THE BÁB
PIANO SONATAS AND BALLADES
Composed and Performed by AFSHIN JABERI
“Art was always the center of my life; I was always attracted to beauty and striving towards harmony; the music in this recording was a beginning of a spiritual journey, a journey of faith, sacrifice, a path of life with deep emotional affections. Composition with which I elevated to a new level of musical mind set. They were my remedy facing the hardships and calamities and challenges of my life. While composing I felt divine inspiration, which words cannot describe, only music can convey a glimpse of that realm.” – Afshin Jaberi
Listen to an extract from
Piano Sonata No. 1, ‘The Seeker’: II. Andante
About this Recording
Tanya Ekanayaka is one of Sri Lanka’s foremost pianists and an internationally acclaimed composer. Her ‘deeply autobiographical’ piano compositions, or reinventions, introduce a novel and hybrid musical genre that takes a wide variety of Sri Lankan melodies – ancient, folk and popular – and blends them with motifs inspired by the tonal centres of established classical compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Ravel and others.
PIANO SONATA NO. 1, ‘THE SEEKER’
1 I. Allegro(06:09)
2 II. Andante (04:19)
3 III. Rondo: Allegro (07:03)
PIANO SONATA NO. 2, ‘THE PATH TO PEACE’
4 I. Agitato(03:13)
5 II. Andante (03:03)
6 III. Allegretto (05:08)
PIANO SONATA NO. 3, ‘THE BEDOUIN’
7 I. Andante - Allegro(07:05)
8 II. Adagio (05:07)
9 III. Rondo (05:03)
10 BALLADE NO. 1, ‘THE HERALD’ (05:12)
11 BALLADE NO. 2, ‘EROICA’ (12:23)
12 BALLADE NO. 3, ‘THE MARTYRDOM’ (09:38)
TOTAL TIME: 73:20
AFSHIN JABERI (b. 1973)
Iranian composer Afshin Jaberi’s powerful music combines 19th-century western piano traditions with eastern melodic influences. It is strongly connected with the message of equality and peaceful unity promoted by his religious faith. The Báb Ballades depict dramatic heroism and tragic sacrifice, while the Sonatas express the horrors of war and the fragility of remote cultures, out of which new hope and the chance for reconciliation can emerge.
Born in Bahrain and raised in Qatar, Afshin Jaberi’s formal musical education began in 1991 in Hungary, where he attended the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Besides the distinct progress he made in piano performance, his compositions also attracted attention, especially his First Ballade, written at the age of eighteen. Jaberi continued his studies in Kazakhstan at the Almaty Conservatoire, where he obtained his master’s degree and PhD in Pedagogical Science. During the course of his studies he gave numerous concerts in Hungary and Kazakhstan, and later in Slovakia, Russia, Bahrain and Qatar.
About Grand Piano Overtone
As the Grand Piano catalogue continues to grow, the label remains dedicated to its mission of discovering and recording little-known gems of the piano repertoire. It is also committed to promoting exciting new developments, the latest being a new sub-label Grand Piano Overtone, which presents world première recordings of pianists performing their own compositions. Overtone’s two debut albums feature artists from very cosmopolitan backgrounds, whose music reflects the harmonious integration of a classical training with the artists’ individual cultural influences. Turn the handle and step into a new musical world. The covers of the new Overtone series feature photographer Annabel Lee’s intriguing images of doors and gates, symbolising gateways to a novel dimension in piano performance and the opening of opportunities for pianist-composers to express their own unique voice.
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Tanya Ekanayaka is one of Sri Lanka’s foremost pianists and an internationally acclaimed composer. Her ‘deeply autobio-graphical’ piano compositions, or reinventions, introduce a novel and hybrid musical genre that takes a wide variety of Sri Lankan melodies – ancient, folk and popular – and blends them with motifs inspired by the tonal centres of established classical compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Ravel and others.