Samin Baghtcheban (, ) (variations: Baghcheban, Baqcheban, Bahceban) (1923 – 19 March 2008) was an 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 ...

, author and translator.

Biography

Samin Baghtcheban was born in 1925 in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

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 ...

, and grew up in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

and

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. ...

, where his father established the first modern kindergartens and schools for the deaf in Iran. His father, Jabbar Baghtcheban, was a leading educator and pioneer of

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 ...

cued speech Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes, known as cues (represe ...

. Baghcheban started his music studies at the Tehran Conservatory of Music. In 1944 Samin Baghtcheban was awarded a scholarship to study composition in

Ankara State Conservatory The Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory (), the first conservatory to be founded in the Republic of Turkey, was established in 1936 by a directive of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The conservatory is part of Hacettepe University. History ...

. He returned to Tehran in 1949 and started teaching at the Conservatory. He was married to the opera singer, Evelyn Baghtcheban, whom he met while studying in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. In 1984 he moved to Turkey with his family where he continued his activities and composed several new pieces, some of which were performed by Manouchehr Sahbai in Switzerland. He died on 19 March 2008 in Istanbul.

Compositions

Throughout his career he composed numerous pieces inspired by the Persian folk music or mythology. His most popular work is '' Rangin Kamoon (Rainbow)'', a collection of compositions for children (for choire and orchestra) which was recorded in 1978 in Vienna. Other Works: * ''Persian Compositions for Voice and Piano'' (including 4 pieces: 1- ''Ruba'i'' No. 1: ''Do Zolfoonet'' (Your two braids) (1950) Text: Baba-Taher (11th-century Persian poet). 2- ''To Ra Mikham'' (I want you) (1952) Text: Folklore. 3- ''Sorood-e Saba'' (Saba's song) (1956) Text: Sa'di (13th-century poet). 4- ''Gahvareh-ye Khali'' (Empty cradle) (1957) Text: the composer), published in 2018, on the 10th death anniversary of the composer. The first two pieces, ''Ruba'i'' No. 1: ''Do Zolfoonet'' (Your two braids) and ''To Ra Mikham'' (I want you) were recorded on the album '' Sounds of Ancestors'' by

Anousha Nazari Anousha Nazari (Persian language, Persian: آنوشا نظری) is an Iranian mezzo-soprano Opera, classical singer born on January 6 in Sari, Iran, Sari, Iran. Biography Nazari began singing in local orchestras before joining the :fa:ارکس� ...

. * ''Sholeyl'' (for string orchestra) * ''Boumivar'' (in 3 movements) for orchestra. * ''Chaharshanbeh-Souri'' Baghcheban also arranged various Persian folk songs for the choir. Some of his arrangements were performed by Tehran Choral Group and the Farah Choir in the 1960s and 1970s.

Literary works

Between 1948 and 1979, in addition to his composition activities, he wrote and translated several books and articles. Baghtcheban translated several books by Turkish authors

Nazim Hikmet Subahdar, also known as Nazim, was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, and the Mughal era who was alternately designated as Sahib-i-Su ...

Yaşar Kemal Yaşar Kemal (; born Kemal Sadık Gökçeli; 6 October 1923 – 28 February 2015) was a leading Turkish writer of Kurdish descent, who wrote in Turkish and a human rights activist. He received 38 awards during his lifetime and had been a candid ...

and introduced the humorist

Aziz Nesin Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 6 July 1995, Izmir , Turkey) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, ...

to Iranians. In 1963, along with a group of prominent teachers and educators, including Lily Ahi, Touran Mirhadi and Abbas Yamini Sharif, Baghtcheban confounded the Children's Book Council (CBC) of Iran. The council is an NGO focused on developing and promoting children's literature in Iran.

References

External links

My brother Samin (برادرم ثمین)
a multimedia presentation on Baghtchehban's life, ''Jadid online''
Samin Baghtcheban dead ثمین باغچه بان درگذشت
BBC Persian
Rangin Kamoon was our childhood...In memory of Samin Baghtcheban رنگین کمان کودکی ما بود...؛ به یاد ثمین باغچه بان
Obituary in BBC Persian
Book review of Baghtcheban's ''Snapshots from My Father'' نقدي بر کتاب چهره هايي از پدرم

Norouz is coming... نوروز تو راهه...
Article on Rangin Kamoon album
Rangin Kamoon (رنگین کمان)
A small tribute to Rangin Kamoon Album {{DEFAULTSORT:Baghtcheban, Samin 1925 births 2008 deaths Iranian composers Musicians from Tabriz Writers from Tabriz Iranian emigrants to Turkey Turkish people of Iranian descent Ankara State Conservatory alumni 20th-century Iranian translators