Paulus Khofri (, ; 7 August 1923 – May 2000) was an Assyrian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Biography

Khofri was born on 7 August 1923 in

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Mandatory Iraq The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration, or Mandatory Iraq (), was created in 1921, following the 1920 Iraqi Revolution against the proposed British Mandate of Mesopotamia, and enacted via the 1922 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty and a 1924 un ...

. His father, Jibrael Khofri, and his mother Victoria, were of Assyrian descent and originally from Iran. They fled Iran during the

Assyrian Genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...

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, migrating to Iraq, where they lived for many years. In 1928, the Khofri family returned to Iran and settled in

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

in Western Iran. Khofri grew up in Kermanshah and graduated from high school there. Khofri's father was an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

player who inspired his son to learn the instrument. Khofri soon began to develop popular Assyrian music into a classical style; eventually, this led to the establishment of the ''Assyrian Music Ensemble,'' which performed many concerts for the Assyrian community in Kermanshah. Khofri continued his musical studies in composition through correspondence courses from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and finally obtained a diploma in music composition and harmony from the ''United States School of Music'', a correspondence school located in Port Washington,

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. Khofri conducted the ''Saint Joseph Catholic Church Choir'' in Tehran for many years and also taught piano and music on the side while working for the ''Iranian Oil Company'' until his retirement. Khofri is credited with composing numerous Assyrian folk songs in both

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Suret ( Help:IPA for Aramaic, �suːrɪtʰor Help:IPA for Aramaic, �suːrɪθ, also known as Assyrian, refers to the varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) spoken by Christians, namely Assyrian people, Assyrians.Nordhoff, Sebast ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. An accomplished painter, along with these musical compositions, he often included

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

of villages in

Urmia Urmia (; ) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran. In the Central District of Urmia County, it is capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is situated near the borders of Iran with Turkey and Iraq. ...

done in black ink or water color. In 1985, the ''Assyrian Foundation of America'', in

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, gave him an award in recognition of his work in Assyrian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. He died in May 2000 in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

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 ...

Vocal music

*Book # 1 ''Yoomani'd Eda Soora'' (Christmas Days) for piano and vocal (Illustrated), 1972 *Book # 2 ''Zamrakh Am Ikhdadi'' (Sing Together) Tome 1 for piano and vocal (Illustrated), 1982 *Book #3 ''Sheeta'd IsreI Arba Yakhi'' (24 Months a Year) two songs for every month of the year with illustrations, 1982 *Book # 4 ''Zamrakh Mikhdadi'' (Sing together) Tome 2 classic folkloric song for 2, 3 and 4 voices, 1984 *Book # 5 ''Galli'd Zoomari'' Tome 3 for piano and vocals (illustrated), 1988 *Book # 6 ''Zmoor Blishanookh'' ( Sing in your Mother’s Language) for young singers, 1998 *Book # 7 ''Songs of Praise'' Tome 1 for Organ and Vocals, 1988

Instrumental Music

*Book # 1 ''Braghala'd Nemati'' Tome 2 No. 1 for piano, 1970 *Book # 2 ''Braghala'd Nemati'' Tome 2 No. 2 for Piano, 1980 *Book # 3 ''Assyrt'' Tome 1 classic folkloric music for piano, 1984 *Book # 4 ''Nemati Mbazgha'' Tome 1 No. 1 for piano, 1987 *Book # 5 ''Braghala'd Nemati'' Tome 2 No. 1 piano, violin, flute, guitar 1988. This book contains five parts: No. 1 Sonata in G minor for violin and cello, dedicated to Maestro William Daniel, Assyrian composer and author; No. 2 Sonata in G Major for piano, composed in

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, dedicated to Issa Benyamin, the famous Assyrian calligrapher; No. 3 Fantasia in G minor for flute and guitar, dedicated to Mr. Simon Tomik, a classical guitarist; No. 4 Suite in D minor for violin, flute, guitar and piano, titled ''Braghala min Toora'', dedicated to the Assyrian Highlanders; No. 5 ''Dipna'd Aina'' (Near the Spring) in D Major for flute, guitar and piano, composed for young girls in the villages bringing fresh cold water, in clay jars for their fathers working in the wheat fields

Orchestral music

*Book # 1 ''Assyrian Classic Folkloric Dance Compilation'', May 1998 *Book # 2 ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', May 1998

Famous quotes

*''Whatever reaches one's ears, reflects all tides of life this nation has undergone in the past, present and will experience in the future.'' *''Music seeks to retain firmly that spirit, either sung by men and women praising God; or hummed by the farmer tilling his field. The joy of a young man whistling expecting to meet the girl he loves. The beating of the drum and the song of the fife in religious ''Shara'' (festivals). The blaring of the Brass instruments in anger, the wailing of the Oboe in sorrow, the intimate chatter of the string instruments all tell and paint vivid images of life in waves of sound. It is hoped, therefore, one can peep through this small window of music and see the revival of our past culture in budding.''

References

* ''(original domain is parked)''