‏Aqa Husaynquli

Aqa Husayn Quli (1901-1955)

Tar instrumentalist, indisputable master of the tar and Persian classical musical repertoires, and one of the influential Persian musicians of the nineteenth century. Born into a family of musicians, he studied music with his paternal uncle, Aqa Ghulam Husayn, so that by the time he reached middle age Aqa Husayn Quli has become a recognized master. As the founder of the techniques of Persian classical performance on the tar, he has left behind a repertoire in his own name. Numerous performances of his were preserved on gramophone records recorded in Paris during the years 1905-1914. Eminent masters like Darvish Khan and ‘Ali Akbar Shahnazi were his students. Aqa Husayn Quli’s and his students’ techniques of performance on the tar were not used in the Gulha programmes, which were established forty years after his demise, by which time a more intense romantic expression characterized Persian music. Consequently, only one of his pieces (Yik Shakhih Gul, no. 170) was remixed and performed in the Gulha. Some live performance recordings of Aqa Husayn Quli and his companions on their journey to Paris were released in a CD Album some ninety years later (Tar-i Duri-yi Qajar, Mahur, Tehran 1995). These performances reveal him as a creative genius and one of the foundational personalities in Persian classical music. 

Siyamak Bana’i