Ruhollah Khaleqi ( ; 1906 – 12 November 1965) was a prominent Iranian

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 ...

, conductor and author. He is best known for composing the patriotic song "

Ey Iran "" ( 'O Iran') is an Iranian patriotic song serving as the country's ''de facto'' national anthem. The music was composed by Ruhollah Khaleqi, and the lyrics were written by Hossein Gol-e-Golab.''Ey Irân'' Ey Irân Video by Daryâ Dâdvar 2 ...

". He was the father of Golnoush Khaleghi—Iran's first female conductor.

Early life and education

Khaleqi was born in Mahan, a small town near

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

, in a musically minded family. He first became acquainted with the

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 ...

, but later started to learn to play the violin. As soon as

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 ...

established his

school of music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

, Khaleqi left school and joined Vaziri's school, where he studied for eight years. Soon he became his master's assistant and was placed in charge of teaching

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

. He later continued his education and obtained a BA in

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

Career

In 1944, Khaleqi established the National Music Society. In 1949, he founded the School of National Music and established the Tehran-based National Music Society and Persian National Music Conservatory. After his first journey to the Soviet Union in 1955, he became involved in the Iran-Soviet Society and was selected as a member of its board of directors. He also served as the director of the magazine (). Khaleghi

For many years, he worked as a musical advisor for Radio Iran and was one of the founders of the program known as (; ). He also conducted the ''Golhā'' Orchestra, for which he composed many pieces and revised the original compositions of his contemporaries as well as older masters, such as

Aref Qazvini Abolqassem Aref Qazvini or َAref Qazvini (1882 – January 21, 1934; ), also known as National Poet ( Persian: شاعر ملی) was a distinguished Iranian poet, lyricist, and musician. Known for his significant contributions to Persian literatu ...

and Ali Akbar Sheyda. Although revised, the compositions retained all their original characteristics. He believed that

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 ...

should turn into a

polyphonic music Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (h ...

to become more attractive. He died in 1965 in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and was buried in

Zahir-od-dowleh cemetery 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 ...

Darband, Tehran Darband (, ), formerly a village close to Tajrish, Shemiran, is a neighborhood inside Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran Co ...

Compositions

In addition to musical compositions such as (; ), (; ), (; ), and (; ), he composed many other lyrical pieces and hymns—may of which are patriotic. These include works such as "

", which was famously performed by

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 ...

and is used as a ''de facto'' anthem of the Iranian people.

Publications

His work, ''The History of Persian Music'', which was published in two volumes, took shape during these years. Other published works of his include ''Harmony of Western Music'', ''Theory of Eastern Music'', and ''Theory of Persian Music''.

Notes

References

External links

Ruhollah Khaleghi Artistic Center / ''Kanun-e Honari-e Rouhollah Khaleghi''
from Ostād Javād Ma'roufi's Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Khaleghi, Ruhollah 1906 births 1965 deaths Iranian conductors (music) Iranian tar players Iranian violinists Iranian music educators Iranian writers about music People from Kerman province Iranian classical musicians 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century violinists 20th-century Iranian composers Iranian music historians 20th-century Iranian people