was also the first woman of her time to sing in public in Iran without wearing a veil. She is known as "the Queen of Persian music".
Singing with the vocal range of a
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...
, she was revered for her mastery of the repertoire of Persian vocal music (
radif-e âvâz), especially her sensitive rendition of
tasnif
''Tasnif'' () is one of the several forms of Persian music and can be considered as the Persian equivalent of the ballad.
It is a composed song in a slow metre. As is true of other forms of musical composition, most ''tasnifs'' are of relatively ...
and tarâna.
Life and career
Qamar was born in
Takestan
Takestan () is a city in the Central District (Takestan County), Central District of Takestan County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Takestan has a railway station on the Islam ...
, a city in Iran. Her father died before she was born, and after her mother's death from
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...
when she was one and a half years old, she was raised by her grandmother, rowzeh-khân (singer of
soaz
Paul Boyer, better known as sOAZ (), is a French ''League of Legends'' coach for LDLC OL. Formerly a professional ''League of Legends'' player, he has played for against All authority (aAa), Fnatic, Origen, and Misfits Gaming of the LEC and Im ...
) at the
darbar of
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...
,
Mollâ Khayr-ol-Nesâ' Eftekhâr-ol-Zâkerin (the latter name was bestowed on her by the king, meaning "Glory of the Narrators").
Qamar later recalled attending her grandmother's singing at the mosque, among the experiences which inspired her to become a singer.
She began her career in singing at age 19 in 1924 when she performed at the Grand Hotel in Tehran. When she performed she was among men and without the veil. During another performance at the Palace Theater in Tehran, again without the veil, she was accompanied by
Morteza Neidavoud, who she had met when she was 16, just a few years earlier. He encouraged her to study music under his tutelage and she studied and performed in 1924. Vaziri and Neydavood worked a lot together during her 3 decade long career and in 1956 accompanied her for her farewell performance. Her existing birth certificate, issued in Tehran in 1925, legally records her first name as "Qamar-ol-Moluk" and her last name as changed from "Seyed Hosayn Khân" to "Vazirizâdeh", a name she chose for herself in honor of the musician and theoretician of music
Ali-Naqi Vaziri
Ali-Naqi Vaziri (; October 1, 1886 in Tehran – September 9, 1979) was a composer, thinker and a celebrated player of the tar. He is considered a revolutionary icon in the history of 20th-century Persian music. His name was also transcribed a ...
.
[
]
Vaziri retired from singing in 1956, having worked for over 30 years with songwriters and poets in Iran, such as Morteza Neydavud, and having been recorded on several gramophone discs. She had often sung for charity and for the poor in Iran as well. She devoted her last years to philanthropic activities, as Zobeideh Jahangiri recalls them in ''A Moon Which Became The Sun'' ( / ''Qamar-i Keh Xoršid Šod'').
Vaziri died in 1959 in Shemiran
Shemirān (, ) is the capital of Shemiranat County, Tehran Province, Iran, but is actually located just north of the borders of Tehran County along Chamran Expressway and Sadr Expressway and it is the northernmost district of the city of T ...
. She is buried at Zahir o-dowleh
Zahir-od-dowleh Cemetery () is located in Darband, close to Tajrish, Shemiran (now a neighbourhood inside Tehran's city limits). It serves as the final resting place for numerous Iranian artists, poets, and musicians.
History
Ali Khan Zahir ...
cemetery. Contrary to popular belief that she died poor, she received a monthly salary of 800 tomans during the years preceding her death, which was about the salary of a high ranking university teacher.
See also
* No Land's Song
* Persian women musicians
* Persian women's movement
*Varto Terian
Varto Terian (; May 11, 1896 – October 2, 1974) also known by the pseudonym LaLa, was an Iranian-born Armenian actress and educator. She was Iran’s first stage actress of theater.
Early life and education
Varto Terian was born on May 11, 1 ...
Notes
External links
QAMAR-AL-MOLUK VAZIRI
Encyclopædia Iranica
A moon in the sky of Iranian music
(BBC Persian)
*A rare photograph of Ghamar ol-Molouk
"Aman az in Del"
sung by Ghamar on Iraj Mirza
Prince Iraj Mirza ( Persian: ایرج میرزا, literally ''Prince Iraj''; October 1874 – 14 March 1926), titled Jalāl-ol-Mamālek ( Persian: جلالالممالک), was a prominent Iranian poet. He was the son of Prince Gholam-Hossein ...
's death
* A moon became the sun Publisher Ketab Co. 2015
1905 births
1959 deaths
Iranian musicians
Musicians from Tehran
Singers from Tehran
Iranian women poets
People from Takestan
Iranian folk singers
Iranian women singers
Persian-language singers of Iran
20th-century Iranian poets
People from Qazvin province
20th-century Iranian singers
20th-century Iranian women singers
People of Pahlavi Iran
{{Iran-singer-stub