Muhammad Musavi

Musavi, Muhammad (1946-)

Nay player and, after Hasan Kasa’i and Hasan Nahid, the most famous nay musician who participated in the Golha programmes (1969-1980). Born as Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Musavi Shushtari in Ahvaz, he studied the violin with the prominent musician, Vali-Allah Alburz (1911-1983). After listening to Hasan Kasa’i perform on the nay, he became enamoured of his art and following many attempts finally succeeded in studying with him. He began his musical career in the mid 1950s and performed on the Barg-i Sabz, Gulha-yi Rangarang, Golha-yi taza and Taknavazan programmes from the late 1960's onwards. He performed in numerous concerts in Iran and abroad and many recordings have been made of his performances. The zenith of his music career appears in his performances accompanying the singer Mahmud Khwansari and the santur instrumentalist Riza Varzanda. The Golha programmes have made considerable contributions to Musavi’s own fame. 

He is considered by many to be the most prominent nay instrumentalist second only to the maestro Hasan Kasa’i. Although this view is generally correct, a balanced judgement of his talents demands further consideration. Musavi’s merits include his mastery in responding to the singer and his ability to extract a pure and transparent sound out of the nay, so that it may be said that compared with other nay instrumentalists, he is closer to the sublime heights of the art of Hasan Kasa’i. However, his apparent shortcomings in performing with an orchestra and his explicit imitation of the melodies already performed by the maestro Hasan Kasa’i puts his position as an improvising and creative soloist into serious doubt. Nonetheless, Muhammad Musavi is still one of the most cherished and beloved instrumentalists today, and he is still more or less active in the field of music. His works include the CD albums titled Shukr-i izad (Thank God) and Tangistani (Tehran: Ava 1995).