| Morteza Mahjoobi | |
| Birth Place: | Tehran, Iran |
| Birth Date: | 1900 |
| Instrument: | piano |
| Occupation: | Composer, pianist |
Morteza Mahjoobi (Persian: مرتضی محجوبی; 1900 – 21 March 1965) was an Iranian pianist and composer.[1] He was a piano soloist for the Golha radio programme.[2]
Morteza Mahjoobi (Persian: {{script|Arab|مرتضى محجوبى) was born in 1900, in Tehran, Iran.[2] [3] His father, Abbas Ali (Persian: {{script|Arab|عباسعلى), known as Nazer (Persian: {{script|Arab|ناظر), played the Ney. His mother, Fakhr-o-SSaadaat (Persian: {{script|Arab|فخرالسادات), played the piano. Mahjoobi's parents sent him, along with his older brother Reza, to Hossein Hang Afarin who taught Reza the violin and Morteza the piano.[3]
At the age of ten, Morteza performed a concert accompanying Aref Qazvini in Farus Cinema (Persian: {{script|Arab|سينماى فاروس).[3] In the following years, he went on to perform with other musicians including Darvish Khan, Seyyed Hossein Taherzadeh (Persian: {{script|Arab|سيد حسين طاهرزاده), and Hossein Esmail Zadeh (Persian: {{script|Arab|حسين اسماعيلزاده).[1]
His first teacher was Hossein Hang Afarin, from whom he learned the preliminary studies. He was then sent to Mahmoud Mofakham to further his studies of the piano and radif.[3] He also studied with other musicians, including Darvish Khan, Hossein Esmail Zadeh, Hajikhan Zarbgir, and Seyyed Hossein Taherzadeh.[2]
Mahjoobi's performance style was improvisational. According to Navvab Safa, he never planned or prepared for his performances, and if he played a piece ten times he would play it differently each time.[4]
Mahjoobi has composed many tasnifs (ballads), pīshdarāmads (rhythmic preludes), and rengs (rhythmic pieces). A noteworthy example is his composition "Man az Rooze Azal Divane Boodam" ("I Was Bewildered From Pre-eternity"). This tasnif has been performed by Gholam-Hossein Banan.[5] While Mahjbi was unfamiliar with western notation, he devised a notation system similar to Siaaq (a set of symbols used in premodern times to note the weight of merchandise or monetary figures), which he used to transcribe musical ideas.[6]
Mahjoobi had many students the most famous of whom is Fakhri Malekpour who studied with Mahjoobi over a period of twelve years.