The Voice

Program Notes

The Voice, for solo violin, was premiered by Jae-Won Lee on April 29, 2018, in Zutphen, the Netherlands. I have composed The Voice to raise the voices of all women like me in order to say that you are not alone.

Iranian traditional music consists of a collection of Dastgāh. Each Dastgāh includes modes, which are placed one after another in a specific order. I have always had a concern and curiosity to find chords in the arena of Iranian music in order to create an ambience with these characteristics of Iranian music. In this piece I have composed a novel musical atmosphere by utilizing new intervals from Dastgāh Segāh. The reason for selecting the Dastgāh Segāh is that it, compared to other Dastgāhs, has the most “Mojanab interval” (135–145 cents). Moreover, I tried to make a harmonic atmosphere with these intervals, which repeat as the A section throughout the piece.

The Form of the Piece

I used the harmonic texture (A), which repeats, to show the Dastgāh Segāh atmosphere. It also represents my voice and describes my feelings during these years. As a result, this piece has a rondo form. The rhythmic figures in sections B and C and the coda show the melodic structure of this Dastgāh.

Notation
SP	Sul ponticello, with the bow near the bridge
ST	Sul tasto, with the bow on the fingerboard
EST	Extreme sul tasto
ORD	Ordinary playing position for the bow
G.P.	General pause
	Koron means “less than lower in pitch” in Persian traditional music, and the Koron symbol lowers a note by a quarter, that is, slightly lower than a quarter flat
	Extremely rapid lengthwise displacement of the bow on the attack
	Slow lengthwise displacement
	Exaggerated bow pressure
	Intense bow pressure
	Alto sul tasto, very little bow pressure, with irregular glissando