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".
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 established his
school of music, 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 ().

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 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 in
Darband, Tehran.
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 "
Ey Iran", 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''.
See also
*
Music of Iran
*
List of Iranian musicians
This is a list of Iranian (Persian people, Persian) musicians and musical groups.
Classical
Persian classical/traditional
* Mirza Abdollah
* Maryam Akhondy
* Nematollah Aghasi
* Salar Aghili
* Azam Ali
* Hossein Alizadeh
* Hossein Khajeh A ...
*
List of Iranian composers
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