Extra-musical content and ways of its embodiment in the Concerto for Persian Ney and Orchestra “Toward That Endless Plain” by Reza Vali
Authors: Tavakkol Ekhsan 
Published: June 2020

Background. This article discusses the features of the program, the origins and symbolism of extra-musical images of the Concerto for Persian Ney and Orchestra “Toward That Endless Plain” by the Iranian-American composer of the XX–XXI centuries Reza Vali. There are also some features of the Concerto’s musical material analyzed: the form, instrumentation, and thematic, as well as the influence of Iranian musical traditions. There are no published scientific musicological materials devoted to the consideration of this Concerto from the point of view the comprehensive analysis. In periodical non-scientific literature, only four publications were found regarding this work. These include the article by the American writer Marakay Rogers, in which she gave a brief overview of the music of the Concerto and expressed her favorable impression of the composition. We also have the short article-annotation of American musicologist Brent Reidy and the article by American writer and journalist Lee Passarella written in connection with the release of the album, and the fragment of the interview by American musicologist Ellen Moysan with Reza Vali, where the composer spoke about the using Persian musical system in the Concerto for Ney and Orchestra. The purpose of this article is to consider the specifics of the Concert for Ney and Orchestra by R. Vali in the aspect of the author’s embodiment of the chosen program, as well as the peculiarities of Iranian traditional culture and music and their influence on professional academic music. Methods. The historical method was used to uncover the genesis of the “Sama” genre, also to study the genre features of the Concerto cycle; for considering the features of the structure and thematism of the Concerto the system-analytical method was used. Research results. The Concerto for Persian Ney and Orchestra “Toward That Endless Plain” was created by Reza Vali in Boston in 2003. In the composer’s legacy, this is the second big work in the concerto genre (for solo instrument and orchestra) and the first his work for an orchestra, which he composed on the base of the Persian traditional musical system. In addition to this Concerto, the composer wrote the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1992) and the Concerto for Kamanche and Ney with Orchestra (2009). The peculiarities of the musical material and its development are determined by the composer’s comprehension of the poem “Call of the Beginning” of the 20th century Iranian poet Sohrab Sepehri. Recreating the main images of the poem in the Concerto – the images of a mystic lonely traveler and aggressive surrounding world opposed to him – R. Vali touches on the topics of conflicting relations between an individuality and a society, the tragic panhuman events of our time, and also – of the searches of a lonely person on his spiritual path to God. Understanding the origins of the Concerto’s program and the essence of the images will allow performers and listeners to more deeply penetrate the spirit and idea of the composition. The program of the Concerto is presented as following: the name, epigraph, headings for each part and the author’s notes to the program. The theme, the idea, the content and the images of the Concerto and its connection with the tragic events of the modern world are expressed through the philosophy of Sufism and the symbols contained in it, that was used around 800 years ago by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi. Reza Vali believes that Sohrab Sepehri contacts the philosophy of ancient poets to the literature of the 20th century. To express the basic musical idea – the search for the path of a human to God and the achievement of unity with him – the composer turns to the solo timbre of the Persian wood wind instrument Ney, which is the bearer of the image of sadness, loneliness, separation from the motherland. The sound of Ney, associated with spiritual search, is presented in Parts I, II and III of the Concerto. In Prelude and Interlude, Ney does not play anything. The theme of the danger is embodied in the Prelude and Interlude through the atonal technique and dissonant sounds of the instruments of the symphony orchestra that associates with the tragic war events that threaten all of humanity and their consequences. R. Vali used both, the European musical (three-part) form and the structures inherent in Iranian music (the mosaic form in Parts I and III based on the classical repertoire of Iranian music (Radif), and the Nobat form in Part II). The structure of the cycle is due to the program concept; its specifics are two additional sections designated as Prelude (before Part I) and Interlude (between Parts II and III). The program led to a change in the sequence of tempo characteristics of the parts in the overall composition of the cycle, which is different from genre customary in a concerto of Western European music. In the R. Vali’s Concert, Parts I and III are slow and Part II is fast. All the headings of the parts correlate with the mystical philosophy of Sufism. The author represents the headings in the score in two languages – Iranian and English that allows a deeper clarification of their semantic characteristics: “Prelude” – “Сhezolm&#225;t” / “The Abyss”; Part I – “Gozar” / “Passage”; Part II – “S&#225;m&#226;” / “Ecstatic Dance”; “Interlude” – “Bargasht” / “Return to the Abyss”; Part III – “Foroud va F&#225;n&#226;” / “Descent and Dissolve”. In figuratively semantic plan, Prelude and Interlude are in opposition to the three main parts of the Concerto. The cruel, destructive images of the material world that presented in Prelude and Interlude are set against the world of concentrated contemplation, the search of spiritual path for a person, recreated in the I, II and III Parts of the cycle. The musical language of the Concerto has roots in the vocal and instrumental Iranian traditional music – the ancient Dastg&#257;h modal system and maqam forms. The medium size of the symphony orchestra is used in the Concerto. The group of brass and percussion instruments is especially important in creating the atmosphere of cruelty and violence and achieving the wild harsh sound. For showing an impending catastrophe, in finish fragment of Prelude, the composer introduces large and small electronic sirens into the orchestra. Conclusions. The extra-musical content and images of the R. Vali’s Concerto for Persian Ney and Orchestra and its connection with the tragic events of the modern world history are expressed through the philosophy of Sufism and its symbols. These philosophical ideas, images and symbols are embodied by the composer on various levels of the work as the structural and artistic integrity: 1) at the level of the structure of the modified three-part cycle; 2) in cycle’s tempo organization; 3) in the use of the system of the traditional Iranian music (dastg&#257;h and maqam) in I, II, III parts; 4) in the use of principally distinct thematism in the Prelude and Interlude in comparison with the main parts; 5) at the level of the timbre and texture organization – in the semantization of the Ney‘s timbre and in multifarious, in terms of imagery, interpretation of the orchestra.