Song No 19: Supplication - Monājāt (1)
The last piece recorded in this session by Djenāb Damāvandi is a poetic call to prayer attributed to Imam Ali (peace be upon him), which appears on the reverse side of the Azān record. The singer, with remarkable ingenuity and by choosing the Bayat-Kurd mode, performed the first recorded call to prayer in Iran beautifully, without accompaniment from any musicians, and without altering the pitch of his voice. This led to the recording of further call to praye by other singers in the years that followed. The conversation between Mirzā Asadollāh Khān Atabaki and Djenāb Damāvandi at the end of this piece is one of the interesting aspects of this work.
Mohammad Ebrāhim Bāstāni Pārizi, a renowned contemporary historian and researcher in Iran, mentions this record in his book Hamās-ye Kavir (Epic of the Desert): “Djenāb Damāvandi is the famous singer whom everyone knows as Damāvandi. I personally visited his house in Ahmadābād several years ago, and Ahmadābād itself is a beautiful village near Damāvand. This gentleman is the one who, for a whole generation of people in this country, with sincerity, brought them closer to the pleasant melody of his call to prayer record, as they prayed and meditated with God during the Ramadān mornings.”
Djenab Damavandi (Mohammad Falahi)
Singer
Mirzā Asadollah Khān Atabaki
...
Monājāt 1 Text
O my God, you see my condition, my poverty, and my destitution
You listen to my hidden call to prayer when I pray
O Knower of all states, O Eternal Deity
O my God, even though my sins are great
I cry out to you in times of hardship and ease
O Knower of all states, O Lord
Mirzā Asadollah Khān Atabaki:
“Mr. Djenāb, may it be accepted, Inshallah”
Djenāb Damāvandi: “May God accept it”
Other Suggested Gramophone Record
