Migration (2003)
A work b Shahrokh Yadegari

Keyavash Noura’i: Violin
Shahrokh Yadegari: Lila (Live Electronics)

For violin and electronics, Migratroin is a structured improvisation piece. The piece starts in Dastgah Esfahan (a Persian mode similar to harmonic minor mode with 7th degree flatted a quarter tone), and moves to the more dynamic Dastgah Chahargah (similar to major mode with 2nd and 6th degrees flatted a quarter tone) and it finally ends if Esfahan. Computer music is often thought to have a very specific sound which is normally attributed to the western musical traditions. The computer is usually perceived as a Western instrument. Thus, computer music has often been produced based on Western ideas. With the prevalence of such contexts in how computer music instruments and techniques are developed, it is a very difficult task for electronic/computer music to stay in the realm of a certain tradition without misappropriating some aspect of that tradition within the context of the Western frame of mind. The goal in this piece is to use the computer to accompany and create Persian traditional music but not to diverge substantially from the roots of this music. The language used for the improvisation in this piece is the same language that musicians would use in a traditional setting; thus, the acoustic performer is not requested to play any differently than how one would play in a traditional setting.

 

Listen to the interview with Marco Werman on
BBC/PRI’s “The World”, December 11, 2006

The World, Interview  12/11/06 >> read article 

Reviews:

“… fascinating listen …”
Pop Culture Press, Fall&Winter 2006

“A fascinating Record … a cathedral of beauty ...”
All Music Guide, iTune’s Official Album Review, December 2006

“… intimate, haunting, and almost unbearably lovely.“
Arkansas Democratic, December 10, 2006

“… serious games updating and reaffirming the canon of the Radif”
FT-Migration
Financial Times, London – Nov. 22, 2006

” … Genuinely haunting …”
Pichfork Media, November 17, 2006

” … Brilliantly Magical … “
Smother.net, November 2006

” … a work of extraordinary beauty …”
Musicworks Magazine, Fall 2006

” … truly modern and ancient all at once …. A really wild trip …”
Midwest Record Recap, October 14, 2006

Available at: Amazon and  

Migration has been adapted for dance in two different productions:
in Garden of Lila: choreographed by Yolande Snaith, conceived and directed by Yolande Snaith and Shahrokh Yadegari.

Garden of Lila (an excerpt) from Shahrokh Yadegari on Vimeo.

And by Ellie Leonhardt

Migration from Ellie Leonhardt on Vimeo.

Modern dance choreographed by Ellie Leonhardt with music by Shahrokh Yadegari. Performed by students at the University of North Texas at the annual Faculty Dance Concert, February 22nd, 2009.

Reviews