Reza Madani
At dawn
Duration: 2'
Solos:
santur
At dawn
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Work introduction
To compose this work, I was inspired by a poem of the same name (Hengame Sabooh in Persian) by the 12th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyam. Refer to the “Additional Materials” section to find the original poem, written in quatrain format, along with its English translation.
What is necessary to perform this work?
Mode and tonality
This piece is written in the Iranian mode Mahour in the tonality of G. As this mode does not include demiflats, the piece can be played as written on any Western instrument. The tremolos are specific to the santour and do not need to be executed on a bowed or wind instrument.
Tremolos and trills
In santour music, tremolos, called reez in Persian (literally meaning "small"), are very common. They are used both as ornamentation for short notes (indicated by double diagonals on the note's stem) and as a means to sustain long notes (indicated by triple diagonals on the note's stem). Tremolos are executed by rapidly alternating between the left and right mezrabs over the duration of the note, with the number of alternations left to the player's discretion.