PATHS TO THE SUMMIT

Rediscovered treasures of the Persian music from Safavid period

C ONSTANTINOPLE & S EPIDEH R AISSADAT

Kiya TABASSIAN, setar, artistic direction
Sepideh Raissadat, vocal
Didem BAAR, kanun
Pasha KARAMI, tombak and percussion
Pierre-Yves MARTEL, viola da gamba
Kyriakos KALAITZIDIS, oud
PROGRAMME
Pishrow RAST, Osul Nim Saqil (24 beats), Acemler (1500-1550), Cantemir Collection #308
GOLESTAN, Pishrow PANJ-GH, Osul Duyek (8 beats), Acemler (1500-1550), Cantemir Collection
#27
Pishrow BAYATI, Osul Duyek (4 beats), Acemler (1500-1550), Cantemir Collection #286
Pishrow NAVA, Osul Dowr-e kabir (14 beats), Acemler (1500-1550),0 Cantemir Collection #52
Naqsh DAR BAZM-E DEL, NOWROUZ-E AJAM, Osul Hafif (32 beats), Anonyme, MSS s 314
Pishrow Bayati, Osul Duyek, Acemler (1500-1550), Cantemir Collection # 100
TASNIF, Segah, Osul Mokhammes (16 beats), Abdol Ghder Marghi (1353-1435), Codex 259
Monastery of Leimonos (dated 1572) *
KUME ACAM, Pishrow MOHAYER, Osul Duyek, Acemler (1500-1550), Cantemir Collection #37/
MSS S 72, 73
SABA BE TAHNIYATE PIRE MEY FOROUSH AMAD, Semai OSHAQ, Anonyme, MSS S 136
CHESHM-E MAST, HUSEYNI Agir Semai (10 beats), Shishtari Murad (-1688)
Pishrow DOGAH HUSEYNI, Osul Saqil (48 beats), Shah Gholu Gheychaki, MSS s 44, 45
KUH-PAREH, Pishrow HESSAR, Osul Duyek, Agha Momen (c.1525-1600), Cantemir Collection
#163
Samai HEJAZ, Osul Semai (6 beats) Anonyme Cantemir Collection #255
Sources :
Cantemir Collection, Dimitrius Cantemir, ca. 1700 Kitab-I Ilml Musiki ala Vechil-Hurufat. Istanbul
Universitesi Kutuphanesi, Turkiyat Enstitusu, No. 2768
MSS : Macmua-I Saz u Suz. Ca.1650. Ali Ufki Bey (Wpjciech Bobowski) British Museum, Sloane 3114
Codex 259 Monastery of Leimonos, Island of Lesbos, Greece (1572)
* Transcription of Dr. Thomas Apostopoulos

PATHS TO THE SUMMIT

Paths to the Summit sheds light on an obscure period in Persian history, when large numbers of Iranian musicians
migrated to the neighbouring Ottoman and Byzantine cultural centres during the Safavid dynasty (1501-1736).
While retracing this migration route, we came across manuscripts from the 16th to the 18th centuries, which
annotated and preserved compositions by Iranian musicians from the era. These manuscripts had been kept for
centuries in palace and monastery libraries in Turkey and Greece. They testify to the influence of Iranian music
in these regions and the many fruitful exchanges between Iranian musicians and those from neighbouring
countries. These sources open paths to reach and understand more the Iranian music prior to the 19th century
(before dastgah).
These works have several features and particularities that distinguish them:
-

they are composed in the maqam system, with musical phrasings and formal developments that are
distinctly Persian in coloration;

they contain the complex ancient rhythmic cycles (osoul) that disappeared from the Persian dastgah;

they reveal the practice of singing exercises known as taranom, which we know only in theory and which
are in some ways the predecessors of the tahrir found in post-19th century Persian music.

With the discovery and decoding of this repertoire, we shall be able to better understand the history of the art
music of Iran and to reconstruct the broken bridge between the practices of its glorious past and those of its
present.
These musical jewels, of great refinement and beauty, vividly evoke the Safavid court, which up to now we
have only been able to imagine by contemplating the paintings and frescos of palaces in Esfahan, such as the
Chehel Sotun.
In this project they are resurrected after centuries of silence, performed by some of todays finest Iranian
musicians and their colleagues from Turkey and Greece as they were at the time of their creation.
2011 : residency at KulturFabrik (Luxembourg), with the collaboration of Guimet Auditorium (Paris) National
museum of Asian Arts), Wereldculturencentrum (Antwerpen), HIT Tropentheater (Amsterdam).

CONSTANTINOPLE
Constantinople is a musical ensemble that chose the journey as its foundation geographical journeys, but
also historical, cultural and inner. It also seeks inspiration from all sources, and aims for distant horizons.
Inspired by the ancient city illuminating East and West, the ensemble was conceived as a forum for encounters
and cross-fertilization, in 1998 in Montreal. Since then, as seasoned travellers, the world renowned musicians
explored a wide range of musical avenues: from mediaeval manuscripts to contemporary aesthetics, from
Mediterranean Europe to Eastern traditions and New World Baroque.
In its research and creations, Constantinople joins forces with other leading figures on the international scene.
The common denominator that Constantinople brings into play when merging different musical styles is their
modal expression, but also their decidedly contemporary and thus unifying language.
Constantinople is regularly invited to international festivals, where it is acclaimed by the public, music
professionals and critics alike. It has performed on many of the worlds major stages, including the Salle Pleyel
(France), Festival d'Aix-en-Provence (France), the World Sacred Music Festival of Fez (Morocco), the Festival
dle de France (Paris), the Onassis Centre (Athens), the Festival de Mxico en el Centro Histrico (Mexico),
the Festival de Lanaudire (Quebec), and the Schwetzingen Festival (Germany).
Alongside tours in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran,
Cyprus, Morocco, Canada, United States and Mexico, Constantinople presents every year in Montreal a concert
season featuring their creations, the visibility of which continues to grow.
Most of its productions have been recorded and broadcast by CBC/Radio-Canada, and some have been
relayed to European audiences via the European Broadcasting Union. Constantinople has 14 albums to its
credit on labels Analekta, Atma ,World Village and MaCase. The ensemble is supported by the Conseil des Arts
et des Lettres of Quebec, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Conseil des Arts de Montral.
Over the course of the decade, the ensemble has created over 35 works and travelled to nearly 140 cities in 25
countries.
Sepideh Raissadat
As a Persian classical vocalist and musician, Sepideh Raissadat began her recording career at the age of 18 with
an album with Master Parviz Meshkatian (Konj-e Saburi, 1999). She was the first female vocalist to have a solo
public performance in Iran after the 1979 revolution (Niavaran concert hall, 1999).As a child, she began
studying Persian classical music with the famous Iranian Diva Parissa and later with renowned masters Parviz
Meshkatian and Mohammad-Reza Lotfi. Sepideh obtained a B.A. degree in painting in Iran and holds a B.Mus
degree from the University of Bologna and an MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of
Toronto.Sepideh has had numerous performances in Europe and North America and has garnered many
invitations by prestigious institutions, including UNESCO, the Vatican and international media such as BBC
and RAI.She is currently continuing her doctoral studies in Ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto.