Calligraphies

The Iranian-born Reza Vali is just now gaining much attention in the musical world, with works steadily appearing on CD. This recording by the renowned Cuarteto Latinoamericano presents significant contributions to the string quartet literature. Vali studied first in Vienna but came to the United States, receiving his Ph.D. in composition in 1985. He has been a faculty member of Carnegie-Mellon University since 1988. His music has been performed by the Seattle Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Orchestra 2001 and many other new-music ensembles. The works on this disc are a departure from his earlier, experimental works of the 1980's. Here, the music reflects influences of Persian folk music. Of special interest are the three Calligraphies; the material is derived entirely from Persian traditional music. The tuning, rhythm, form, as well as polyphonic constructions relate to the Persian modal system, the Dastgah. This fascinating music, combined with the performances of the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, one of the major exponents of new music today, should have strong appeal to the modern music specialist as well as the world-music listener.