While the Apocalypse – Blog

 ​Sound & Vision: A Living Instrument

Communicating centuries of history, the Persian tar is a symbol of Iran’s rich classical musical tradition, and an inimitable sound within it. Carved from mulberry wood, the six-stringed instrument has developed a language of its own, understood to mirror its player’s emotions, and have a healing influence on those listening.

For short film A Living Instrument, created by Powerhouse, director Hyun Lee explores the cultural significance of the Persian tar, and the interconnections between music and poetry, storytelling and history. Capturing the sonic capabilities of the Powerhouse Collection in Sydney, where the tar is housed alongside other musical artefacts, Iranian-born musician Hamed Sadeghi showcases the tar’s evocative resonance through the museum’s archives, journeying into his personal connection to the instrument, and the greater context of Iran’s music history.

A memorable platform for solo tar performance, documenting a prolific era in Iranian music, Golha, or Program of Flowers, was an influential radio program broadcast between 1956 and 1979 – the dawn of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Drawing upon rare sheet music and tape recordings found in the collection, Sadeghi brings the tar to life through performance, reliving the impact of Golha on the classical music of Iran, and liberating the tar from its silence.

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