In praise of the man who shouted the wrath of a nation

Fars News Agency, Art and Media Department: The news was short and Jankah said goodbye to Esfandiar Qarabaghi, the great artist of the country’s music scene. I had seen him for the first time in Tabriz in the early years of university, and in the same student years, one could understand the greatness of his work. He was from the generation of artists of the revolution and as well as having ideas and good thinking. As he knew the language of his medium, music, and used it to bring a nation together, when they chanted “America, America, disgrace to your deceit”.

Art can be the voice of an era or era, art can reflect the spirit of the times, and Qarabaghi ​​was one of those artists who was the voice of his era. Qarabaghi ​​was one of the artists who was revolutionary not only in his works but also in his character, behavior and style. Life was on display.

About the life and works of Asnafandiar Qarabaghi, Kiana has published a text in Farhikhtegan, which can show the importance of the position and works of this great artist. In the following, we will have an overview of what is given in this report.

His voice was the voice of the revolution

His voice was the voice of the revolution, he is known as the pioneer of revolutionary art in the field of music and hymns. Esfandiar Qarabaghi ​​was born on the first day of Bahman 1322 in Qarabaghi ​​alley in Tabriz. He returned to Tabriz after completing the first high school course in Tehran and entered the Music Conservatory in 1338 and graduated in June 1343 and was employed by the Ministry of Culture as a music teacher in the schools of Kermanshah. At the end of 1348, he was transferred to Tehran and worked in the Tehran Opera Group, while singing in the Tehran Opera Choir, after leaving and returning from Italy, as the bass soloist of the Tehran Opera, he performed many roles in various performances. He also had a degree equivalent to a doctorate in classical music (1st degree) from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. After the revolution, Qarabaghi ​​also worked in the music department of the Broadcasting Organization. In this way, he produced songs with the theme of war, some of which were met with different reactions. The first Qarabaghi ​​radio performance was in 1350 and the anthem “O Iran” was performed in collaboration with the large orchestra of the National Radio and Television of Iran. In the following years, he sang epic pieces with the titles of “Ars” symphony and “Persian Gulf” symphony.

Other works such as “Golkhak Iran”, “Akbar Jihad”, “O Kargar”, “I am a soldier”, “Our human revolution”, “East Morning”, “Cooperation”, “Blood Victory”, “Forugh Javed”, ” Dear War Fronts”, “Imam Came”, “The Path of Muhammad (PBUH)” and… can be seen in the career of this revolutionary artist, but without a doubt, the piece “America Amerika Nang Be Nirang To” was noticed more than his other works. . This piece is one of the famous hymns made about the oppression of America. Finally, this pioneer artist in the field of revolutionary music died on December 17, 1401 at the age of 79 due to illness. Undoubtedly, his works will remain permanent in the field of promoting revolutionary ideals.

We left Europe and came to our country because we had a sense of religion

In November 2009, Esfandiar Qarabaghi ​​said that he stayed in his own city to earn honors and did not migrate to Tehran: “Tehran is easy, we left Europe on time and came to our country.” Later, there was a war, and we felt that we should somehow be present on the scene. Now your age doesn’t matter, but at that time we wrote about 840 hymns and songs for fighters and fronts, which were regularly broadcasted on radio and television at that time. I had the same feeling towards my city in the following years. I felt that I should return to my city and give my art to the youth of my city. It’s a shame that nobody in Tabriz appreciates this kind of work.”

I have read more than a thousand hymns that had a special place in their time

In November 2012, Tasnim had a conversation with this artist. Referring to the fact that he was directly in the currents of the revolution and what happened that led him to this path, Qarabaghi ​​said: “After the revolution, I returned to the Ministry of Culture and saw that music was not a clear task, that’s why I retired.” This was the first time in Iran that government employees could retire with a history of less than 20 years. Mr. Rashidi, who was my teacher at the music conservatory, and I both retired together. I retired in 1359 with 16 years and a few months of service. After retirement, I was recruited by the Broadcasting Organization. It was from that time that we started making hymns with the beginning of the war. So far, I have read more than a thousand hymns, each of which had its own place at that time. But among these, some of these hymns still retain their place among the people even after many years of their performance.”

It was in the same years that there were criticisms of the anthem “Amerika Amerika Nang Be Nirang To” on satellite channels, Qarabaghi ​​said in response to these issues: “Some have called this anthem a messenger of death!” While we are Muslims and we never wish death for anyone. Not long ago, the BBC broadcasted a program that brought several people together and they were talking nonsense. One of these people was Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh. In the part of this program where Monfaredzadeh talked about wartime anthems, he mentioned that at that time, when many people sang inhumane anthems, there were also those who sang humane anthems. The meaning of this word is that we have sung inhuman hymns.

I believed that voice is a blessing from God that I should use it properly

In 2018, during an interview with Iran newspaper, Qarabaghi ​​talked about his singing of national anthems and his artistic activity and said: “When I chose the profession of music, I tried to follow the right and healthy path to reach my goal and never seek market music and I did not go to make money. At the same time when I started working, I could sing in cafes, cabarets and parties and weddings, but I never thought about such things and I believed that the voice is a blessing from God that I should use it properly and finally I was able to succeed in this path. I will go to the music conservatory. I studied in this field and got a degree and came to Tehran and started singing in the Tehran Opera Choir. After the revolution, I took over the leadership of the Rudaki Hall Choir, I started school choirs and several groups at the university, and I was active in the Radio and Television Folk Choir and the National Choir under the direction of “Olin Baghcheban” and in Tabriz, there was also a choir I established greatness.

In fact, I focused my work on education in addition to scientific issues. I was born in Tabriz and I was born in a revolutionary family and we are descendants of Sattar Khan, the national leader of Iran. In fact, my grandmother is the wife of Star Khan, so the national-patriotic and epic view has always existed in our minds and hearts, and I do not regret it at all, nor do I pay attention to what others say. Maybe I am hated in the eyes of some people and they don’t like me, but I love my country and I love my country. He added: “Some people want to make me a self-sold artist or something like that. I am very happy that I have never had financial worries in my life. I had a very rich father who is famous in Azerbaijan, so I never worked for money and I never received financial remuneration from a large number of my students, who may be more than a thousand until today.

Qarabaghi ​​also said in his last interview in May 1401 with the Young Journalists Club that interest in music usually begins in childhood and this applies to him as well. He had stated that at that time he had a radio called “Vidor” and inside this radio there was a battery the size of a broken brick, the range of this radio was 5 kilowatts, which means that the radio could only receive different waves in the same radius around the building. When he listened to the radio, even though he had not yet gone to school and was not literate, he tried to imitate what he heard.

The singers refused to sing the American anthem, saying that we have women and children!

At the time when Qarabaghi ​​sang the song “Amerika Amerika Nang Be Nirang To” there were different reactions to this song. Some believed that after some time, a professional singer sang the hymn and on the other hand, discussing the content and theme of the hymn was also of special importance.

This anthem had made Karabagh better known because of it. He has explained about this hymn in different years and in the media. He told Isna in 2009: “This song is a song that contains the anger of a nation against the encroachment, looting and interference of America.” America deserves these evils and misguided people – even worse than them. “America America is a disgrace to your tricks” was made two or three years after 13 Aban 1958. The music of the work was composed by Mr. “Ahmed Ali Ragheb” and the good poem was also written by “Hamid Sabzvari”. Also, in 2012, in an interview with Tasnim, he said about the composition of this hymn: “When this hymn was composed, I was in charge of coordinating the music unit and choir leader on the radio. At that time, Seyyed Mohammad Mirzmani was in charge of the music department of the radio in Arg Square. In order to sing this hymn, they asked other people to sing this hymn, which they did not accept for any reason. One of them said, “I have a wife and children!” When they offered me to read it, I gladly accepted.”

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