‏Hisam al-Sultana (Murad)

Husam al-Sultana, Jahangir Murad (1881-1981)

Instrumentalist performing on the violin, ud and piano and also one of the earliest well-known and quite talented Iranian musicians of the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries. He was the grandson of (and was named after) the high-ranking Qajar prince: Husam al-Saltana. He was mostly self-educated in music but when the golden opportunity presented itself to associate with most of the outstanding musicians of the time, he took advantage of it. Thus, Darvish Khan and Sayyid Husayn Tahirzada (1881-1955), two of the most eminent vocalists performing classical singing at that time, became his close friends. His performances were not recorded but a number of his compositions, some of which are accompanied by poems of Malik al-Shu‘ara Bahar, have been performed many times and are considered as some of the most beautiful works in all of Persian classical music. Having become acquainted with these beautiful compositions through Musa Ma‘rufi and ‘Abdu’llah Davvami, Ruhu’llah Khaliqi and Javad Ma‘rufi then arranged them for the Gulha orchestra, which were performed by a number of female vocalists (the most accomplished of whom was Ilahi). A few pieces composed by the Husam al-Sultana are included in the book entitled Radif-i ‘Abdu’llah Davami va tasnifha-yi qadimi (‘Abdu’llah Davami’s Repertoires and Old Songs). edited by Faramarz Payvar (Tehran: Mahur 1998).