Mehdi Hosseini

Mehdi Hosseini’s “Monodies” in concert POST SCRIPTUM

admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:00:46 +0000

Presenting “Post Scriptum” Monday, March 12^th 2012 in the Chamber Hall of the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory. Iranian composer Mehdi Hosseini’s “Monodies” will be performed by the New music ensemble Sound Ways under the direction of American conductor Brad Everett Cawyer. Mr. Hosseini has dedicated this work to 20^th century Italian composer Luciano Berio. Its world premier was in the Glinka Hall of the Saint-Petersburg State Philharmonic on the opening day of the 23^rd International New Music Festival “Sound Ways.”

Hosseini often uses the word monodies not only as the title of his composition, but also as a musical term; by which he means the characteristics of single voice structures, adapting themselves to any musical texture. The composer recently had a new recording published in Tehran, which also takes on the title Monodis. For this album he collected compositions which were written based on regional folk tunes from different parts of Iran. The album was recorded in Russia by well-known local soloists, ensembles, and the Saint-Petersburg State Philharmonic Orchestra and State Academic Orchestra. All of the compositions were written between 2003 and 2009.

In the last few years, Mehdi Hosseini has been actively participating in contemporary music projects local to St. Petersburg, the “Cultural Capital of Russia.” His music is regularly performed in such festivals as St. Petersburg Musical Spring, Contemporary East and West, Contemporary Past, Sound Ways and others. His music has been performed in concert by orchestras such as The St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra and more. Works of Hosseini have been published by theCompozitor Publishing House Saint-Petersburg.

Hosseini made an invaluable contribution to the development of the St. Petersburg cultural scene in 2010 when he opened the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center “reMusik.org”

Iranian composer Mehdi Hosseini was born in 1979 in Tehran. Hosseini began his musical training in Iran, studying Persian music and the fundaments of composition under the guidance of Farhad Fakhreddini.

Following his studies in Iran, Hosseini finished his Master’s degree at the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with Professor Alexander Minatsakanian and his Doctor of Music degree (DMA) in Composition with Sergei Slonimsky. Hosseini also studied composition with composer Nigel Osborn, worked on problems of music theory under the direction of professor T. Bershadskaya, and is presently a Doctoral Candidate of Musicology at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory.

News source: PetersburgCITY News. February 23, 2012.

The world premiere of composer Mehdi Hosseini’s composition “Monodies”

admin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:45:35 +0000

The world premiere of composer Mehdi Hosseini’s composition “Monodies” will take place on the 21st November as part of the opening day of the 23rd Annual International New Music Festival “Sound Ways”, in the Glinka Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The work will be performed by the Sound Ways New Music Ensemble under the direction of American conductor Brad Cawyer.

This year, the opening day of the festival is dedicated to the “Italian Project” in honor of the year of Russia in Italy and Italy in Russia. Hosseini’s “Monodies” fits within this idea in that it is dedicated to Italian 20th century composer Luciano Berio. The name “Monodies” has been used quite often in the composer’s recent works, in that, at the present moment, he is devoting a significant amount of attention to the embodiment of his musical ideas into a single-voiced style, using the sounds of the traditional music of Persia and mixing them with western trends.

In the last year, Mehdi Hosseini has been actively participating in contemporary music projects in St. Petersburg, the “Cultural Capital” of Russia. His music is regularly performed in such festivals as “St. Petersburg Musical Spring,” “Contemporary East and West,” “Contemporary Past,” “Sound Ways” and others. His music has been performed by ensembles such as The St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, The St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra and others. Also, some of the works of Hosseini have been published by St. Petersburg publishing house “Kompozitor.”

Hosseini made an invaluable contribution to the development of the St. Petersburg cultural scene by opening the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center “reMusik.org” in 2010.

Following his studies in Iran, Hosseini finished his Master’s degree at the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with professor A. Mnatsakanyan and finished his Doctor of Music degree (DMA) in Composition with Sergei Slonimsky. Hosseini also studied composition with composer N. Osborna and worked on problems of music theory under the direction of professor T. Bershadskaya.

Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber orchestra

admin — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:57:56 +0000

On the 1st of October 2011 on the International Day of Music in St. Petersburg, Russia, the music of Iranian composer Mehdi Hosseni will be performed. His Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra will be conducted by Igor Ponomarenko (Russia). This work of Hosseni was composed in 2008 and is based on the regional Iranian music “Torbat-e Jam.” The world premier of this work took place in 2010 under the direction of Brad Cawyer (USA), conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

Listen to a fragment of Hosseini’s Concerto:

Mehdi Hosseni studied composition under the guidance of Prof. Sergei Slonimsky and received a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. The composer also studied composition with the Iranian master Farhad Fakhreddini in Tehran and with the Scottish composer Nigel Osborne in Austria. Mehdi Hosseni in the last few years in Russia has been active as a composer, as a promoter of contemporary music. His music is often performed in different festivals and also is performed by various orchestras. The scores of Hosseni are published by the historic publisher “Compozitor” in St. Petersburg. At present, Hosseni is the founder and director of the St. Petersburg Center of Contemporary Music “reMusik.org.” The last collection of his compositions, which is named “Monodies,” has been released in Tehran in October 2011, by the “Arghanoon Records.”

News source: Payvand News. October 01, 2011.

Ancient Persian Music to Broaden Russia’s Cultural Boundaries

admin — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:06:20 +0000

By Kremena Krumova
Epoch Times Staff

June 11 – 17, 200

The Association for Contemporary Music of the St. Petersburg Composers Union will present “Concerto for Baluch (for six instruments)” composed by the Iranian-born composer Mehdi Hosseini. The six instruments of the composition are alto flute, contrabassoon, horn, xylophone, violin, and violoncello. The world premiere of the Concerto, which will be staged on June 11 in St. Petersburg, is inspired by Persian folk music. It will endeavor to uplift the audience’s souls and “create an atmosphere of openness to the plight of others.” The music will be performed by selected soloists from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Brad Cawyer, an American musician currently establishing a career in Russia, will be the conductor. “My composition was selected for inclusion in this program by Association Director Georgy Firtich. Through this performance, he hopes to foster cultural understanding,” composer Mehdi Hosseini shared with The Epoch Times.

On Baluch and Iranian Folklore

In a special online interview, composer Mehdi Hosseini explained that Baluch is a name for a Persian ethnic group that inhabits a region in Southwest Asia. They speak their own Balochi language. The source materials for the composition are folk songs from two of the driest provinces in Iran—Sistan and Baluchestan.

Mehdi Hosseini began the Baluch compositional process by transcribing a recording made by a veteran dunali (doneli) player, Master Shir Mohammad Spandar from the region of Baluchestan.

The dunali is an end-blown flute which is usually played solo. It is said that some people go into a trance when exposed to the sound of this rare musical instrument. In this particular recording, Spandar made use of a number of Magam: Liku, Delgani, Zuljalal-Guati, and some other famous songs from the region.

Magam (also spelled as a Mugham or Mugam) is very closely linked to the Persian musical tradition and represents a monodic music system, similar to an Indian Raga. It is not limited only to Iran but is used widely in the Middle East and Far East.

“I started to work on the Concerto in February this year and finished it just three weeks ago—on the whole it took about four months. But I have to say that it took so long because I was working on two other projects at the same time.”

‘Persian music is like a Persian carpet, with solid form and structure, and great intricacy’

The most common belief about Persian music is that it is based on modal systems. However, on closer examination of the functional organization and sound materials of the music itself, this is not absolute.

“At the heart of my work is the question of how Persian regional music relates to a monodic structure that can be perceived as both functional within itself and, at the same time, connected to modal and macro-/microtonal systems. By ‘monody’ I mean a system where context is determined from note to note, as opposed to the harmonic system where context is developed from chord to chord. The aspect of modal and macro-/microtonal systems is most easily heard by Western ears as an “out-of-tune” scale sound.”

Throughout Persia regional folk music differs from Western music in that it is based on unequal temperament. Western music uses an equal temperament system which was developed in Europe in the 18th century. Equal temperament gives equal space between each of the twelve chromatic tones that comprise an octave.

Persian folk music, like most folk music worldwide, is built on non-regular intervals. To many people this is noticeable as the “out-of-tune” playing that they hear in Indian, Arabic, or Chinese music.

In his music, Mehdi Hosseini strives to explore the intersection of traditional Eastern music and neo-contemporary musical language. He believes that a monodic system can be generally understood as an experimental type of composition that proposes a new view towards folk music—a view that emphasizes the importance of the multiple sound forms used in this system as well as the rich heritage of regional music.

“When I compose, my task is to find the instruments which can be designed to use microtones as real function, not just as effect. For me, instrument means color, and I need all possible colors in my search.

My compositions use a wide range of instruments—typically orchestral instruments which I sometimes incorporate in non-classical combinations. I have composed for string quartets, something even Haydn was composing for, and also for a sextet which included an alto flute and contrabassoon. These instruments are typically only used within the context of really large orchestras.”

Persian classical music, collectively known as the Radif (row) consists of many ancient pieces that are called “Gusheh.” The Radif is fundamentally a repertoire of melodies collected by different people and added at different times. This repertoire is not like Western art music which is composed and intended to be played exactly as written.

Instead Gusheh is made up of traditional melodies, many of which are derived from popular and folk sources. The Radif is organized into twelve groups, seven of which are known as basic monodic structures called “Dastgah” (system). The five remaining are accepted as secondary or derivative Dastgahs and are called “Naghmeh” (chant) or “Avaz” (song).

“Persian music is like a Persian carpet, with solid form and structure and great intricacy. Yet, for the most part, it has remained unknown in the West,” Hosseini added.

From Iran to Russia

Before going to Russia, Mehdi Hosseini was already working as a composer with Iranian National TV and other media corporations in Tehran. To broaden his experience, the 30-year-old composer moved to the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He was very satisfied with his studies and formed strong relationships with his teachers.

He also came into contact with many foreign musicians—some who had come to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and others, to give concerts. Thus, Mehdi became friends with many skilled foreign musicians who regularly organized concerts in the city and in other countries. In St. Petersburg, the cultural program is quite rich with concerts every day. Many of the performances are presented by highly accomplished musicians.

“However, I have to say that I have never limited myself concerning my compositional style. I always try to be myself. I have adopted neither the style of the Russians nor that of any other national music system. I still depend greatly on Eastern culture for comprehending the reality which my music attempts to explain.”

’The responsibility of the composer is to strive for the highest human values’

Mehdi Hosseini concludes that the role and responsibility of the composer—and of all art as a whole—is to strive for the highest human values. It is to remain focused on the real purpose of art.

“Art does not give birth to morality, but, rather, the opposite—only by adhering to high ethical standards are people capable of creating art—the art of the good word, good act, good thought, etc.”

“People of all nations—of any philosophical or religious perspective—should not forget that all these schools of thought are simply paths to high ethical standards. It is these standards which form the moral paths that lead humanity to spiritual fullness. A composer is no exception to this truth.”

External Links:

Великая Эпоха: древнеперсидская музыка в России

Epoch Times Deutschland: Alte persische Musik in Russland

Mehdi Hosseini’s “Pause” at Sound Ways festival

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:08:25 +0000

The 22nd Sound Ways New Music Festival opening concert will take place at St. Petersburg State Philharmonia’s Hall. In this opening concert a new work entitled “Pause” by Iranian composer Mehdi Hosseini will be performed by the Sound Ways ensemble, conducted by the American conductor B.E.Cawyer.

“Pause” is dedicated to the topic of Chekhov’s silent dramaturgy. It was commissioned by the Sound Ways festival. This year, the opening concert of the festival is dedicated to Anton Chekhov.

Works by Mehdi Hosseini are often performed during various St.-Petersburg festivals, e.g. “St.Petersburg Musical Spring”, “Contemporary East and West”, “A Reverse Perspective”, “St.Petersburg Renaissance”, “Trajectories of Petersburg Avantgarde”, “Contemporary Past”, including the Sound Ways Festival. You can hear his music performed by such orchestras as the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Academic Symphony Orchestra. A number of his works have been published by Compozitor St. Petersburg.

Following his studies in Iran with Farhad Fakhreddini, Hosseini finished his Master’s degree at the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with Professor Alexander Minatsakanian and his Doctor of Music degree (DMA) in Composition with Sergei Slonimsky. Hosseini also studied composition with composer Nigel Osborn, worked on problems of music theory under the direction of professor T. Bershadskaya, and is presently a Doctoral Candidate of Musicology at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory.

News source: Payvand News. November 24, 2010.

II International Music Festival “Contemporary past”

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 03:18:12 +0000

On 23 and 27 June II International music festival “Contemporary past” will be held in St. Petersburg state philharmonic hall where 2 pieces by Iranian composer Mehdi Hosseini will be represented.

On 23 June the famous St. Petersburg pianist Alexey Glazkov will play for the first time Chahargah along with music by other guest composers at the festival which this year is dedicated to American Music, a XX century. This festival will be held by Art-Modern foundation whose artistic director is Albert Barbeta.

On 27 June another premiere opus by Mehdi Hosseini based on Unfinished draft, a poem by Vladimir Nabokov, will be performed by Avant-garde and wind quintet of Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Alexis Soriano (Spain).

In the past year Mehdi Hosseini was the focus of attention in Russia as a composer and his research abilities as a ethnomusicologist and theorist. His works represent different genres – from ensemble to symphony, and are performed during such festivals as St. Petersburg Musical Spring, Contemporary East and West, A Reverse Perspective, Trajectories of Petersburg Avant-Garde. Hosseini’s music has been performed by Saint-Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra and the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

Mehdi Hosseini was born in Teheran in 1979. His music education began in Teheran with the famous Iranian composer Farhad Fakhreddini and continued in St. Petersburg conservatory in the class directed by Professor Alexander Minatsakonyan and then he completed a postgraduate course directed by composer Sergei Slonimsky. Apart from his education in Russia, Mr. Hosseini has also been a student of the composer Nigel Osborne.

News source: Payvand News. Jun 18, 2010.

The World premiere of Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra by Mehdi Hosseini

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:52:51 +0000

The Saint-Petersburg State Philharmonic Hall will host the World premiere of the Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra by Mehdi Hosseini on May 23.
Conducted by the American musician Brad Cawyer, the Saint-Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra will perform it.
The world premiere of this concerto, which utilizes folk music material from the area surrounding the ancient city of Torbat-e Jam in Iran, is dedicated to Nigel Osborne, mentor to Hosseini.

Following the performance, the St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Orchestra will be recording for Hosseini’s next compact disk, which will include the Concerto for String Quartet and will be released in Iran.

Mehdi Hosseini was born in 1979 in Tehran, he studied music theory, Persian music and composition with Master Farhad Fakhredini. He later completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Composition at the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Apart from his education in Russia, Hosseini has also been a student of the composer Nigel Osborne. He has demonstrated his creative capabilities as a composer and his research abilities as an ethnomusicologist and theorist.

Hosseini has written symphonic music and chamber orchestra pieces for ensembles and soloists in various compositional genres. At its core, his music reflects his on-going research into the astonishing variety of Persian regional folk music.

News source: Tehran Times. April 5, 2010.

Mehdi Hosseini in 45th International festival “St. Petersburg Musical Spring”

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:26:06 +0000

Presenting “Peshtpa” will take place on the 15 May, 2010 as part of the 45^th international music festival “ST. PETERSBURG MUSICAL SPRING”.

The Peshtpa by Mehdi Hosseini was completed in 2009. It is based on Kurdish Music. The work is scored for Oboe, Bass Clarinet, and Violoncello. The Trio presented first time at the International Conference A REVERSE PERSPECTIVE which was included on a program that is dedicated to the anniversaries of the births of Pushkin (210 years), Gogol (200 years), and Futurism (100 years).

The Peshtpa is a dance tune from Kurdistan. Cyclic dances and chain dances are the two most important categories to which Kurdish dances are classified. In both of them maghams are played in sequence in a defined order, usually from slow movements to rapid ones. The major center of these dances is Sanandaj and its peripheries. Pehstpa as a cyclic dance begins after Garyan and has slightly faster movements. In this type of dance the feet hit to the back of leg, hence the term Peshtpa which means “behind the leg”.

Listen to a fragment of Hosseini’s Peshtpa:

Mehdi Hosseini was born in 1979 in Tehran. He began his musical training in Iran, studying Persian music and the fundaments of composition under the guidance of Farhad Fakhreddini.

His music and style has demonstrated his creative capabilities as a composer and his research abilities as a ethnomusicologist and theorist. Hosseini has written symphonic music and chamber orchestra pieces for ensembles and soloists in various compositional genres. At its core, his music reflects his on-going research into the astonishing variety of Persian regional folk music and, in particular, the structure of Magham music. Mehdi Hosseini’s works show a strong monodic music influence, originally interpreted and incorporated into a personal style.

His music achieves a subtle fusion of contemporary composition and ancient Persian musical traditions which can be heard in his Quartets, which utilize folk material from Northern Khorestan and Bakhtiari; his Symphony of Monody, which is based on Lorestan songs; and his 2008 Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra, which finds its source in the Magham of southeastern region of Torbate-jam.

Mehdi Hosseini Presenting “Taleshi Hava” in memory of Italian composer “Luigi Nono”

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:07:13 +0000

Mehdi Hosseini’s “Taleshi Hava” will be performed at the Chamber hall of the Saint-Petersburg State Conservatory, Russia on April 8, 2010. The piece, written for bassoon and violin, incorporates traditional melodies of the northern Iranian city of Talesh and it will be performed in the second part of the concert in memory of the Italian composer Luigi Nono. This composition was written in 2010 and will be recorded on the 9th of April 2010 by Raisa Ulumbekova (violin) and Konstantin Yakovlev (bassoon) in Saint-Petersburg.

Mehdi Hosseini was born in 1979 in Tehran. Hosseini began his musical training in Iran, studying Persian music and the fundaments of composition under the guidance of Farhad Fakhreddini.

News source: IRIB - English Radio. April 5, 2010.

Mehdi Hosseini work presented at Saint Petersburg Renaissance

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 01:21:24 +0000

Baluch for instrumental ensemble, recently completed by Mehdi Hosseini, has been selected for inclusion on the October 22nd concert in the series Saint Petersburg Renaissance, regularly presented at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The evening’s festivities are dedicated to remembrance of Russian composer Uri Kachurov and include presentations of present-day composers living in Saint Petersburg.

This performance will be given by an ensemble formed of soloists from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and is to be conducted by St. Petersburg-based American conductor Brad Cawyer who his career to include work in Russia.

Baluch was presented in part in June of this year, receiving a positive response, but at the upcoming concert it will be given in its full version for the first time in public performance.

Mehdi Hosseini was born in 1979, in Tehran, where he studied music theory, Persian music and composition with Farhad Fakhredini. He later completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Composition at Saint Petersburg State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. There he studied composition with Alexander Minatsakanian and afterwards took a postgraduate course with the composer Sergei Slonimsky and conducted research on Eastern music with Professor Tatiana Bershadskaya. Apart from his education in Russia, Mr. Hosseini has also been a student of the composer Nigel Osborne.

In the latest news about Hosseini and his work, Compozitor Publisher has selected the composer’s String Quartet No. 2 for publishing in October, followed next year by his Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra. Kompozitor Publishing is the oldest publishing house for music literature in Russia; the majority of its output focuses on representatives of the St. Petersburg composition school, printing the works of classic authors such as Glinka and also contemporary greats like Slonimsky.