Khāham Keh Bar Zolfat (2014) – SATB (TTBB), soloist, and piano (5′)
*Also for high voice and piano here.
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-This work for SATB (TTBB) choir, soloist, and piano has roots in one of my father’s favorite old songs. The solo line comes from studying and making transcriptions of various Persian vocal masters and is full of expression and florid ornamentation. The text focuses on the idea of maddening desire for a singular “Beloved” that has totally captured the speaker. The desire for this one entity has slowly driven the poet to madness, and has constantly made him “sick with love.” After incessant outpourings of longing passion from the soloist, responses from the chorus, and mutual intense displays from both together, the work ends in a mazy reflection on obsession and the state of being mastāneh, “drunk [with love].” Appropriate for collegiate ensembles and beyond.