Went and not heard the sad tune of my song’s resonance…

A Look at Stars Hubbub, (Art Memoirs of Homayoun Khorram)

Note: In the evening of January 17, art and music world of Iran mourned in memory of one of the most distinguished professors and composers, Homayoun Khorram. Leading artist’s death gave us an opportunity to introduce his Memoirs to our dear readers. Recording the Memoirs of elite like him is an imperative for the next generation and we hope that all the artists and elite of our country consider it more than previous. Also, we hope that they make their story indelible for the people’s history before they pass away.

Although in a singer-based music world, composers’ and musicians’ dignity is not well-known for the public as it deserves, there are few authors in the rich Iranian music scene who has left eternal and original works, which not only overshadow the so-called popular singers in their lifetime, but also the reputation of their ability and mastery in music remained in people’s cultural memory after their death.
Undoubtedly, Homayoun Khorram is one of the Iranian musicians whose name cannot be forgotten easily. And several generations’ memoirs are connected with his works, and by hearing any of his songs and melodies, they remember their memoirs.
About one year ago, I received a relatively thick art memoirs book of Homayoun Khorram. That was a valuable treasure of information about several decades of musical activities by this master composer and violinist.
Although, by its name, the book seems to contain Homayoun Khorram’s art memoirs, one can see parts of his private life such as, his school, military service and engineering work memoirs (in Amir-Kabir Dam).
This book has six chapters and the first chapter has glimpse to Homayoun Khorram’s art life from birth to his activities in radio before the Islamic Revolution. Memoirs of childhood, education, and training violin with professor Saba, military service and working with radio formed the prologue of this book. Also, it is filled by Homayoun Khorram’s short and readable memoirs from Iranian traditional music artists.
But the notable point of his childhood memoirs which attracts the attention is his parent’s caring to Homayoun’s education and their intellectual and wisdom in flourishing and ripening his talent. If Homayoun had grown in another family his life’s direction would have changed and this way, his ability and talent in music was flourished. In some memoirs of this chapter we read that his mother’s interest in Dastgah-e Homayoun  encouraged her to name him Homayoun. This indicates his mother’s knowledge and understanding of classical Persian music. Next thing is mother's treatment to Homayoun’s childish mischief when he used firewood instead of violin, which eventually led to purchasing a violin for quenching his music thirst. His father was not alien to traditional music either. He was educated and intellectual, and in addition to encouraging Homayoun to continue higher education and get a degree in electrical engineering, patronized him to academic training in music and more attention to its theoretical issues. Socializing with the families of prominent artists such as Abolhassan Varzi was also effective in his progression to Saba school.
With reverence, Homayoun Khorram devotes the entire of chapter two to Abolhassan Khan Saba to whom Iran’s music owes a lot, and Homayoun owes all his artistic life to him. This section also contains memoirs of how he entered to Saba classes, class’s status, teaching method, playing style and Saba’s students. Especially, Saba’s teaching method had amazing difference with today’s music education methods; so that, the reader feels sympathetic with the difficulty of his students’ violin practices and his teaching methods! Homayoun Khorram offers a different reason for this way of teaching and certainly, he believes that Saba was looking for those who loved music, and honestly, only the music lovers could give such practice lessons from master! It is convincible that most of Saba’s students left his classes at early stages of training, for good.
The third chapter contains Homayoun Khorram’s interesting memoirs from the songwriters of his era. At first, it may seem strange why a composer and musician devoted a chapter of his memoirs to his songwriter colleagues. Early in very chapter, Homayoun answers to this reader’s possible question, and says:
“When it comes to talking about the Iranian music, the audience asked: “Who is the singer?” not “Who is the player?”” He continues the Europe music does not need words and considered the Iranian instrumental music as "incomplete and inadequate" art, which seems to be a truth.
In this chapter, the author expresses his memoirs of famous songwriters such as, Touraj Negahban, Rahim Moeeni Kermanshahi, Bijan Taraghi, Karim Fakoor, Rahi Moayeri, Simin Behbahani, Mohammad Ali Shirazi, Ebtehaj and etc, while he quotes parts of their songs, sometimes offers brief description about the music and its features and cites related memoirs interestingly.
Fourth chapter is dedicated to the Homayoun Khorram’s memory of singers who worked with him. Undoubtedly, several decades of activity in music have allowed Homayoun Khoorram to be associated with many singers, musicians and composers and making friends with many close ones. Entering music scene at early age made him a well-known master musician and composer among the age of 18-19.
In another part of this chapter, Khorram frequently mentions of Professor Mahmoud Karimi in his diary and introduces him as the first singer who performed his works. Also, Shapur Khonsari and Bahram siyar and Amin Ullah Rashidi were singers who performed the first songs of Homayoun Khorram. Then, he points out to how he began to work with Mirazie, which before, in the prologue chapter, dealt with in detail. Mr. Khorram, although at the earlier chapter cites his memoirs of singers like Delkash, Marziyeh, Parvin and so on, in this chapter, specifically and elaborately, completes his diary; particularly the memoirs of his first cooperation with Delkash, which resulted in disagreement and eventually a halt in working with her. At the meantime, Marziyeh used the opportunity and began working with Khorram. Years later, by observing the successes of singers who have worked with Khorram, Delkash revised her attitude and their cooperative began by the song of “World of Loneliness”.
Chapter five, “In Memory of Some Artists”, is an elaborated chapter about Khorram’s distributed memoirs of other musicians over the years of his artistic activities. This chapter, which contains nearly a third of the book, is full of various memoirs of Khorram with over seventy Iranian musicians, singers, composers and songwriters like, Gholam Hossein Banaan, Ghamar-ul-Molook Vaziri, Ruhollah Khaleghi, Morteza Khan-e Ney-Dvood, Javad Ma’roofi and ..., among them one can find subtle and readable points which have not been cited in any other book. In this chapter, the function of writing memoirs can be seen clearly in its historic role and despite its infancy in Iran, it has left deep and profound effects on illumination of dark angles of cultural and artistic history of the country; sometimes the reader laments why dead artists buried their memoirs with them in some points in the book.
Last chapter includes the discussion of Ali Vakili with Homayoun Khorram which is particularly done for the ending part of Khorram’s artistic memoirs book. In this discussion, by posing fundamental questions, questioner familiars the reader with the tenderness of Khorram’s composition and improvisation and also recalls fancies and delicacies which Homayoun Khorram offers in his everlasting works.
The book ends with two appendixes. First appendix contains a few memorable poems and statements from music and poetry professionals about Homayoun Khorram. Second appendix includes the list of all the activities he was involved in music. This appendix helps music fans to become more familiar with valuable works of this Iranian composer and violinist.
With all beauties and interesting memoirs, this book is not without flaws. In the prologue, Homayoun Khorram points out to some singer’s memoirs that overlap with the contents of other chapters of the book and it was better if he would bring them in their basic place to avoid dispersal of material and rehash. At first glance, it seems that the book, Star Hubbub, has been developed and compiled with the aim of publishing a material that comes only in the prologue. But then, by adding some memoirs and supplements and addressing to details of Khorram’s memoirs with other artists - which is more like expanded and detailed description of book’s prologue - publisher has come to conclusion that to increase the actual volume of book several times.
However, the eloquence and intimacy used by professor Khorram in expression of his memoirs, has caused every line of book become a striking and readable work. Besides expressing the detailed diary, He has avoided, as far as he could, of the hypertext rant that is boring for the reader. And he briefly, but accurately conveyed memory’s delicacy, so that through the seven hundred pages memoirs of a master Khorram, not only the reader feels no fatigue and malaise at all, but his passion for reading the next pages increases.
However, the passing away of Homayoun Khorram is a deplorable event for Iranians and the music that for years lived with the sound of his violin and his eternal melodies.

Commemorate to his memory...

Naser Zaaghari Tafreshi, Tehran, 22nd Jan 2013
Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian