Why millennia of history echo in each strum of a Persian tar | Aeon Videos

"The guitar-like instrument took on its modern six-stringed form in the 18th century, but comes from a lineage of instruments that dates back to the ancient Persian Empire. In this short film from the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, Sadeghi gives a soulful performance of the instrument and explains why, for him, playing the tar is both an act of anchoring and of ego dissolution, in which technique gives way to emotion."

"For the Iranian Australian musician Hamed Sadeghi, one strum of the tar is all it takes to echo millennia of Persian history. As such, it's no coincidence that the instrument is played close to the heart. He also explains how each note played helps to reclaim a piece of Iranian classical music history, some of which vanished when a rich radio archive was lost following the Iranian revolution of 1979."

Hamed Sadeghi, an Iranian Australian musician, plays the tar to evoke millennia of Persian history. The tar assumed its modern six-stringed form in the 18th century and descends from instruments dating to the ancient Persian Empire. Sadeghi delivers a soulful performance and describes playing the tar as both an act of anchoring and a form of ego dissolution, in which technique yields to emotion. He places the instrument close to his heart as a physical metaphor. Each note helps reclaim fragments of Iranian classical music history lost when a rich radio archive disappeared after the 1979 revolution. Film credits include Powerhouse Museum, director Hyun Lee, producer Georgia Noe.

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