SABA ALIZADEH - Temple Of Hope
How can a sense of beauty be found amidst fear and cruelty? How can all the unspeakable be made audible, but also anger, hope, and an unyielding will to live? With his third album Temple Of Hope, Iranian composer Saba Alizadeh has created a moving homage to the people of his homeland. He transforms the events during the "Woman Life Freedom" movement, as well as the struggles of the population in previous years, into poignant electro-acoustic music. Intensified by the vocals and lyrics of Andreas Spechtl, Sanam Maroufkhani, and Leila Rahimi. In his compositions, Saba Alizadeh combines the traditional string instrument Kamancheh with strings, modular synthesizers, and a no-input mixer. This results in a tense sound that explores the speechlessness and torn emotions between suffering, rebellion, and hope. Historical radio sequences ground his pieces in the culture and history of the country. The strong alienation and deconstruction of these acoustic elements, in turn, point to the incomprehensible – to existential upheavals and dissolution processes.
"The time during the 'Woman Life Freedom' movement was the darkest I have ever experienced," says Saba Alizadeh, who currently lives in the Netherlands with his wife. "At first, I felt numb." But then he went into his noise-work studio in Tehran and began to work. It was a contradictory situation. People were being shot outside. He continued with his art. Temple Of Hope is his acoustic manifesto to keep faith in the future alive under any circumstances. Just as the album cover shows: "The way the women stand together in a circle in front of a school blackboard and encourage each other symbolizes for me the 'Woman Life Freedom' movement, which began in high schools and universities," explains Saba Alizadeh. Their solidarity is, for him, the "Temple Of Hope". Because, as he says, "Hope is the only thing we have.“
As the son of Tar and Setar virtuoso Hossein Alizadeh, Saba Alizadeh comes from a musical family. Born in Tehran in 1983, he decided at the age of ten to learn the Kamancheh after experiencing the instrument in a concert. "I was immediately fascinated by how sensitively the Kamancheh can be played and how much its sound resembles the human voice." He internalized the Persian music system Dastgāh in detail and refined his playing under Saeed Farajpoury and Keyhan Kalhor. In Iran, he studied photography and later experimental sound with Mark Trayle at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. For Saba Alizadeh, weaving together different influences is essential and deeply rooted in his musical socialization. "The skin membrane and loosely tensioned bow give the Kamancheh an organic sound." He increasingly heard Kamancheh players on the radio, who enhanced their pieces with effects, echoes, and delays. "I was very interested in this musical evolution," says Saba Alizadeh. He began experimenting – from concrete music to pedal boards, from field recordings to the use of historical acoustic artifacts. He treats sound like an object from which he sculpts atmospheres and emotions. His artistic versatility makes him both an internationally successful live performer and a sought-after film composer. His soundtrack for the drama Leere Netze (Empty Nets), created with John Gürtler and Jan Miserre, was nominated for the German Film Award Lola in 2024.
His work on Temple Of Hope is also strongly shaped by visual imagination. "Often I first have an image in my mind that won't let me go. And then I start composing.“ For the piece Women Of Fire, he saw in his mind's eye the women running for their lives through tear gas, with gunshots ringing out in the background. The voice of singer Sanam Maroufkhani sounds like a siren's cry of pain, which seems to go up in flames at the end. To Become A Martyr One Has To Be Murdered deals with the death of the Iranian woman Nika Shahkarami: the young woman became known through a video in which she stands on a trash bin, waving a burning headscarf. While witnesses claim that she was pursued and arrested by security forces, the Iranian government obscures the circumstances and denies any connection to the "Woman Life Freedom" protests. Saba Alizadeh channels this repressive act into pounding, high-pitched beats, into which the Kamancheh's playing prophetically penetrates. With this disturbing piece, he also raises the general question of interpretive authority and grapples with the paradox of martyrdom: "Martyrs are revered as heroes. But murder is not a sacred act and should not be romanticized. Yet without one, the other does not exist.“
The piece Drop By Drop An Ocean Of Forms speaks of the blood-soaked tears of the mothers who have lost their children in resistance. The pizzicato-plucked strings of the Kamancheh are manipulated with effects to sound like drops falling heavily to the ground. "The mothers' tears hit the ground and eventually evaporate," says Saba Alizadeh. A piece of hypnotic intensity in which mourning and transience resonate. To make the fate of the Iranian people palpable, the composer repeatedly weaves acoustic documents into his work. In the cinematic Plain Of The Free, for example, the cries of the people grow louder as they demand their right to water during the "Uprising of the Thirsty" in the city of Susangerd in 2021. The final piece, You Tell Me..., also incorporates original sound material: it is based on the last phone call made by wrestler Navid Afkari from prison in Shiraz before his execution, during which he addressed the Iranian people. Saba Alizadeh initially distorts the voice beyond recognition, transforming it into an epochal echo. As the piece progresses, Afkari's words become increasingly clear until they are finally heard raw and pure. A reverberation as an acoustic memorial.
Extra Planetary Lovers presents a more optimistic future – one of the songs Saba Alizadeh created together with musician and lyricist Andreas Spechtl from the Berlin band Ja Panik! The two met in 2016 through the Goethe Institute. During Spechtl's residency in Tehran, Alizadeh introduced him to the Iranian cultural scene. They began a friendly exchange about politics and personal matters, sound, and music. They had already collaborated on the previous album I May Never See You Again and continued their partnership for Temple Of Hope via mail. Gently, more like a cautious premonition, Extra Planetary Lovers tells of a utopia where all are siblings or lovers. "Presents to each other." Encounters as gifts. A beautiful idea. Or, as Saba Alizadeh puts it, "the most beautiful feeling humanity can experience." In his Temple Of Hope, courage and optimism gather. For while Saba Alizadeh's multi-layered pieces may often seem like echoes of horror, they also unfold a deeply moving beauty.
Live
16 Jan 2025 Hamburg Nachtasyl
17 Jan 2025 Berlin Berghain Kantine
24 Jan 2025 Cologne tba
Short info Saba Alizadeh
Saba Alizadeh is a groundbreaking force in modern Iranian music. A Tehran native and Netherlands based virtuoso on the Kamancheh, he seamlessly integrates classical traditions with avant-garde innovation. Temple Of Hope is his 3rd studio album.
His compositions skillfully merge acoustic and electronic elements, employing mixed media and electroacoustic techniques to craft rich, immersive soundscapes. Saba leads audiences on a journey through Iran’s turbulent history, showcasing his ability to turn sound and image into a compelling story of resilience. His performance not only display technical brilliance but also solidifies his role as an innovator who use art to foster meaningful dialogue.
