Banān, Qolāmhoseyn

Extract

(b Tehran, 1911; d Tehran, 1986). Persian singer. He came from an aristocratic background and was raised in a family circle frequented by literati and musicians. His father played the tār and his mother the piano; Banān learnt the rudiments of both instruments in childhood. He had voice lessons from his early teen years and by his mid-20s he had established a high reputation as a singer with a marked command of the radif and a sound knowledge of the Persian classical poetry on which Persian vocal music heavily relies.

In the 1930s Banān was drawn into the circle of progressive musicians led by Ali Naqi Vaziri, becoming closely associated with two of Vaziri’s leading disciples, Ruhollāh Khāleqi and Abolhasan Sabā. He participated in concerts organized by the Vaziri group as the lead singer, specializing in performances of new tasnif compositions. His fame spread after his radio engagements began in ...