Musicians from the Ministry of Art and Culture conducted by Faramarz Payivar

Musicians from the Ministry of Art and Culture conducted by Faramarz Payivar

The idea of forming an ensemble of Persian instruments was first suggested by Ruhu’llah Khaliqi in 1958. In it prominent instrumentalists like Nasru’llah Zarrinpanja and Asghar Bahari performed on the tar and kamanchih respectively. Faramarz Payvar, the prominent santur instrumentalist and a favourite student of Abu’l-Hasan Saba formed his own ensemble in 1968 and recorded many memorable performances with this ensemble down until 1979. The ensemble performed numerous compositions by ‘Arif, Shayda, Darvish Khan, Amir Jahid, ‘Ali Akbar Shahnazi, and Faramarz Payvar, and featured artists such as ‘Abd al-Wahhab Shahidi, Khatirih Parvanih, Turaj Kiaras, Nadir Gulchin, Parivash Sutuda, as well as Muhammad Riza  Shajarian on the vocals. The instrumentalists in the ensemble included: Faramarz Payvar (santur), Muhammad Isma‘ili (Tumbak), Hushang Zarif (tar), Rahmatu’llah Badi’i (kamanchih), and Hasan Nahid (nay). At times, new instrumentalists substituted for those already in the ensemble; these artists included: Jalil Shahnaz (tar), Asghar Bahari (kamanchih), Muhammad Musavi (nay). The ensemble continued to be active until 1998 when Faramarz Payvar was confined to bed owing to a stroke for ten years. To attain a more all-encompassing sound, instrumentalists like Husayn Farhadpur (violin and qaychak) and Siyamak Bana’i (tumbak) also performed with the ensemble, recording programmes and at times performing in concerts. The ensemble was active after 1978 under the name of the “Ensemble of Masters.” Recorded performances of the ensemble include: Paygham-i ahl-i dil (‘Message of the Heart’s Adepts’), accompanied by Muhammad Riza Shajariyan on the vocals (Tehran 1358/1980).