For Flute trio

Visuals: edited from Le Vent des amoureux (1978) ... aka "The Lovers' Wind" by Albert Lamorisse

Premiered by Areon Flutes

Hot Air Music Festival 2015

March 15, 2015

San Francisco Conservatory of Music Osher Salon

 

 

Notes:

“Bāde Sabā” (The Lovers’ Wind) (2015)

When Albert Lamorisse, French filmmaker and the creator of the film “Red Balloon” (1956) was asked by the Iranian Ministry of Culture in 1970 to travel to Iran and to create a documentary about the landscape, people, culture and technological advancements of Iran, he never guessed that this was in fact part of Shah’s propaganda efforts to create a new image of his homeland as a modern industrial country in rest of the world’s eyes. In fact, after submitting the first batch of footages to the ministry, it was decided that he needs to come back to Iran and shoot more footages which would convey even more notions of an industrial Iran. It was in his return trip to Iran, where he unfortunately passed away in a helicopter crash while shooting footage of Amir Kabir dam. 

The piece, “Bāde Sabā” for flute trio and film, is in fact my response to this mesmerizing documentary by Lamorisse. I specifically edited the film into a 15-minute excerpt which consists of three sections and each section portrays a unique aspect of the documentary that glorifies the beauties of my homeland, Iran. It was extremely fascinating for me to see how Lamorisse finds beauty in the most obscured locations and situations throughout the film and this in fact inspired the piece immensely. 

Iran, such as many other ancient countries and cultures, takes its own time to develop, evolve and grow and the Shah’s effort to turn it into a western democracy in no time, in fact triggered the public discontent which eventually resulted in the Islamic revolution of 1979 led by Ayatollah Khomeini.