Shaahin's music: Two pieces

Hello, Shaahin and all, and I'm writing to congratulate you on your
pieces _For Margo_ and _Improvised_. While my reactions, of course,
reflect one musical perspective, I hope that they may speak to the
worldwide appeal of your music.

_For Margo_ reminded me a bit of an orchestral version of a medieval
European dance called an estampie or istampita, with some 14th-century
Italian pieces in this style seeming to reflect a certain Near Eastern
influence. In the 20th century, medieval and Renaissance European
music was sometimes adopted for larger modern orchestas, although the
original performances were likely for small ensembles and the like.

The melodic style suggested to me Persian or more generally Near
Eastern elements, but with the rhythmic animation and very tuneful
motives showing an affinity not only to the _radif_ or repertory of
Persian pieces and modes as realized by a given performer or ensemble,
but also the kind of medieval European style I mention above, where
dance music can shade into more "abstract" musical meditations.

Anyway, I am most complimented to be honored with such fitting music,
and must try to offer some worthy musical response.

The _Improvised_ piece likewise reminds me of some _radif_ music I
have heard, in a setar style that also somehow evokes for me a Spanish
tradition. It is fascinating to ask to what degree this connection
might reflect the great Islamic cultural tradition in Andalusia, which
may have helped to shape both medieval Spanish music in other regions,
and thus ultimately modern offshoots also; and to what degree it might
represent the interchange of world musics and improvisatory traditions
now taking place.

These pieces, with their tuning systems based respectively in a
rational string division and 96-EDO, show how intonational diversity,
melodic subtlety, and creative textures can all reinforce one another.
I was fascinated to note that _For Margo_, based on a division of a
string length of 124, includes such intervals as small neutral
seconds, thirds, and sevenths at 124/115, 62/51, and 31/17, or about
130, 338, and 1040 cents -- among my favorite sizes, as well as not
too far from reported averages for Persian music (how impressionistic
such estimates).

Again, Shaahin, congratulations on pieces which express both a dynamic
direction for Persian music, and a creative quest for a world musical
language -- one language among many in a world which can appreciate
both the diversity of traditions and the possibility for mutual
appreciation and communication.

Peace and love,

Margo