‘Abbas Shapuri

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Shapuri, ‘Abbas (1923-2005), violinist and composer. He studied with Husayn Hangafarin, Abu’l-Hasan Saba, and a number of other earlier masters of late Qajar period. He began his music lessons at an early age, some of his family members having encouraged him to pursue his lessons. His father owned the famous Grand Hotel on Lalezar Street in Tehran where many musicians of repute, with whom he developed acquaintance at an early age, frequently gathered. 

He began to make a name for himself in early 1940s. His marriage to Miss Farahdokht, to whom he gave her stage name “Puran,” gave further lustre to his reputation in Tehran’s artistic circles. Puran had ranked first in Shapur’s vocal classes and showed remarkable musical talent. Her good looks, stunning body, physical beauty and cinematic attractiveness further enhanced the reputation of the Shapuri couple in the popular magazines and movies of the time. Performing Shapuri’s compositions, she became popular all over Iran. The mood of these songs is very romantic and at times, they reveal the influence of Arabic musical melodies delicately intertwined with those of Persian classical music. 

Only a few of Shapuri’s compositions, nevertheless, were performed on Gulha programs. The directors and decision makers of the Gulha programmes, such as Davud Pirniya and Ruhu’llah Khaliqi, favored quite old and classical Iranian compositions. Therefore, despite the respect which composers like Mihdi Khalidi, ‘Abbas Shapuri and Majd Vafadar enjoyed in the musical environment outside, making use their daring experimentations in the Gulha programs was considered inappropriate. It was in the same vein that Shapuri’s solo violin performances were heard infrequently in the Gulha programmes not withstanding his effective participation in some of the orchestral programmes of the Gulha-yi Javidan. This was because Shapuri’s violin performances had distanced itself from native Persian traditions whose best instrumentalists were the likes of Husayn Yahaqqi, Parviz Yahaqqi, Abu’l-Hasan Saba, and the latter’s students. Shapur’s noble and respectable character, his profound knowledge of music and related sciences, his prowess in instrument making, and his remarkable creativity nonetheless could not secure him a prominent place in the Gulha programmes. Besides his CD album, Tak Dirakht (“Lone Tree”), featuring Ghulam Husayn Ashrafi on vocals (1382 AHS/2003), no independent work has been released by him, nor did he train any student of repute to carry forward his legacy.