Morteza Neidavoud (Persian: مرتضی نیداوود) (1900–1990) was a prominent master of Persian classical music and a soloist of tar.[1] His 1927 Morq-e sahar (Dawn bird) is one of the most famous Persian songs which has been performed by various singers.
Early life and education
Morteza Neidavoud was born in Espahan to a Persian Jewish music-loving family, he was 3 when the family moved to Tehran.[1] His musical gift was revealed at childhood.[1] His father Bala Khan, who was a musician himself and played the tonbak, wanted to see his son enroll into a different field, and was thus initially against him becoming a musician.[1] However, realizing his natural talent and determination, he eventually took him to see Ramazan Zolfaghari, a musician who was a student of Aqa Hossein-Qoli.[1]
Neidavoud was trained by Zolfaghari for a short while and then he went to Aqa Hossein-Qoli to learn from the master musician himself.[1] Neidavoud learnt with Hosseinqoli until the latter's death in 1916.[1] He then went on to learn music from Darvish Khan who was a famous student of Mirza Hossein-Qoli.[1] During this time he picked up on playing radif and then the tar. At the end of three years he received the symbolic Golden Battle-Axe, awarded to outstanding students.[1]
Career
In early 1925 he founded a class to teach the Persian Tar and Radif. He named the school Darvish in honour of his master, who had died in 1926.[1]
His acquaintance with the iconic singer Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri at a private celebration led to the discovery of one of the greatest Iranian singing talents. The two continued to co-operate and as Qamar learned from him, she performed many of her famous songs. Since 1927, most of Qamar's lyrics and songs have been accompanied by Morteza Neidavoud.
