Hossein Farjāmi (Persian: حسین فرجامی) was born in Tehran, Iran in 1944. He is one of the best-known Iranian santur players today. Besides being an accomplished musician (also playing the oud and various percussion instruments), he enhanced the design of the santur by extending its range; it can be played in several keys, minimizing the needs to retune it.
Hossein Farjami began to study the santur privately at the age of thirteen. When he was nineteen, Mr. Farjami came to live in England, in time becoming a well-known and respected figure within the Iranian community throughout Europe. His works have been performed in England, France and Germany, and are widely appreciated.
Not only does Hossein Farjami specialize on the santur, but plays the Middle-Eastern drums, the oud, and also composes. At the moment he produces both instrumental and vocal pieces, completing the arrangements himself.
Hossein Farjami also makes and repairs musical instruments — covering the Middle Eastern range, including santoor, oud, violin and tonbak. The Iranian santoor is an incomplete instrument, to change scales involves moving several bridges. However, Mr. Farjami has produced a santoor on which it is possible to do this quickly and efficiently. This he considers to be the greatest achievement of his career.
The santoor is one of the oldest instruments known in the world, originating in the Middle-East. It is amongst the simplest stringed instruments, belonging to the category of zithers, and is struck with two hammers called "mesrabs". The name Santoor first appears in a poem by an 11th century Iranian Manucheri. The instrument itself, however, was not depicted until a 13th-century drawing. The wall paintings of Chehel Sotun, the "catalogue" of Safavid musical instruments, also depict the Santoor and it is later found in paintings and photographs from the Qasar period. In the 20th-century the Santoor has gained great popularity and is now one of the major instruments in Iran. It is also played in many different countries with only slight variations in form, style or technique. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.