Woven Sounds Performance | Mehdi Aminian & Maryam Abtahi | Full Concert

Full Concert live at Morgenland Festival Osnabrueck on the 29 June 2023. A Tribute to Iran’s Weaving Heritage, based on the documentary Woven Sounds by Mehdi Aminian. **Turn on Subtitles for English translation of poems** Maryam Sadat Abtahi – vocals & weaving Şirin Pancaroğlu – harp Tohid Vahid – kamanche, setar Joss Turnbull – percussion Mehdi Aminian – ney, setar, Concept & musical direction: Mehdi Aminian “The Woven Sounds music project is inspired by the intangible cultural heritage surrounding carpet weaving in Iran. It represents a natural symbiosis of research, film, and music performance. The creation process felt like returning home... This was made possible by Michael Dreyer who shared the initial idea, the great team of Morgenland Festival Osnabrück, and by Ioana Aminian’s essential support. Woven Sounds evolved through constant artistic dialogue with the weaver/singer Maryam Abtahi who sang for the first time in public and on stage, and all the other musicians. This project is dedicated to all the overshadowed and invisible women and their struggles in my country...“ ~Mehdi Aminian Program: 00:00 - Intro 00:12 - Lullaby from Isfahan Province - Weaver/Singer: Maryam Abtahi 05:27 - Woven Prelude - Composition by Mehdi Aminian 17:15 - Song of Partridge – a Qashqai song arranged by the ensemble 21:32 - Gal ay Gal (Come, oh come) – a Qashqai song arranged by Mehdi Aminian 26:34 - Chahar Mezrabe Daftin (Weaving Comb) - Composition by Mehdi Aminian 29:25 - Lullaby from North of Fars province - Interpreted by Maryam Abtahi & Joss Turnbull 31:50 - Percussion & Effects Improvisation - Joss Turnbull 35:26 - Harp Improvisation - Şirin Pancaroğlu 37:43 - Kamancheh Improvisation - Tohid Vahid 41:20 - Ney Improvisation - Mehdi Aminian 46:19 - Sükut (Silence) - Composition by Şirin Pancaroğlu 48:32 - Hands - Composition by Şirin Pancaroğlu 52:03 - Naqshe Khani (Pattern Singing) - The video projection 53:08 - Naqshe Khani (Pattern Singing) - Composition by Mehdi Aminian 59:51 - Setar Improvisation - Tohid Vahid 01:04:00 - Daare Zendegi (Loom of Life) - Composition by Mehdi Aminian 01:12:12 - Lullaby from Isfahan Province - Weaver/Singer: Maryam Abtahi Translation of the poems 1. “Lullaby from Isfahan“ - 00:12 I weave the intricate Kashan Carpet, My fingers bleed, but I persist. For I am a weaver through and through, Without weaving, no blankets for my nights anew. 2. “Song of Partridge“ - 17:15 I am a partridge, hunt me down! Return me to the mountains! In the middle of the night, put me on your chest! During the days, put me in chains! I long for the beloved’s return, so my days return to the past joyful days. O, vast expanse, I long to rest my head upon your breast. The rain never ends the thirst of the earth, how can my thirst for your love be ended? I long for the beloved’s return, so my days return to the past joyful days. 3. “Gal ay Gal (Come o come)“ - 21:32 The partridge is sitting on the rock, come, my beloved, come! She puts surma on her eyebrows, come, my beloved, come! Come, my kind beloved, come! Come, my sweet talker, come! I went and saw she is filling up the waterskin. Come, my beloved, come! She was filling up light instead of water, come my beloved come! In the desert, there is a well. The water is sweeter than sugar, come, my beloved, come! Come, my kind beloved, come! Come, my sweet talker, come! 4. “Naqshe Khani (Pattern Singing)“ - 53:08 We have all white in the margine! - I hit! Between them there is Senjedi (kind of green)! - I hit! Leave one till the next! - I hit! First one becomes Nokhodi (Kind of khaki)! - I hit! One is left to Bidmeshki (kind of Brown)! - I hit! We have a white going forward! - I hit! Between them there is Senjedi (kind of green)! - I hit! We have 2 whites coming forward! - I hit! 5. “Loom of life“ - a poem by Mehdi Aminian - 01:04:00 How have you nurtured my face in this form, o beloved? Where have you woven the warp and weft of my existence? My life and soul are an allegory for this warp and weft. My scheme and patterns come from you, the being of the universe As you name my warp and weft, my fate inevitability… o without you, I would be suspended in wistful longing even if I own the seven heavens Every knot and loop I tie on this body and soul, the choice is mine when I thread the patterns of my beloved’s face. In this loom of life, each knot that I place, your thoughts and memories with each breath would place a knot on my being. Project Collaborators Ioana Aminian Mitra Harandi Mina Harandi Mahsa Vafaei Sound recording Martin Schmeing Sound mix & Master Tohid Vahid Camera Michel Links Philipe Meise Video edit Simon Zauner Special thanks to Austrian Academy of Sciences - VLACH Thede Kahl Walid Abboud Johanna Schlottke Petra Rieß Mostafa Eghbali Arjang Omrani Ali Bordbar Karin Altmann Manuel Wandl Roots Revival 2023