Shahnāz, Jalīl

Shahnāz, Jalīl, a distinguished long-necked lute (tār) player and master improviser of contemporary Iranian music.

He was born in Isfahan on 22 May 1921/1 Khurdād 1300. His maternal grandfather, Fatḥ-Ali Khān, was a hammered dulcimer (santūr) player during the Qajar period. His father, Sha‛bān Shahnāz (d. 1949/1328), had learned the santūr from Fatḥ-Ali Khān and was also proficient in playing the tār, four-string sitar (setār), violin, spike fiddle (kamānche), and goblet drum (tunbak). He accompanied the singing of vocalists such as Sayyed Jalāl Tāj Esfahānī*. His two elder brothers, Hussein and Ali, were likewise skilled in playing the tār and sitar. His cousin and brother-in-law, Ghulām-Reza Sāranj (1896–1956/1275–1335), was among Isfahan’s renowned kamānche players. Two other Eṣfāhanī tār players, Reza Khānbāshī and ‛Abbās Surūrī (1910–1973/1289–1352), were respectively his maternal uncle and the brother of his wife.¹

Shahnāz began learning the tār, sitar, and tunbak at the age of twelve under the instruction of his brothers, Hussein and Ali. At fourteen, he performed the tunbak in a concert held in Chahār-Bāgh* of Isfahan alongside Ali-Akbar Shahnāzī, the renowned tār master, and Tāj Eṣfahānī, the celebrated vocalist; his skill astonished Shahnāzī. The famous song “be Isfahan ru”[Go to Isfahan[, composed by Ali-Akbar Shahnāzī with lyrics by Malek al-Shu‛arā-ye Bahār, was performed for the first time in this very concert.

In 1939/1318, after the death of his brother Hussein, his other brother, Ali, taught him the techniques of tār playing. At the same time, he studied with other masters as well, such as Akbar Khān Nurūzī (tār player) and Ghulām-Reza Sāranj (kamānche player). He also learned extensively from prominent Eṣfahānī vocalists, including Ḥabīb Shāṭer Ḥājī, Sayyed Muhammad Ṣādeq Shahāb al-Sādāt Eftekhārī, Sayyed Hussein Ṭāherzāde, Mīrzā Ali-Muhammad Qāḍī-‛Askar, Suleymān Eṣfahānī, and ‛Abdul-Hussein Barāzande. Shahnāz learned to play the santūr, kamānche, violin, and also acquired skills in vocal performance and rhythmic singing. Among the tār players of Tehran, he was most drawn to the style of ‛Abdul-Hussein Shahnāzī (d. 1948/1327).²

In 1943/1322, Shahnāz married and became an employee of the Isfahan Municipality. At the same time, at the Isfahan Army Radio, he began his professional performing career alongside Jalāl Tāj Eṣfahānī, Sayyed Muhammad Ṭāherpūr, Hasan Kasāʾī*, and Manūchehr Sulṭānī. In 1945/1324, he moved to Tehran, but the lack of recording equipment caused his performances to be broadcast live on the radio. After some time, he returned to Isfahan and continued his collaboration with Jalāl Tāj and Hasan Kasāʾī; this ensemble also performed musical programs in Abadan and Khorramshahr in the winter of 1951/1330.³
According to Humāyī*,⁴ in 1954/1333 Shahnāz was regarded as the most renowned tār player in Isfahan. In 1956/1335, he married Ṣeddīqe Bashīrzāde.⁵

In 1955/1334, with the launch of the gulhā-ye jāvīdān program on the National Radio of Iran under the direction of Dāvūd Pīrnīyā (1900–1971/1279–1350), Shahnāz joined the ensemble of soloists for the program. He performed solo pieces alongside artists such as Murtaḍā Maḥjūbī, Ali Tajvīdī, Mahdi Khāledī, Parvīz Yāḥaqī, Hasan Kasāʾī, Luṭfullāh Majd, Aḥmad Ebādī, Reza Varzande, and Hussein Tehrānī, and accompanied vocalists including Jalāl Tāj Eṣfahānī, Hussein Qavāmī, Ghulām-Hussein Banān, and Akbar Gulpāygānī. He was also active in other gulhā series, and until 1979/1357, performed the highest number of solos alongside musicians such as Javād Ma‛rūfī, Humāyūn Khurram, Asadullāh Malek, Farhang Sharīf, Manṣūr Narīmān, Manṣūr Ṣāremī, Faḍlullāh Tavakkul, Majīd Najāḥī, Jahāngīr Malek, and Nāṣer Eftetāḥ, collaborating with vocalists including ‛Abdulvahhāb Shahīdī, Hussein Kh^wāje-Amīrī (Īraj), Nāder Gulchīn, and Muhammad-Reza Shajarīān. In addition, Shahnāz participated in the staged performances of Farāmarz Pāyvar, Ali-Aṣghar Bahārī, and Hussein Tehrānī at the mausoleums of Khayyām and Ḥāfeẓ, and at Tehran’s Rūdakī Hall. In 1968/1347, the French musicologist Alain Daniélou described him as “one of the world’s most distinguished instrumentalists.”⁶

After the 1979/1357 revolution, Shahnāz withdrew from professional activity for some time, until the mid-1980s/1360s, when he resumed performing in the “Ensemble of the Masters of Iranian Music” under the direction of Farāmarz Pāyvar, alongside Ali-Aṣghar Bahārī, Sayyed Muhammad Mūsavī, and Muhammad Esmā‛īlī. In addition to numerous performances in Iran, Europe, and the United States, this ensemble released several music albums with vocalists such as Muhammad-Reza Shajarīān and Shahram Nāẓerī; among them enteẓār-e del [Yearning of the Heart [ and khalvat-guzīde [The Solitary One [ featuring Shajarīān, and del-e sheydā ]The Enraptured Heart[, Leylī va Majnūn, and kunsert-e ustādān-e mūsīqī-ye Iran ]Concert of the Masters of Iranian Music[ featuring Nāẓerī.

During the 1980s and 1990s/1360s and 1370s, vocalists such as Ali-Aṣghar Shah-Zeydī, Ali Rustamīyān, Alī-Reza Eftekhārī, Īraj Basṭāmī, Ḥesām-al-Dīn Serāj, and ‛Abdul-Hussein Mukhtābād collaborated with Shahnāz. Throughout these two decades, Shahnāz—particularly alongside his contemporaries such as Parvīz Yāḥaqī and Humāyūn Khurram—gave numerous stage performances and recorded many solo pieces.⁷

From the early 2000s/1380s, old age distanced Shahnāz from performing. In October 2003/Mehr 1382, he was recognized as a Permanent Figure of Iranian Music and performed the tār publicly for the last time. In July 2004/Tīr 1383, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance awarded him a first-class honorary artistic certificate, and in August 2006/Murdād 1385 a ceremony of appreciation was held for him at Tehran’s farhang-sarā Hunar [Hunar Cultural Center]. Muhammad-Reza Shajarīyān and Dāryūsh Pīrnīāyākān praised his artistic mastery; in 2008/1387, Shajarīān named his musical ensemble the “Shahnāz Ensemble” in his honor.

Jalīl Shahnāz passed away on 17 June 2013/27 Khurdād 1392 and was laid to rest in the Artists’ Section of Behesht-e Zahrā Cemetery in Tehran. From his first marriage he had two sons, and from his second marriage four daughters and one son.⁸

Shahnāz belonged to a generation of musicians who advanced the art of improvisation in Iranian music. He performed his improvised phrases largely on the basis of his own repertoire and personal interpretations, and he inclined to the style of ‛Abdul-Hussein Shahnāzī. His collaboration with the gulhā programs played an important role in shaping his personal style. The use of the microphone enabled him to regulate dynamics and to shape the rises and falls of melodic lines. He possessed a distinctive technique in meḍrāb (plectrum technique) and panje-kārī (left-hand finger work), and by employing kande-kārī (ornamental plucking), vibratos, takīyes (grace-note pressures), left-hand slides, rīz patterns (rapid reiterations), and strong, clear durrābs (forceful double-strokes) alongside delicate single strokes of the right hand, he endowed his phrases with richness, variety, and expressive nuance.⁹

Shahnāz possessed remarkable creativity and skill in performing ḍarbī pieces (metrical compositions). Following the customary style of the gulhā programs, he often began his rhythmic passages in heavy 6/4 meters and then moved to energetic chahār-meḍrāb patterns (lively 6/8 rhythmic motifs). Symmetry and dialogue between the lower and upper registers of the tār, variations in dynamics, deliberate silences, and at times breaking or altering the established meter were among the defining features of his rhythmic performances. Although Shahnāz displayed his artistry most prominently in solo playing, he generally assumed an accompanying role in ensemble performances, seeking to provide space for other musicians to present their work.

His mastery in javāb-e āvāz (instrumental response to vocal improvisation) was widely renowned, and many vocalists were eager to perform with him. With a precise understanding of the prosodic meters of Persian poetry, Shahnāz followed and elaborated the singer’s melodic phrases on his instrument.¹⁰ His command of the subtleties of vocal intonation was so profound that Muhammad-Reza Shajarīān, the master vocalist of Iran, regarded Shahnāz’s phrasing as one of the principal models of his own singing and described himself as an indirect student of Shahnāz’s playing.¹¹

Although Shahnāz had neither the inclination nor the opportunity to train many students, numerous tār players followed his style, among them Shahram Mīrjalālī (b. 1959/1338). Several collections of Shahnāz’s improvisations have been released, including zabān-e tār ]The Language of the Tār[, eftekhār-e āfāq ]Pride of the Horizons[, ‛eshq va zendegī ]Love and Life[, daftar-e tār ]The Tār Notebook[,  and tār va terme ]Tār and Terme[. In these recordings, tumbak players such as Jahāngīr Malek, Nāṣer Eftetāḥ, Nāṣer Farhangfar, Muhammad Esmā‛īlī, and Faryār Dībā—the maternal grandson of Shahnāz—collaborated with him. The short shūr prelude in the radio program yek shākheh gul, no. 385, is also among his performances. Most contemporary Iranian musicians, despite diverse styles and preferences, have praised Shahnāz’s mastery in tār playing and have recalled his wit and spontaneous humor.¹²

/ Valiollah Kavousi /

Bibliography

Alīzāde, Hussein. “bā mardum va nah ham-sath-e mardum: darbāre-ye ustād Jalīl Shahnāz ke sāzash favarān-e eḥsās va khalāqīyyat ast.” Tajrube, new series, no. 21, April–May 2013/Urdībehesht–Khurdād 1392.

Behrūzī, Shāpūr. chehre-hā-ye mūsīqī-ye Iran. Tehran: Ketābsarā, 1988/1367.

Ḍīyā, Reza. “dhekr-e jamīl-e Jalīl.” Kargadan, no. 79, February 2018/Bahman 1396.

Fakhr al-Dīnī, Āzarm & Fakhr al-Dīnī, Farhād. sharḥ-e bī-nehāyat: khāṭerāt-e mushtarak-e Āzarm va Farhād Fakhr al-Dīnī. Tehran: Nashr-e Qaṭre, 2013/1392.

Ḥanāne, Shahīn. pusht-e darīche-hā: guft-va-gū bā hamsarān-e hunarmandān, vol. 2. Tehran: Sedā-ye Mu‛āṣer, 1997/1376.

Humāyī, Jalāl al-Dīn. tārīkh-e Isfahan: mujaled-e hunar va hunarmandān. Ed. Māhdukht Bānū Humāyī. Tehran: Pazhūheshgāh-e ‛Ulūm-e Ensānī va Muṭāle‛āt-e Farhangī, 1996/1375.

Husseynī Dehkurdī, Murtaḍā. “murūrī bar zendegī va āthār-e Jalīl Shahnāz.” Chīstā, vol. 26, no. 10, July 2009/1388.

Kassāʾī, Muhammad-Javād. “tu khud yek chīzī va chandīn-heẓārī: ustād Jalīl Shahnāz.” Hunar-e Mūsīqī, no. 43, May 2003/Urdībehesht 1382.

Kavousi, Valiollah. “Shahnāz Hamnavāz.” Sharq, no. 1762, 20 June 2013/30 Khurdād 1392.

Setāyeshgar, Mahdi. vāzhe-nāme-ye mūsīqī-ye Iran-zamīn, vol. 3: nām-nāme-ye mūsīqī-ye Iran-zamīn. Tehran: Ettelā‛āt, 1997/1376.

Shahnāz, Jalīl. “Jalīl Shahnāz: jān-māye-ye mūsīqī-ye mā ‛eshq va ekhlāṣ ast” (interview). Adabestān-e Farhang va Hunar, no. 22, October 1991/Mehr 1370.

Shahrnāzdār, Muḥsen. “sandī az ahammīyyat-e yek farhang: darbāre-ye ustād Jalīl Shahnāz ke chekīde-ye mūsīqī-ye Iran ast.” Tajrube, new series, no. 21, April–May 2013/Urdībehesht–Khurdād 1392.

Shajarīyān, Muhammad-Reza. “dar sūg-e Tāj Esfahānī, buzurg-mard-e āvāz-e Iran.” Ketāb-e Cherāgh, vol. 2, Winter 1981/1360.

Shajarīyān, Muhammad-Reza. rāz-e mānā: dīdgāh-hā, zendegī va āthār-e ustād-e āvāz-e Iran Muhammad-Reza Shajarīyān. Interviews and compilation by Muḥsen Gūdarzī, Muhammad-Javād Ghulām-Reza Kāshī, and Ali-Aṣghar Ramaḍān-Pūr. Tehran: Gām-e Nu, 2006/1385.

Zarrīn-Naqsh, Muzhgān. “guzāresh-e nekūdāsht-e ustād Jalīl Shahnāz va yādmān-e Darvīsh Khān.” Hunar-e Mūsīqī, no. 74, September 2006/1385.

1. See: Kassāʾī, p. 5; Shajarīyān, 1981/1360, p. 204.[↩]
2. Shahnāz, p. 27; Kassāʾī, ibid.[↩]
3. Kassāʾī, ibid.; Shahrnāzdār, p. 104.[↩]
4. Humāyī, p. 255.[↩]
5. Ḥanāne, p. 127[↩]
6. Āzarm Fakhr al-Dīnī and Farhād Fakhr al-Dīnī, p. 196; Behrūzī, vol. 1, p. 433.[↩]
7. See: Setāyeshgar, vol. 3, p. 323; Husseynī Dehkurdī, pp. 113–114.[↩]
8. Āzarm Fakhr al-Dīnī and Farhād Fakhr al-Dīnī, pp. 733–734; Zarrīn-Naqsh, pp. 14–17; Ḥanāne, vol. 2, p. 127.[↩]
9. Alīzāde, p. 103; Shahrnazdār, pp. 104–105.[↩]
10. See: Kavousi, p. 11; Shahrnazdār, p. 105.[↩]
11. Shajarīyān, 2006/1385, p. 212.[↩]
12. See: Alīzāde, p. 103; Ḍīyā, pp. 59–61.[↩]