Gholam reza darvishi

Darvish Gholam Reza (born in 1917) is an Iranian Pardekhan (Curtain teller) who is well acquainted with the traditional ways of Pardekhani. According to Darvish Gholam Reza, the curtain is a living allegory of the origins of the world and humans and the day of Resurrection. This idea is that of the traditional curtain-storytellers whose performances tend towards abstraction and movement.

Gholam reza darvishi
Born	1917 Neishabur
Nationality	Iranian
Known for	Pardekhani
Patron(s)	Darvish Qanbar (his father)

Performance Method

The theatrical and external signs of the performance of Darvish Gholam Reza depend on the indicated motions to the portraits which are created using mainly the head, neck and hands. After a while, the abstract movements of the Pardekhan are attracted by the audience to attain the meaning of a degree of objectivity of the events described. In order to analyze the performance of this storyteller, it is important to refer to oriental and Iranian performance methods and understanding of how to transmit concepts. The realistic motions are rarely used in this method, and his performance mainly depends on allegorical indications and abstract movements. The sending salutary prayers to the prophet's line, the tangents and advisory songs, creating distance between the self, the portraits and the audience, all make up the technique which is used repeatedly. These are used to call attention of passersby and audience to the passage of material world time.

Reciting Method

Darvish Gholam Reza Darvishi has reached special expression within the acoustic interval of Iranian vocals music, in his method the spoken word combines with the sung texts, creating a rhythmic speech. The talent and manner of repetition and commemoration in Darvish Gholam's narrations are unmatched. Broken sentences and sequences of silences, while still being ordered, may seem excessive, but are only partly due to his advanced age, in part the return to the performances of the Pardekhan of earlier times. Gholam Reza Darvishi performs in an orderly, logical and precise way. The different parts of Pardekhani (picture storytelling) are performed one after the other from the main or subsidiary text. These parts are joined by the Pardekhan saluting the prophet and his lineage. In his method, variety, gaining the attention of the audience or showing off technique play no role, but are expressed through the meanings of the text performed with prayer-like allegorical expression. His singing expression take place in Chahargah Dastgah (mode). The singing begins in the Pishdong intervals (Azan or call to prayer is in these intervals and Hayy o Alla Al Salat in the climax of this section which the Pardekhan repeats several times in the first tetrachord) gradually moves to the octave of the Shahed and most words and phrases emphasize the first note (fourth note of the Pishdong) and second note of the Pishdong. The higher notes are rarely referred to and the end of his phrases based on the nature of this Dastgah is on the Shahed, He sometimes lets his voice be thrown onto unclear notes of the Pishdong at the end of his phrases, creating a kind of emphasis by this method. This method continues until the prayer and during the prayer and then Gholam Reza Darvishi only moves onto the pitches of the main tetrachords for one hemistich with emphasis on the third note which creates an atmosphere similar to Zabol Gushe. This is transitory and the singer quickly moves back to the previous acoustic space. After performing Moqadame (the introduction) which ends with the Salawat prayer the singing of the curtain begins but the musical space does not change. The curtain-storyteller emphasizes on the same mentioned notes and describes the day of Resurrection and then describes the character of Hussain and Zaynab but in this section the Chahargah Dastgah does not reach its previous clarity of expression. Curtain-storytelling has reached higher pitches even up to the second tetrachord without corresponding exactly to the intervals of Chahargah or any equivalent Persian modes. The melody modulation and final notes are also performed in this way. However, on returning to the previous intervals, they are performed without any changes. It seems that Pardekhan uses intervals which are specific to his own art, and some of them can be similar to the Dastgah music. For the sermon (Khutba) the Pardekhan returns to the first space using the notes of Pishdong, even when singing Rajaz is performed.

Narration

After narration of resurrection gathering and loneliness of humans which is the only source of judgment in the face of human actions, the storyteller narrates the story of the war between Yazid and Abbas. The battle leads to the victory of Abbas and Yazid who is filled with pride and revenge notwithstanding the heavy blows he deals with his sword he is cut down by one blow of Abbas. The story has subtle concepts interwoven. This war happens before the martyrdom of Abbas and is sign of his power and skill. In this war it is proven that no one will be able to win over Abbas in the war field. This laying out of a background explains the unchivalrous attack and martyrdom of Abbas while getting water from the river.

Source

• Ardalan, hamidreza (2008). Picture-storyteller masters of iran, the Iranian academy of the art, 2008, volume 1. ISBN: 978-964-2986-361 (vol.1). 978-964-2986-002 (set).