JAVS Summer 2021

Tavakol creates a beautiful juxtaposition of tradition and modernity:

contributes to the meaning of the piece; according to Tavakol, this poem, its message, and the musical rhythm imbedded in the original Farsi text inspired him greatly in the composition of Kamalto especially in including the female voice in the first movement . 17 The second movement, for solo viola, follows a version of a rondo form that, with the motivic repetition, has similarities to the Iranian c hahar mezrab, a solo virtuosic piece, generally with a simple and repetitive melody. Chahar mezrab’ s function within Iranian classical music is to relieve the tension generated by the non-measured melodies (or avaz ), 18 and Tavakol follows this structure by contrasting the first movement’s improvisatory singing qualities with the second movement’s rhythmic energy (ex. 7). Inspired by the Middle Eastern adwar (rhythmic modes), Tavakol shapes his rhythmic structure by marking a clear beginning and ending for each phrase using fermatas and a constantly changing number of beats per measure. The use of accents in varying groupings is another example of Tavakol’s interpretation of these rhythmic modes (ex. 8). Kamalto is a remarkable piece that connects two completely different sound worlds. The improvisatory qualities in this piece explore performance freedom and agency, while the contrasts, the drama, and the rhythmic force of the music creates new and exciting territories for violists (and listeners) to discover.

Kamalto follows a deconstructive idea, and is about breaking away from the traditional rules, but keeping the aesthetics of Iranian music. This is done by keeping certain short intervals from the modes and including them in the piece, and maintaining the character of each mode while not strictly following the rules of modulations. 14 The first movement, for voice and viola, shows vocal and improvisatory qualities, similar to Iranian avaz (improvised singing). Tavakol uses the technique of javab e avaz (response to singing), where the viola responds to the vocal line in an improvised manner (ex. 5). He also incorporates vocal techniques such as tahrir , a type of vocal styling and voice crackling . 15 The viola imitates the concept of tahrir in the final section of this movement, by playing consequent appoggiatura-like figures on a melodic line (ex. 6). The text of the first movement comes from the opening verses of the Mathnavi (a poem written in rhyming couplets) by Jalālad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi, more widely known as Rumi. The main theme in the beginning verses of this poetic masterpiece describes the human soul, symbolically referred to as the nay (Iranian wind instrument). 16 The musical sound of the Farsi poetry (transliterated into a Latin alphabet in the score)

Example 7. Showan Tavakol, Kamalto, mvt 2, mm. 1–8. The rhythmic energy at the opening of the second movement provides a contrast to the first movement, maintaining the original function of chahar mezrab. © 2017. Used with permission.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 37, 2021 Online Issue

34