Aref: Andranik Was Not a Political Person

Andranik Asatourian, a veteran composer of Iranian pop music, passed away on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the age of 73 due to cancer in Los Angeles. He was the creator of music and arranger for many famous Iranian pop songs. His works include 'Nafas' sung by Googoosh and 'Jashn-e Deltangi' sung by Dariush. Notable arrangements like 'Hamseda' with Googoosh's voice and 'Shaghayegh' with Dariush's voice are also among his exemplary works in music arrangement. Mr. Andranik joined the People's Mujahedin of Iran in the early 1990s. Aref, a pop singer in Iran, reminisces about his collaboration with Andranik: Aref, in an interview with Mohammad Zarghami, talks about Andranik. Aref states, 'From the very beginning of my career, Andranik was with me. When we were in our beloved Iran, three or four years before the revolution, I was invited to America, and Andranik came with me. He prepared an orchestra of six musicians, which is interesting because Mr. Davood Behboudi was part of this group that came with us. We went and our program was very successful. Because Andranik did not just work with me as a musician; he arranged and wrote harmonies, making the work sound more complex than a simple job. When we returned from America, it was a great success for us. What stands out in your record is that Andranik, in his collaborations with you, was more in the role of an arranger, and the works he created for you may be fewer than those he arranged. An arranger must have academic knowledge, which Andranik did. He mostly engaged in arranging rather than composing. But later he started composing, and one of our interesting works was a beautiful poem by Mr. Shahyar Ghanbari called 'Nazok,' for which Andranik composed the music. Another beautiful poem by Ms. Leila Kasra (Hediyeh), 'Mard Qabileh,' was also composed by Andranik for me. When you look at Andranik as an arranger (you have worked with other arrangers as well), what were the characteristics of working with Andranik? He said that a good voice is one that comes out correctly and healthily from the throat, not nasal or throaty. He always suggested to me what to do and how to sing. He was knowledgeable about singing techniques. He also started singing himself later on, but his voice was somewhat delicate, soft, and warm. Other arrangers, for example, Mr. Manouchehr Cheshmazar, also worked with me. Nasser Cheshmazar did the same. I did many works with the late Mr. Varoujan, but Andranik was something else. Andranik's works had the flavor of African American jazz music. The arrangements he wrote, the intervals he created had no relation to other arrangers. However, if we return to this point, Andranik had been less active in recent years, and some believe that his involvement in political activities caused him to distance himself from the artistic community in Los Angeles and Los Angeles to distance itself from him. I don't know about Andranik; he was not a political person who would want his political opinion to be this way. But he liked to work with this group and did so. I will never forget when he took responsibility for the music of that organization; he felt himself at the level of the great music masters on Radio Iran and places like that. Along with Mr. Emad Ram, they commanded and controlled. Of course, I was there for a short period, and then I distanced myself from these issues because my personal belief is not what was done there. As long as Andranik was doing his arrangements, he was successful even when he came to America. Most of Fereydoun Zolandeh's successful songs, from the perspective of singing, were all arranged by Andranik. The lyrics were by Ardalan and the music by Fereydoun, arranged by Andranik. But in terms of singing, aside from his arrangements, we need to examine where he actually stood and what he was doing.