(1906-1958) musician and prominent performer of the qaranei (clarinet).
VAZIRITABĀR, Ḥosayn-ʿAli (b. Tehran, 1285 Š./1906; d. Tehran, 1337 Š./1958) musician and prominent performer of the qaranei (clarinet). Because of the technical structure of the clarinet, which is a Western musical instrument, it is very difficult to use it to play Persian melodies. Vaziritabār was the first person to do so.
Vaziritabār was a music enthusiast from childhood. He entered the military music conservatory (Madrasa-ye musiqi-e neẓām), joining the military music band (Dasta-ye muzik-e neẓām) shortly thereafter. He later entered the government conservatory (Madrasa-ye musiqi-e dowlati) to learn the fundamentals of music and the performance of the clarinet (Ḵāleqi, p. 149), after which he studied the various Persian music repertoires with Ebrāhim Manṣuri, the renowned violinist. He later went to Iraq and worked as an instructor of music in the Iranian schools there. On his return to Iran, Vaziritabār decided to continue his education in music and entered Honarestān-e ʿāli-e musiqi, obtaining a diploma in music from that institute. After graduation, he traveled to the city of Shiraz and taught music to elementary and high school students for four years. rafter returning to Tehran, he joined Radio Tehran, as well as the orchestra of Anjoman-e musiqi-e melli (National Music Society) as a clarinetist. When the Golhā music program began on Radio Tehran, Vaziritabār joined and became one of its principal members (Naṣirifar, pp. 66-71). .
Despite the fact that Vaziritabar had a large number of students, none of them succeeded in performing Persian melodies on the clarinet as expertly as he did himself. For this reason Ru ḥ-Allāh Ḵ āleqi declared Vaziritabā to be matchless in performing Persian melodies on the clarinet, considering his work to be unique.
Bibliography
- R. Ḵaleqi, Sargo ḏ ašt-e musiqi-e Irān, III, Tehran, 2002, p. 150.
- Ḥ. Naṣirifar, Mardān-e musiqi-e sonnati wa novin-e Irān, I, 4th ed., Tehran, 1991, pp. 66-71.