Persian Dances

For piano trio. Program note: My father was from Iran. I grew up listening to lots of traditional Persian music, which is overwhelmingly monophonic, highly ornamented, and prioritizes scale and gesture over harmony. A traditional "set" of Persian classical music contains several movements, three of which I have selected for this suite: A Pishdaramad is an overture or prelude. Tasnif is a lyrical vocal form, represented here as a song without words. A Reng closes the set, usually in the form of a dance piece, a tradition which I am honoring. Just as how I was born a child of two cultures, Persian Dances is my effort to take the idioms of Persian classical music and unapologetically merge them with my own sense of Western harmony and polyphony. The resulting three-movement suite is I hope a tuneful homage that represents the best of both traditions.