Iran: Music of the Qajar Era

Infamous for their ineptitude, extravagance, despotism and venality, among other things, the Qajar dynasty is seldom praised when reflecting on their era (1785-1925), which constituted one of the darkest in modern Iranian history. Considering the state of wretchedness they plunged the nation into for nearly 150 years, it is hard to imagine that their rule saw any flourishing of the arts, let alone the emergence of particular, iconic styles of these forms and their steadfast endurance to date.

On Iran: Music of the Qajar Era, 18 seamlessly interwoven tracks highlight the legacy of the Qajar musical tradition as well as the intricacies of the radif (repertoire) of Persian classical music. Here, the tar (long-necked lute) is featured in all its bright and jangly glory, along with Pantea Alvandipour's tremulous tahrir-style vocals and a host of other sounds on numbers that range from jaunty rengs to impassioned tasnifs. The 19th-century dictator and self-appointed ‘Pivot of the Universe’ Nassereddin Shah would have twirled his imperial whiskers in delight.