Majid Entezami (Persian: مجید انتظامی) (born 9 March 1948) is an Iranian composer, conductor, musician[1] and oboist. He composed music for nine television series, ten suite symphonies and over eighty movies. His works include The Cyclist, The Fateful Day, The Glass Agency and The Insane Flew Away, all of which he was awarded the best award for film music for in the International Fajr Film Festival of Tehran. Besides that, his music for The Train, Once Upon A Time, Cinema, From Karkheh To Rhine, Attack on H-3, The Fragrance of Joseph's Shirt, Duel, A Place To Live, Intense Cold, The Saint Mary, The Men of Anjelos, The Wolves and The Loneliest General are some of his most notable, memorable and nostalgic works for Iranians. Majid Entezami is one of the most active film composers after the revolution of Iran.[2]

Majid Entezami
مجید انتظامی
Background information
Born (1948-03-09) 9 March 1948 (age 76)
Tehran, Iran
Occupation(s)Composer, Conductor, Musician
Instrumentoboe
Years active1969-present
Websitewww.majidentezami.com

Early life

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Majid Entezami was born in 1948 in Tehran. He played the oboe at the Tehran Conservatory of Music. After graduation he was forced to travel to Germany for a medical operation and decided to continue his studies at State University of West Berlin under the supervision of Karl Steins and Lothar Koch in 1968. He performed successful concerts with Berlin University Symphony Orchestra in Lyon, Nancy and Marseille, France from 1969 to 1972.

 
Entezami in the 1970s
 
Entezami playing oboe concerto (Marcello) on 28 September 2010 in Roudaki Hall

In 1973, Entezami came to Iran by the invitation of Tehran Symphony Orchestra and performed a successful Mozart concert as oboe soloist, conducted by Helge Dorsch. After this concert Journal de Tehran called him one of the most talented young musicians in Iran. Then he returned to Germany as a member of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and West Deutsche Philharmonie.

 
Entezami playing oboe

In 1974, he became a member of Tehran Symphony Orchestra as well as teacher at the Tehran Conservatory and music department of Tehran University. After his return he has performed two oboe recitals with Lucette Martirossian on piano and harpsichord and Ivan Pristas on bassoon in 1976 and a concert with the Les Jeunesses Musicales de I’Iran orchestra conducted by Ali Rahbari and Valodia Tarkhanian as viola d’amore soloist.[2]

Becoming a film composer

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Despite being the son of famous Iranian actor Ezzatollah Entezami, Majid's entrance into the cinema industry was his own.

 
Majid Entezami with his father Ezzatollah Entezami

In 1977, due to differences of opinion with the Symphonic Orchestra of Tehran, he resigned from playing in the orchestra and teaching at the university and took other work. At the time, one of his friends who had a position in Kanoon (Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults), Ahmadreza Ahmadi, suggested composing some music for contemporary poetry.

 
Conducting Tehran Symphonic Orchestra
 
Conducting Tehran Symphonic Orchestra
 
Majid Entezami portrait

After composing music for the poetry of Foroogh Farrokhzad and Nosrat Rahmani, he found another position composing music for an animation, Zaal and Simorgh by Ali Akbar Sadeghi. Entezami's first cinema work was for Journey of the Stone, directed by Masoud Kimiaei, who was a famous director at that time.[2]

Music Characteristic

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Entezami has a profound understanding of the picture and has always tried to tell the untold essence of the story. He also has experience with a variety of styles which has given his portfolio variety, from comedies like Once Upon a Time, Cinema by Mohsen MakhmalBaf, to the creation of epic war stories.

The music of Entezami is orchestral and based on western classical music, but with Iranian instruments and unusual rhythms which give his works an eastern feel. He creates new atmospheres in his music by using synthesizers, combining sounds from different instruments to create new sounds, or by using a range less common in the instruments that he uses. These sounds, albeit new, are close to the mentality of characters. Using the sound of stones in the film The Fateful Day, by Shahram Assadi, is a good example of this.

Every theme and musical color heard in Entezami's work has a rational explanation in the story. He believes that music tells a part of the story that is not already told in the picture. Some of his works seem to be narrative, almost like part of the script, but he maintains that no director has ever asked him for such characteristics.

In Once Upon a Time, Cinema, parts of the film Lor Girl are played for the Shah and his court. The actress of the main character, Golnar, which the Shah has fallen in love with, comes out of the film and becomes real. Instead of creating new music, Entezami uses the main theme of Lor Girl in all the scenes that she is present, with variations on the theme that indicate this is not the original Lor Girl, but Golnar who has traveled in time and found herself in the Shah's palace. He also gives a brief hint as to what is going to happen next before the Lor Girl scenes by playing the main melody from that film together with a waltz.

In the last scene of the film, a picture of a fetus is shown, which is reminiscent of the movie 2001, A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. Entezami's music is inspired by Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, to provide a deeper impression.

In another collaboration with Makhmalbaaf, Entezami shows life in opposition to death, in The Peddler. In the scene where the old woman dies, she draws her last breath as a clock slows. Instead of a requiem for her death, Entezami recreates the sound of the stopped clock with piano, harp, and glockenspiel. A fair girl appears in a carriage and is accompanied by epic music by choir and orchestra.[3]

Discography

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Score For Motion Picture
Year Title Director
1977 Zaal and Simorgh Ali Akbar Sadeghi
1978 Journey of the Stone Masoud Kimiai
1980 Sun-Dwellers Mehdi Sabagh Zadeh
1981 In Siege Ali Akbar Sadeghi
1982 The Red Line Masoud Kimiai
1983 Senator Mehdi Sabagh Zadeh
1983 ase Mehdi Sabagh Zadeh
1984 Sardar-e Jangal Amir Ghavidel
1985 The Eagles Samuel Khachikian
1985 Tornado Kamran Ghadakchian
1985 The Broken Gun Mahdi Madanian
1986 High School Akbar Sadeghi
1986 Plaque Ebrahim Ghazizadeh
1986 The Thief and the Writer Kazem Masoomi
1986 The Peddler Mohsen Makhmalbaf
1986 The Assignment Hossein Zandbaf
1986 The Passage Shahriar Bahrani
1987 Kani Manga Seifollah Dad
1987 Love Nest Jalal Moghaddam
1987 Fright Shahriar Bahrani
1987 Crisis Aliasghar Shadravan
1988 The Cyclist Mohsen Makhmalbaf
1988 The Pit Ali Shah Hatami
1988 Canary Yellow Rakhshān Banietemad
1988 The Dome of Light Seyyed Ahmad Salehi
1989 Rajayi School Karim Zargar
1989 O Negative Ahmadreza Garshasbi
1989 The Last Flight Ahmadreza Darvish
1990 The 29th Night Hamid Rakhshani
1990 Fire Under Ashes Habib Kavosh
1990 Glass Eye Hossein Ghasemi Jami
1990 Lucifer Ahmadreza Darvish
1990 The Sea For You Ahmadreza Garshasbi
1990 The Dream of Marriage Ebrahim Hatamikia
1990 Kowkab's Secret Kazim Masoomi
1991 Deportees Jahangir Jahangiri
1991 Avinar Shahram Asadi
1991 Union of the God Ebrahim Hatamikia
1991 Once Upon a Time, Cinema Mohsen Makhmalbaf
1991 The Boots Abdollah Bakieh
1992 The Unfinished Man Moharram ZeinalZadeh
1992 The Bait Faramarz Seddighi
1992 The Lightning Ahmadreza Darvish
1992 From Karkheh To Rhein Ebrahim Hatamikia
1992 Secret of the Knife Mohammad Hossein Haghighi
1993 Suspicion Kazim Masoomi
1993 The Last Hit Davood Movasaghi
1993 Replicant Jahangir Jahangiri
1994 The Path of Glory Daryoosh Farhang
1994 The Last Blood Manoochehr Masiri
1994 The Heart and Dagger Masoud Jafari Jozani
1994 The Fateful Day Shahram Asadi
1994 Attack on H-3 Shahriar Bahrani
1994 One Night, One Stranger Hossein Ghasemi jami
1994 Great Expectation Khosro Shojai
1995 The Survivor Seifollah Dad
1995 The Summit of the World Azizollah HamidNejad
1995 The Scent of Joseph's Shirt Ebrahim Hatamikia
1995 The Enemy Khosrow Parvizi
1995 A Moment of Innocence Mohsen Makhmalbaf
1995 The Sunny Man Homayoon As'adian
1996 Speed MohammadHossein Latifi
1997 The Glass Agency Ebrahim Hatamikia
1997 The Apple Samira Makhmalbaf
1998 Love Without Frontier Pouran Derakhshandeh
1999 Protest Masoud Kimiai
2000 The Silence Mohsen Makhmalbaf
2001 I Am Taraneh, I Am Fifteen Years Old Rasul Sadr Ameli
2001 Noora Mahmoud Shoolizadeh
2002 The Insane Flew Away Ahmadreza Motamedi
2002 Naghmeh Abolqasem Talebi
2004 Duel AhmadReza Darvish
2004 Big Drum Under Left Foot Kazim Masoomi
2004 A Place To Live Mohammad Bozorgnia
2009 Intense Cold Ali Roientan
2010 And The Blue Sky Ghazaleh Soltani
2014 Karbala: The Geography of a History Daryoush Yari
2014 P22 Hossein Ghasemi jami
Score For TV Series
Year Title
1988 The Wolves ٍSeyyed Davood Mirbagheri
1996 Men of Angelos Farajollah Salahshoor
1997 The Loneliest General Mahdi Fakhimzadeh
1999 Saint Mary Shahriar Bahrani
1998 The Trial Hassan Hedayat
2001 Hujr Ibn Adi Tajbakhsh Fanaian
2003 The Song of the Fog Hossein Layalestani
2008 Sheikh Baha’I Shahram Asadi
2012 Pahlavi Hat Seyyed Ziaddin Dorry
Symphonies
Year Title
1982 The Symphony of the Epic of Khorramshar
1996 Perspolis Suite
2005 Suite Symphony of Peace
2007 Suite Symphony of Sacrifice
2009 Suite Symphony of Revolution
2009 Suite Symphony of Resistance
2012 Karoon Suite
2013 Symphony of Victory
2013 Symphony of Epic

References

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  1. ^ "Symphony to mark Khorramshahr liberation anniversary". Iran Daily. Islamic Republic News Agency. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Biography". مجید انتظامی (in Persian). Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ^ Sharareh Sheikhkhan, Oct 2020, “Analysis of Iranian Film Music (With Focus on Some Contemporary Composers)”, Master Thesis, InMICS.