Morteza Neydavoud () (1900–1990) was a prominent master of

Persian classical music Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the art music, classical music of Iran (historically known as ''name of Iran, Persia''). It consists of character ...

and a soloist of ''

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black b ...

''. His 1927

Morq-e sahar ''Morqe Sahar'' (, often Romanization of Persian, romanised as ''Morgh-e Sahar'', variously translated as ''Dawn Bird'', ''Bird of the Morning'','' The Nightingale'') is an Iranian ''tasnif'' often sung in protest of injustices, dictatorship and t ...

(''Dawn bird'') is one of the most famous Persian songs which has been performed by various singers.

Early life and education

Morteza Neydavoud was born in

Espahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

to a

Persian Jewish Iranian Jews, (; ) also Persian Jews ( ) or Parsim, constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the biblical era, they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran (historically known as Persia) during th ...

music-loving family, he was 3 when the family moved to Tehran. His musical gift was revealed at childhood. His father Bala Khan, who was a musician himself and played the

tonbak The tombak (), tonbak () or zarb () is an Iranian goblet drum. It is considered the principal percussion instrument of Persian music. The tombak is normally positioned diagonally across the torso, while the player uses one or more fingers and ...

, wanted to see his son enroll into a different field, and was thus initially against him becoming a musician. However, realizing his natural talent and determination, he eventually took him to see Ramazan Zolfaghari, a musician who was a student of Aqa Hossein-Qoli. Neydavoud was trained by Zolfaghari for a short while and then he went to Aqa Hossein-Qoli to learn from the master musician himself. Neydavoud learnt with Hosseinqoli until the latter's death in 1916. He then went on to learn music from

Darvish Khan Darvish Khan (, Gholam Hossein Darvish; 1872 – 22 November 1926) was a Persian classical musician and a tar player.http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news.aspx?id=44944 Biography Darvish Khan was born in Tehran. His teachers included his father a ...

who was a famous student of

Mirza Hossein-Qoli Mirza Hossein-Qoli (‎; 1853–1916), also known as ''Agha Mirza Hosseingholi Farahani'', was a musician and tar player of the Qajar era. He and his older brother Mirza Abdollah started learning music Music is the arrangement of sound ...

. During this time he picked up on playing

radif In Persian poetry, Persian, Turkic, and Urdu poetry, Urdu ghazals, the ''radīf'' (from Arabic ; ; ; ; ; ) is the word which must end each line of the first couplet and the second line of all the following couplets. It is preceded by a ''qafiya'' ...

and then the tar. At the end of three years he received the symbolic Golden Battle-Axe, awarded to outstanding students.

Career

In early 1925 he founded a class to teach the Persian Tar and Radif. He named the school ''Darvish'' in honour of his master, who had died in 1926. His acquaintance with the iconic singer

Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri ( ; (1905 – 5 August 1959), born Qamar Khanum Seyed Hosayn Khan (), commonly known as "Qamar" ( ), was a celebrated Iranian singer, who was also the first woman of her time to sing in public in Iran without wearing a veil. S ...

at a private celebration led to the discovery of one of the greatest Iranian singing talents. The two continued to co-operate and as Qamar learned from him, she performed many of her famous songs. Since 1927, most of Qamar's lyrics and songs have been accompanied by Morteza Neydavoud. Following the establishment of the radio, Neydavoud worked with the broadcasters just like other artists did, some being Reza Mahjoubi,

Ali Akbar Shahnazi Ali-Akbar Shahnazi (‎; 12 May 1897 – 17 March 1985) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian musician and a master player of the Tar (string instrument), tar instrument. Biography Ali Akbar Shahnazi was born in Tehran, Qajar Iran, on 12 May 1897 ...

, Habib Samayi,

Abolhassan Saba Abolhasan Saba (; April 15, 1902 – December 19, 1957) was a renowned Iranian composer, violinist, and setar player. Biography He was born in Tehran to Abul Qasim Khan ''Kamal ol-Saltaneh'', son of Mohammad Jafar Khan ''Sadr ol-Hekma'', son of ...

and Musa Maroufi. He either wrote lyrics or composed for famous singers such as

, Moluk Zarrabi, Ruhangiz, Adib Khansari, Javad Badi Zadeh and

Gholam Hossein Banan Gholām-Hossein Banān (; 5 May 1911 – 27 February 1986) was an Iranian musician and singer. One of the most prominent Iranian singers of the 20th century, he was renowned for the quality of his voice. Biography Born in Tehran, Banān descend ...

Notable works

* Performing the entire repertoire of Persian classical music (''radif'') * Vocal pieces: ''Morq-e Sahar'' (Text: Malek-o-Shoara Bahar), ''Atash-e del'' * Instrumental pieces: ''Pishdaramad-e Esfahan''

References

Sources

External links

Interview with Morteza Neidavood
(Produced by Mahmoud Khoshnam, Radio Tehran, ca. 1974) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neydavoud, Morteza Iranian composers Iranian tar players Iranian tonbak players 1900 births 1990 deaths Musicians from Tehran Iranian Jews 20th-century Iranian people