Morteza SHIRKOOHI
Divine Thoughts

few words from Nicolas

Once again, a fantastic composer I met totally by chance. Thank to my interest in non european music, I came across totally by accident to a recording of one of his Arteeman, and after that It was not that easy to enter in touch with Morteza (as Iran is under an international ban, and internet is not working that well there). 

We became immediately friend, and Morteza gave me many scores to premiere, each time with many success. 

There was specially this Arteeman cycle who is so amazing, unfortunately Morteza could never compose such piece after it, as they were "very special" for him, and very apart from his more "traditional" regular compositions. 

The 15 Arteeman were born during a stay, meditating on the religious Iranian architecture. This music is simple, but beautiful. These pieces do not require a particular technique, except to have a nice touch. The Arteeman are much more ethereal than the Gnossiennes of Satie, and than the pieces of Gurdjieff, but with the same mystical breath.