To be perfectly honest, as an Iranian composer with the lived experience of eastern music, I have never found “microtonality” and the approaches emerging from the discourse of “microtonality” precise and convincing—precise in the sense of the harmony of Bach’s Chorales or The Art of Fugue and Schoenberg’s Suite for Piano.
Album Title
Quark Mode I
by Ehsan Saboohi
Composer’s Note
To be perfectly honest, as an Iranian composer with the lived experience of eastern music, I have never found “microtonality” and the approaches emerging from the discourse of “microtonality” precise and convincing—precise in the sense of the harmony of Bach’s Chorales or The Art of Fugue and Schoenberg’s Suite for Piano.
To me, there is something lost within the term “microtonal”. Its strange mysterious quality bewilders me.
In the past decade, I have given this matter considerable thought, contemplating how I can explain my theory.
Finally, I came across “quark theory” in physics. Quarks are simply defined as “ultimate building blocks of visible matter in the universe”. Quarks are believed to be “elementary and fundamental particles” that in combination with each other form dual “composite particles”.
A similar concept, the idea of stable dual particles in ancient Persian literature, received particular attention in the “Zurvanist” culture. Historically, philosophers like Khayyam (in the Rubaiyat) and Morteza Hananeh in music composition paid special attention to this duality.
My music composition theory which I call the “Quark Mode” consists of fundamental particles that develop into stable dual particles. The raw material for the Quark Mode is a potential register consisting of 600 tones. In other words, the Quark Mode involves a 600-tone equal temperament (600-TET). The tones will have binary divisions with high levels of precision and clarity.
In my first presentation of this theory, I have used the “Radif of Iranian Music” as a basis to develop this innovative mode, which was performed by Niloufar Shahbazi.
I am well aware that I still have a long way to go to complete my theory of the “Quark Mode '' in Postorientalism Music, exploring dimensions such as theory of harmony, counterpoint structures, form, etc.
At the end of my note, I would like to express my gratitude to my dear and constant companions whose kindness over the years I appreciate:
Dr. Mohammad Reza Hashemi who has always been involved in translating texts and exchanging ideas.
Niloufar Shahbazi whose trust in the Post-Orientalism Association made the recording of the Kamancheh possible.
Dr. Ali Balighi, my respected friend and colleague, who mastered this musical rendition.
And, last but not least, my wife, without whom I would be nothing but a simple harmony teacher!
-Ehsan Saboohi
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
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