Time: 02:30 pm – 04:00 pm
Location: Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center

The great Persian poets expected their verses to be sung and recited, probably more often than read in silence. The cultivation of poetry in Iran and its neighbors created a need for musical resources that singers could learn and elaborate upon in performance. The resources assembled over the past three centuries or so are extensive repertories of well-developed models that allow for various types of recomposition prior to and during performance.

A recent retiree of the City University of New York Graduate Center, Stephen Blum is an ethnomusicologist and musicologist with broad interests, which include sung poetry, the history of musical scholarship, and ethnomusicological analysis. His articles and encyclopedia entries deal with general topics (composition, improvisation, modern music history, cultural interaction) and with specific musical practices of Iran, Kurdistan, Central Asia, Europe, and North America.

This event is sponsored by William E. Valente Endowment

For more information please contact: http://arts.ucdavis.edu/event/resources-singing-verse-iran-and-its-neighbors