One of the "Persian Letters" of Edith Gerson-Kiwi
One of the "Persian Letters" of Edith Gerson-Kiwi
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Edith Gerson-Kiwi in Tehran (1961): Documents from a Revealing Journey

This article is accompanied by the playlist Edith Gerson Kiwi’s Recordings of Musical Traditions from Iran.

“Persia’s geographical position on the highlands which separate India and Mesopotamia has since days gone-by suggested her as being the ideal mediator between these civilizations and those of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. There are a number of facts which indicate that Persia played indeed a leading role in the development of the medieval systems of music, both of early Christianity, and of elements of ancient Hindu and Assyro-Babylonian tradition as well as residues of Greek music, it is only natural to assume that this abundant ancient inheritance would affect early Christian music. After the decline of those world powers in antiquity, Persia was left intact as the single refuge of their combined musical thought. How it came about that Persia emerged unscathed from a long series of wars, invasions or changing dynasties, remains a secret to historians, and the wonder is even greater when one considers that she succeeded in maintaining her own cultural identity until this day.” (Gerson Kiwi 1963:5)

In the opening paragraph of her monograph The Persian Doctrine of Dastga-Composition: A Phenomenological Study of the Musical Modes, the German-born Israeli ethnomusicologist Edith Gerson-Kiwi sets the tone for this unique study, published in 1963 in Tel Aviv by the Israel Music Institute. The study is distinctive not only because of its topic and the identity of its publisher, an Israeli state institution whose original mandate was the publication of works by local composers, but also because it stands out among the the most substantial studies Gerson-Kiwi ever published and because its intellectual pedigree can be traced in detail.

The “Persian journey” of Edith Gerson-Kiwi offers an enlightening case study of the evolution of post–World War II ethnomusicology of the Middle East from the vantage point of its periphery, that is, outside the dominant European and emergent American centers. Carried out by a German-trained female scholar who immigrated to British Mandate Palestine, this contribution echoes the final salvos of prewar comparative musicology. An assistant and disciple of Robert Lachmann, Gerson-Kiwi’s incursion into Persian music, including her encounter with this music in Iran itself, may be considered one of the last chapters in the transition from comparative musicology to anthropologically oriented American ethnomusicology in the 1960s.

Looking back at her first encounters with Persian Jewish musicians who immigrated to Israel in the late 1940s, through her recordings and her sojourn at an international music conference in Tehran from April 6–12, 1961, as documented in her detailed correspondence from Tehran—preserved in her archive and published here for the first time in an edited translation—one can trace the development of Gerson-Kiwi’s engagement with Persian music as a living testimony to what she perceived as the most ancient strata of “Oriental music.” By positioning Iran as the pivot of the “dense network of historical interrelations” in the crystallization of Middle Eastern musical systems (Gerson-Kiwi 1963:5), she marginalized the mainstream of ancient Jewish music as a center whose modal chant spread eastwards via Oriental Christian liturgies. Put differently, by adopting a largely Persian-centric view of the evolution of Oriental music, ancient Jewish music is decentered as the axis of monodic chant development, becoming subsidiary to an even older source. Such a bold move may be interpreted in many ways, not least as a quintessentially Orientalist perspective. We shall, however, refrain for the moment from casting a verdict on this matter, allowing the materials to speak for themselves.

Gerson-Kiwi clearly breaks with what she perceived as a speculative, albeit rich, medieval music theory that could not account for how Persian maqam music actually functioned. She therefore proposes that “we have no other choice than … [to] allow the phenomena of sound production and sound combination to speak freely. Through this time of analysis and deduction, we may eventually be able to trace some elementary patterns of thought inhaerent [sic!] in the earlier strata of Persian music” (Gerson-Kiwi 1963:7). She returns to this subject in the conclusion of her study of Persian music, where she defines her publication as “a kind of pilot project to gain a first insight into the anatomy of Persian dastgah improvisation, on a purely phenomenological basis, and without any preconceived ideas about established scale systems or historical dependencies” (Gerson-Kiwi 1963:31). By advocating such a phenomenological approach, Gerson-Kiwi appears to offer a methodological path that, on the one hand, recalls the method of her mentor, Robert Lachmann, and, on the other, anticipates the fieldwork-based approach of modern ethnomusicology.

The “Persian letters” of Gerson-Kiwi, as we choose to name the epistolary from Tehran published as an appendix to this essay, open a window onto her textured academic and social networks, both local, Jewish and Israeli, and global, as reflected in the invitation extended by the International Music Council of UNESCO to participate in the Tehran conference. Written during her journey in April 1961 to husband Kurt [Gerson], and – in few instances to father Rudolf (Ruben) Kiwi, both in Jerusalem, the letters take the form of travel diaries. They include minute details of her experiences during her Iran-journey: Excitement at the new Boeing 707 gives way to descriptions of nature, and bazaars. Receptions, professional and casual meetings offering glimpses into the diplomatic and cultural interactions between Israel and Iran during this period. At the same time, the letters reveal the logistical challenges of her fieldwork: borrowing recording equipment, visits – not only to tourist attractions but also to a far-flung Mahaleh, that is portrayed in stark and affective language, and, above all, ethnographic recordings.

The “Persian Diary”, a central source, published in the appendix, becomes relevant here: Written during the same period as the letters they preserve valuable details to her fieldwork in Iran. The diary lists several recording sessions conducted between April 4 and April 20, 1961, which will be examined in more detail below.

Gerson-Kiwi’s prose is impressionistic and, not surprisingly, marked by Orientalism and pronounced sense of self-esteem. Iran appears in her eyes as a “wonderland,” and Tehran as “magical.” At the same time, her impressions of Iranian royal grandeur reveal a certain provincialism of someone arriving from a young and frugal Israel; this is evident, for example, in her awe at a hotel room with a private bathroom. Ethnic stereotypes abound; for example,  she finds in the steppes of northern Iran people who look “distinctly Mongolian-Kalmyk,” as opposed to “pure Persians,” distinguished by their “narrow bottle-shaped head and aquiline nose of the Kurds.” Not only “Orientals” are stereotyped, but also Eastern Europeans (Jews and non-Jews alike, such as “the Russians”). Images of Germany remain very much present in her mind as a point of reference more than two decades after leaving her native country; for example, Isfahan, an especially “exotic Islamic city,” is compared to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. She also does not shy away from writing about her own fame, describing how she was honored in one of the synagogues in Tehran by being called down from the women’s gallery to sit in the men’s section, or how her lecture was the most praised one at the conference.

Encountering Persian Musical Traditions, Jewish and Iranian, in Israel

Edith Gerson-Kiwi’s 1961 trip to Tehran did not occur in a vacuum. It emerged from her  long-term, sustained interest in Persian classical music as well as in the liturgical and paraliturgical traditions of the Jews of Iran. Her earliest documented exposure to Persian Jewish traditions dates back to the beginnings of her independent ethnographic work, that is, research she carried out after the passing of her mentor, Robert Lachmann, and the end of World War II. This work began on June 9, 1947, when she recorded Itzhak Rahmani and Israel Kashi singing sections of the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi and poetry attributed to Omar Khayyam. She recorded Rahmani again on February 11, 1948. Soon thereafter, another Iranian informant appears in her archive: Mordecai Zar (צר) from Mashhad, whom she recorded on April 26, 1948 singing excerpts of biblical cantillation as well as sections from the Passover Haggadah. It is worth noting that these recordings were made under precarious conditions, on the eve of the departure of the British Mandate from Palestine and the declaration of Israel’s independence.

On February 21, 1950, Gerson-Kiwi recorded for the first time music from the Persian classical repertoire (radif), namely the avaz Dashti, performed by Aharon Yanokov (no instrument specified in the catalogue). Later that year, on July 17 and October 11, she carried out two recording sessions with the Reuben Tsadik instrumental ensemble, in which the “boy soprano” Moshe Cohen (12 years old) and the singer Pinchas Filfeli participated. These recordings included instrumental compositions from the Persian radif as well as Persian folk songs.

Two years later, she returned to the music of Iranian Jews, this time making substantial recordings of the radif, the repertoire that would become the object of her research and publication. On August 19 and September 1, 1952, she recorded intensively a trio consisting of the violinist Shelomo Orfanian (26 years old, from Mashhad), the singer Ezra ben Kordar (or Kurdar; 20 years old, from Shiraz), and the doira player Yossef Yizdi (or perhaps Yazdi; 19 years old, from Mashhad). The young age of these musicians testifies to the continued engagement of musicians of Jewish origin with Persian classical music in the mid-twentieth century.

The year 1956 marks Edith Gerson-Kiwi’s encounter with one of her main Persian Jewish collaborators, a violinist variously named in her catalogue as “Netzer” or “Saluki,” from whom she recorded extensively sections of the radif. This young violinist was none other than Professor Amnon Netzer (1934–2008), née Naser Soluki, born in Rasht, Iran, who later became one of Israel’s most distinguished Iranologists at the Hebrew University, as well as the founder of Persian-language broadcasting on Israeli radio (Kol Israel). Netzer immigrated to Israel in 1950. Between April 29, 1956, and January 22, 1957, Gerson-Kiwi recorded an extensive collection of thirty-four magnetic tapes featuring Netzer, covering various dastgahs of the Persian classical repertoire. A sample of Prof. Netzer’s peformance and voice can be heard in this recording.

Female voices from Iran also appear in Gerson-Kiwi’s archive. On March 3, 1952, she recorded Yafah Yonatan, and on September 4, 1957, she recorded Suleika Omidbar singing Persian love songs.

Not all the recordings labeled “Persian” in Gerson-Kiwi’s collection reflect Iranian Jewish traditions. Notably, among her “Persian” collaborators in Palestine/Israel was the distinguished musician and music educator Nissan Cohen Melamed (1906–1983). Cohen Melamed was born in Shiraz but immigrated to Ottoman Palestine with his family at the age of two. Raised in Jerusalem, he became an expert in the cantillation traditions of the Jews of the Levant, studying at the Jerusalem Conservatory and assisting Professor Solomon Rosowsky in his research on cantillation. In 1927, he was appointed by Chief Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uzziel (1880–1953) as cantor of the Great Sephardi Synagogue Ohel Moed in Tel Aviv and as director of the Pirḥei Kehunah College for Sephardi ḥazzanut.

Thus, Cohen Melamed was classified nominally as “Persian” due to his place of birth, although musically he was a representative of the modernizing, Arabo-centered trend within the mainstream Sephardic cantorial tradition. His recordings of biblical cantillation were broadcast by the Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1947, and Gerson-Kiwi preserved copies of them in her archive as “Persian” specimens. She continued to record Cohen Melamed several years later, for example in a session devoted to qinot (dirges) from the “Persian (Jerusalemite)” tradition on July 21, 1953. Gerson-Kiwi’s terminology reflects the fluid boundaries of Cohen Melamed’s musical lore, in which the “Persian” element dissolved into the Jerusalemite mainstream of the Sephardic tradition.[1]

Another field recording of nominally Persian Jews is a live performance produced in collaboration between Gerson-Kiwi and Kol Israel (Israel’s state radio station). This recording of seliḥot (penitential prayers) was made at the Agudath Tze’irei Paras (Persian Youths’ Association) Synagogue during the Days of Awe, on October 2, 1954. Yet, despite its name, by that time the ethnic composition of the congregation could hardly be described as truly Persian, but rather as Jerusalemite. Finally, on March 3, 1961, just one month before her departure for Tehran, Gerson-Kiwi recorded the Iranian cantor Itzhak Nissaniyan, whose voice she later presented in her lecture in Iran. You can listen to Nissaniyan’s recording here.

Gerson-Kiwi’s interest in Persian Jewish traditions continued after the conference in Tehran, though not with the same intensity. She reused earlier recordings in her public lectures and radio programs.

In Tehran, April 1961

While in Iran, Gerson-Kiwi conducted several recording sessions with hazzanim and Iranian musicians, documented in her “Persian Diary” and correspondence. On 9 April 1961, she recorded Meshedi liturgy at the Meshed Synagogue in Tehran (Ge’ulah Synagogue), with cantor Seifullah Dil (Yehudah Dil), in collaboration with Peter Crossley-Holland (BBC) using his Nagra recorder. On 10 April 1961, she recorded, again in collaboration with Crossley-Holland, Persian art music on santur, performed by Hussein Melik, on the Nagra. Further sessions include a recording of cantor Aziz Zarifenad/Zarzhinad in Shiraz on April 15, 1961. On April 19, 1961, she recorded Mizra (or Mizraan) Zu’ari or Zooghi (zarb) and his son Johangir (or Giohangir) Zu’ari (violin and vocals) in what she refers to as “Teheran Ghetto” (names vary between the Diary records and the Hebrew catalogue).

Figure 1: List of recordings from the “Persian Diary”

 

Figure 1: List of recordings from the “Persian Diary”

At the conference itself, she presented recordings by cantor Itzhak Nissaniyan alongside Persian classical music performed by Jewish musicians she had previously recorded in Israel, including “Netzer Saluki” (i.e., Amnon Netzer) and Shanez-Gadaniyan (flute and zarb), as indicated in the abstract of her presentation at the IMC conference. 

A considerable part of the Oriental Jewish liturgies, in particular those in countries of Persian and Arab culture, have adopted the melodic systems of dastgah and maqam. It appears that, at an earlier stage, these Eastern Diaspora traditions joined and combined this method of improvisation with their forms of liturgical cantillation, that is, with the ekphonetic formulas of the Holy Scriptures, in a kind of loose coexistence. Later on, however, the Perso-Arab systems of modal improvisation were superimposed upon and fully integrated into the process of reading the Scriptures and chanting the prayers. The outcome was that the syllabic formulas for sacred song were broadened and became songs composed on a modal base of fixed tonality. Due to their secluded way of life, certain Oriental communities of Afghanistan and Bukhara, as well as of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and other Mediterranean countries, may have preserved remnants of classical maqam forms, which may help us recover older ways of melodic development that, in more open and dynamic environments, have either been forgotten or evolved into newer forms. Thus, these Eastern Jewish communities have often served as carriers of the historical musical styles of their countries of origin to more distant places, while at the same time establishing new contacts. The lecture will be illustrated by a number of new recordings made at the Jerusalem Archives for Oriental and Jewish Music.

One can already discern in this abstract the kernel of the argument Gerson Kiwi would develop two years later in her aforementioned monograph The Persian Doctrine of Dastga-Composition: A Phenomenological Study of the Musical Modes. Her first-hand experience in Iran and the acquaintances she formed with leading Iranian musicians and musicologists would contribute to her framing of the Oriental Jewish traditions within the larger context of ancient Persian music.

In retrospect, the Iran journey marked perhaps less the beginning of a new research direction than a consolidation long in preparation. As she put it in a letter to Mehdi Busheri, Chairman of the Board of the Festival of Arts in Iran, dated Jerusalem, December 11, 1968: “I vividly remember my visit to your legendary country in 1963 [sic!], which made a deep impression on my musical and human experience. Together with this letter, I send you a small essay I wrote on Persian Art Music.”

The journey to Tehran proved formative for Gerson-Kiwi’s intellectual trajectory and professional network. At the end of the conference, she was elected to a small international committee tasked with planning the twenty-fifth anniversary (1963) of the International Music Council: “Furthermore, I had the honor of being elected to a small international committee tasked with planning the 25th anniversary (in 1963) [of the IMC]. The meeting [of the committee] took place with His Excellency Raadi [Ḡolām-ʿAli Raʿdi Āḏaraḵaši, 1909-1999], the Persian Minister of Culture and Permanent Representative to the UN. Upon his request, I submitted my proposals (in writing), which was immediately included in the first protocol and sent to His Majesty.“ (see below letter 4, 10.4)

In the years that followed, she became increasingly involved as the Israeli representative to the International Music Council (UNESCO) and the International Folk Music Council (today the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance).  The seeds of the “East and West in Music” Conference (Jerusalem, 1963), a landmark in the history of music research in Israel, were planted therefore at that conference in Tehran. 

If the Tehran journey consolidated a research interest long in preparation, its formative impact can be observed most vividly in the documents produced in its wake — and often in its very midst. Letters written in transit, field notes drafted alongside recording sessions, and professional correspondence preserve the movement between experience and interpretation, before it settled into published form. The archive thus allows us to witness not the retrospective coherence of Gerson-Kiwi’s ideas on dastgah, but its context of validation, with all its ruptures, biases and tensions making it a product of the time and tensions that created it. 

The Archival Record of the Tehran Journey

The reconstruction of Edith Gerson-Kiwi’s 1961 journey draws on a corpus of materials preserved in the National Library of Israel. Private letters, a field diary, and related correspondence capture the immediacy of her encounters while revealing the practical and intellectual conditions of her fieldwork. Taken together, these documents not only form the evidentiary basis of this article but also open a broader archival horizon for understanding Gerson-Kiwi’s intellectual trajectory and her place within the emerging field of ethnomusicology. Before turning to the annotated translations presented in the appendix, a brief archival overview outlining the sources is in order.

a) The “Persian Letters” (Personal Correspondence)

The core of the ‘Persian letters’ comprises five items of German-language “Family Correspondence” drafted by Edith Gerson Kiwi’s during her research trip to Iran in April 1961. The letters are preserved in the Edith Gerson Kiwi estate at the National Library of Israel, former subsection “Correspondence with the Family” (MUS 78, C73-77).

The set includes four letters dated April 5, 6, 10, and 18, 1961, and one postcard dated April 9. All items were sent from Tehran and addressed to her husband, Kurt Gerson, and her father, Rudolf (Ruben) Kiwi, both residents of Jerusalem. The letters document Gerson-Kiwi’s participation in the conference of the International Music Council, alongside her fieldwork activities, recording sessions, and professional engagements during her stay in Iran, and include personal observations presented in an impressionistic style. 

With the exception of the postcard, the letters are handwritten in blue pencil on letterhead from the Plaza Hotel in Tehran, where Gerson-Kiwi resided during her visit. Several leaves are written on both sides and contain occasional marginal annotations. The handwriting is largely legible; uncertain readings are indicated in brackets in the German transliteration (see Figure X). The last letter suggests that additional correspondence existed, but was not located in the estate (see Table 1).

Sender Recipient Language Place Dated Description   Remarks
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Kurt Gerson German Tehran 5.4.1961 Handwritten in blue pencil on a letter- head of Plaza Hotel, Tehran 1 leaf  
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Kurt Gerson German Tehran 6.4.1961 Handwritten in blue pencil on a letter- head of Plaza Hotel, Tehran 4 pages Note from Susan on pp 3 and 4
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Rudolf Kiwi German Tehran 9.4.1961 Handwritten in blue pencil on a postcard 1 post-card  
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Kurt Gerson German Tehran 10.4.1961 Handwritten in blue pencil on a letter- head of Plaza Hotel, Tehran 4 pages  
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Kurt Gerson German Tehran 18.4.1961 Handwritten in blue pencil on a letter- head of Plaza Hotel, Tehran 2 pages  

Table 1: The ‘Persian Letters’ 

 

Figure 2: Sample from the ‘Persian Letters’

Figure 2: Sample from the ‘Persian Letters’

 

b) “Teheran” or the “Persian Diary”

Complementing the correspondence is a manuscript diary referred to by Gerson-Kiwi as the “Persian Diary” (NLI, EZJM-EGK-0206EX12EX13). The twelve-page notebook, written in German, Hebrew, and English (see Figure 3), begins on April 4, 1961, and records observations from her stay. It contains field notes together with a list of sound recordings produced during the research trip and is organized into two sections documenting her 
fieldwork in Iran.

Figure 3: Cover of the “Persian Diary”

Figure 3: Cover of the “Persian Diary”

 

The first section (pp. 1–7) comprises as a personal record describing her arrival in Tehran on April 4, 1961, and includes reflections that partially parallel the letters sent to her husband, Kurt Gerson, while providing additional detail, including comments on a professional relationship with a member of the Jewish Agency who accompanied her during the journey.

The second section (pp. 8–11) takes the form of a field diary and documents her fieldwork in Iran. Written in English, Hebrew, and German, it contains notes on encounters in the field, biographical information on synagogue cantors in Iran and Israel, and related contact details. The section also includes a list of recordings made with local cantors during her stay, with entries dating from the early morning of April 4 to April 20, 1961.

Recordings produced in Iran in collaboration with the British journalist and scholar Peter Crossley Holland are preserved in the Sound Archive of the National Library of Israel.

c) Additional Letters in “General Correspondence”

In addition to the ‘Correspondence with the Family’ collection, several further letters related to the Tehran trip are preserved in the ‘General Correspondence’ section (NLI, MUS 78, D263–281). These materials document correspondence with colleagues and collaborators, Gerson-Kiwi maintained during and shortly after her journey to Iran, including exchanges with Nissan Cohen Melamed (see Table 2). The letters comprise both handwritten and typewritten items.

Sender Recipient Language Place Dated Description  
Edith Gerson-Kiwi D. Doriel Hebrew Jerusalem 26.4.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Sher Edith Gerson-Kiwi Hebrew Tehran 26.4.1961 Handwritten in blue ink. 1 leaf
Secretary Edith Gerson-Kiwi Hebrew Tehran 2.5.1961 Typewritten, signed. 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Hussein Melik English Jerusalem 3.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Aziz Shabani (or Shaabani) French Jerusalem 3.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi F. Fourough French Jerusalem 3.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Leonard Wolff English Jerusalem 7.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Suzan Collett English Jerusalem 7.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Cohanim English Jerusalem 8.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi D. Doriel Hebrew Jerusalem 11.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
F. Fourough Edith Gerson-Kiwi French   11.5.1961 Handwritten in black ink. 1 leaf
Aziz Shabani Edith Gerson-Kiwi French Tabriz 19.5.1961 Handwritten in black ink. 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi Jacques Bornoff French Jerusalem 15.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi M. Barkechli French Jerusalem 15.5.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf
Foreign Ministry Edith Gerson-Kiwi Hebrew Jerusale 22.5.1961 Typewritten on a letterhead of the foreign ministry 1 leaf
Hehalutz Edith Gerson-Kiwi Hebrew Jerusalem 6.6.1961 Typewritten on a letter- head of Hechalutz 1 leaf
Edith Gerson-Kiwi F. Fourough French Jerusalem 21.6.1961 Typewritten, carbon copy 1 leaf

Table 2: Letters in “General Correspondence”
 

Appendix: Edith Gerson Kiwi's “Persian Diary” and “Persian Letters”: Transcriptions and Annotated Translations

 

Note on the Transcription and Translation

The appendix presents transcriptions and basic translations of the “Persian Diary” and the “Persian Letters” written in Iran, in order to provide access to these primary sources. 

The transcriptions aim to reproduce the original documents as faithfully as possible while ensuring readability. Original spelling and punctuation have been retained unless their preservation would obscure meaning. Words that are illegible, uncertain, or conjecturally supplied are indicated in square brackets, and editorial clarifications are likewise bracketed where necessary.

The translations seek to preserve the distinctive features of Gerson-Kiwi’s German prose, shaped by the cultural and linguistic conventions of exiled mid-twentieth-century German intellectual life. Her writing is characterized by extended sentences, frequent passive constructions, and idiomatic expressions that reflect the stylistic habits of her German speaking intellectual milieu. Where appropriate, traces of the original German syntax have been deliberately retained to preserve the linguistic texture and cadence of the source texts. Personal nicknames and other stylistic markers have likewise been preserved whenever possible. Readers are encouraged to consult the original German sources, provided alongside the transcriptions, to appreciate Gerson-Kiwi’s authorial voice. Footnotes supply additional information on individuals, institutions, and historical references mentioned in the documents.

 

Persian Diary

Di. 4.4.61

Morgens um 5h letzten Strich am Teheraner Referat getan. Gefühl unendlicher Erfrischung, keine Müdigkeit, obwohl nach zwei Stunden wieder auf, und 10 Briefe geschrieben, alle beruflich und dringlich. Um drei Uhr soll Abfahrt nach Ludt sein, um 12 h keine dramatische Entwicklungen: beim Packen fand ich die neuen Koffer zu schwer (Eigengewicht). 
Kurt kam nach 1 Uhr, fuhren schnell in die Stadt, kauften billiges und packten dann in einer Stunde alles, Manuskripte, Tapes, Bücher, Propagndamaterial, Empfehlungsbriefe, Wäsche, Kleider, etc. - Alles fuhr. 

Abfahrt Ludt: Fand Yoram vor, süßes Kind, war extra von Carmiel gekommen. Schmuggelten Übergewicht durch, Abfahrt verspätet, warteten auf 6 Leute aus Flugzeug El-Al-Brazil. – Herz flatterte ein bißchen angesichts der riesigen Boing 707, Jet-Flugzeug, unheimlich vollkommen, [disaster privo – [zierend], letzte Hybris. Beruhigte meine Gemüt erst beim Anblick der so selbstverständlich erwarteten Hostessen, sie sind der große Sicherheitsfaktor für fantasiekränkelnde Passagiere.

Dann fantastischer Flug. 3 Std trennen Lud - Teheran.: dann Lichtermeer. TA(*Tel Aviv) verschwand wie auf einem Filmstreifen und kaum hatte man das Dinner (Rindsteak) abgeräumt, erschien ein neues …meer: Teheran.

(Dr. Berkachli) empfing uns. Paradoxie zwischen Mensch und Mechanik. 3 Std TA-Teheran, aber 1 ½ Std., um durch die Schalter der Station zu kommen. Im Plaza-Hotel, alte Eleganz, bekam ich wunderschöne Zimmer, eingebautes Bad und das alles gut funktionierend, herrschaftlich.

Morgens erst durch Tel(efon) aufgeweckt, Sara,[…] der Jewish Agnecy, bat um Interview mit Journalistin einer (der) Frauenzeitung. War schon elf (!!) Uhr: offenbar war ich durch Aspirin + Dramamine total doped.

Fand Freund Spira, den Amuletten-Bauchladenverkäufer, alias Repräsentant d. Unesco in Israel, auch gerade erst aufgestanden, fuhren beide zu Dr. Doriel, (Jew. Agency).
Dieser macht etwas genialischen Eindruck, totaler Russe, Riesenkopf mit langen ungekämmten Haaren, geringer Artikulation beim Sprechen, aber doch großer Allegmeinkultur, beim Sprechen schnell Sympathy gewinnend, besonders gegenüber dem Miesnickel) Dr. Sp[ira], der bodenlose Fragen stellte, von einer Platitude, materieller Selbstzufriedenheit, Charismatik zum Platzen, welcher dann auch anläßlich zweier “journalistischer” Fragen kam: 1) sind die Perser "ישרים". Doriel: “Sind denn die Juden? Nehmen sie z.B. einen polinischen (bes. Galizianer, wie es Sp[ira] ist!!), wie kann man darauf antworten!!” 2. Frage, anlässig des Interesse der Perser an isr.(aelischer) Landwirtschaft: Sp[ira] ] "יש להם בככל השכל לזה". Oriel: (explorierend): mein Herr, das ist eine verdammt imperialistische Frage!! Jedes Volk hat “Sechel” verlassen Sie sich darauf, sonst werden Sie einmal schlechte Erfahrungen machen (mit blitzenden Seitenblick auf mich, da er offenbar in mir schon längst seinem Partner gewittert hatte).

Ich hätte in die Erde fahren können. Dieser “Dr” ist von einer Unbildung, Unbelesenheit und Schamlosigkeit dazu, echter Parteifunktionär, kleine geistigen Standards, kein gesellschaftliches Niveau - nur das wird für viele Tausende von Dollars das große Jahr herum um den Erdball auf bunte Konfekte geschickt, wo er nicht mitreden kann, wo jeder nach 2 Minuten den geistigen Proletarier in ihm erkannt hat - 
Nach schönen Lunch im Hotel ein bißchen Schlaf, u. dann mit Sara (vom Amt) Spazierfahrt zu den Bazaren.

Alles [Talumi], kaum was Echtes, hatte noch keine Lust zu kaufen. Sp. kaufte umso mehr. [Nur isfahanische  Emaile noch Ichrain.] - Abend Spaziergang mit Virgie Thampon (USA - Compser) in (Yuize) (Jap. Koto-Spieler).  - Alain Danielon die bisher größte Entdeckung.
Las (ohne zu wissen) dem Spira die Leviten, indem er den pers. Niedergang des Geschmacks und die Mischung der Stile als „obvious” erklärte, bs. die Zustellung sog. orient. “Orchester”, - von Sp. als größte Attracktion seitens Israel vorhatte, beim nächsten  Israelischen [C…] zu bieten.

Tuesday, 4.4.61

At 5 am this morning, I put the finishing touches on my Tehran presentation. I felt immensely refreshed and not at all tired, even though I had only slept for two hours before waking up to write ten urgent work-related letters. Departure to Ludd[2]  is supposed to be at three o'clock, and as of noon, nothing out of the ordinary. However, while packing, I found that my new suitcases were too heavy due to their tare weight. Kurt came shortly after 1 pm, and we quickly drove into the city [downtown Jerusalem] and looked for reasonable prices on what we needed. We packed everything within an hour - manuscripts, tapes, books, propaganda material, recommendation letters, clothing, and more. Ready to go.

Departure Ludd: I found Yoram [Gerson Kiwin’s son] there, the sweet kid who had come all the way from Carmiel. I managed to sneak in some overweight luggage; the departure was delayed as we waited for six people from the El-Al-Brazil flight. – My heart skipped a little at the sight of the enormous Boeing 707, a jet aircraft, uncannily flawless, disaster privo [i.e. extremely safe], the ultimate hybris. I felt more at ease when I saw the familiar hostesses, who always comfort nervous passengers. Shortly after dinner (rum steak) was cleared away, a new sea of [...] appeared: Tehran.

Dr Barkeshli[3] warmly welcomed us. There was something paradoxical about him, a mix of man and machine. The flight from Tel Aviv to Tehran took only three hours, but we spent an hour and a half just navigating the airport's crowded counters. The Plaza Hotel was a bastion of old-world elegance, and I was lucky to have a beautiful room with a built-in bathroom. Everything worked perfectly, and I felt like royalty.

The following morning, the phone jolted me awake. It was Sara,[...] from the Jewish Agency, requesting an interview with a journalist from (the!) women's newspaper. To my surprise, it was already eleven (!!) o'clock, and I realized that the combination of Aspirin and Dramamine [drug against motion sickness] had left me feeling dazed.

I found ‘friend’ Spira[4],  the amulet vendor who is also the representative of UNESCO in Israel. He had just gotten up, and we drove to Dr Doriel from the Jewish Agency. He [Dr. Doriel] made a somewhat ingenious impression; he was a total Russian, with a massive head of long, unkempt hair and poor articulation when speaking. Despite this, he had a broad general knowledge. He quickly won people over with his speech, especially the nitpicker Dr Sp[ira], who asked bottomless questions full of platitudes, material self-satisfaction, and overflowing charisma.  He came up with two "journalistic" questions: 1) Are Persians "ישרים" (yesharim, i.e. honest)? Doriel replied, "Are Jews? For example, if you take a Polish Jew (especially a Galician like Spira is!), how can you answer that?" A second question regarding the Persians' interest in Israeli agriculture: Sp[ira] "יש להם בככל השכל לזה" (Do they have the brains for that?). Doriel responded, exploratively: “Sir, that's a bloody imperialist question!! Every nation has 'sekhel' (brains); rely on it, or you will have bad experiences someday". He gave me a flashing sidelong glance as if he had already recognized me as his accomplice.

I could have buried myself (lit. “disappeared into the ground”). This "Dr" is terribly uneducated, unenlightened, shameless, and a true party functionary. He has low intellectual standards and no social standing. Yet, he is sent worldwide on lavish expenses to attend colorful extravaganzas where he cannot keep up with the conversation and where everyone can detect the intellectual proletarian in him after just two minutes.

After a nice lunch at the hotel, I took a nap and then went on a stroll to the bazaars with Sara from the office. Everything [...] seemed fake and cheap, so I didn't feel like buying anything. Spira, on the other hand, bought a lot - [only] enamel handcraft from Isfahan.

[After Ichi] - I went for an evening stroll with Virgil Thompson (USA - a composer)[5]  and Yuize (a Japanese koto player).[6]  Alain Danielou[7], the most significant discovery so far. Without realizing it, he rebuked Spira, citing the decline of Persian taste and the blending of styles as “obvious”, particularly in the so-called Oriental "orchestra" that Spira planned to showcase as the main attraction at the upcoming Israeli extravaganza.

Recordings made during my stay in Persia: 4/4 – 20/4, 1961[8]

 

-       1st Session
9.4.61:
Meshedi Liturgy, made in the interior of Meshed-Synagogue in Teheran (Ge’ulah Synagogue) ([בהכ״נ] ״גאולה]) Address: Kushe Biamarestan Vaziri, Teheran
Chazan: Seifullah Dil (Yehudah Dil), אעה 314 Teheran
Made with Crossley-Holland (B.B.C.) on his Nagra – Machine. Copies for me to be sent.

-       2nd session
10.4.61:
Persian art-music: on Santur (Soloist: Hussein Melik, in his house; Teheran
with Crossley-Holland (B.B.C.) on his Nagra

-       3rd Session
15.4.61
Shiraz Liturgy: recorded in Shiraz
Chazzan: Aziz Zarifenad

-       4th Session
19.4.61:
Teheran-Ghetto: Persian Art-music
Mizara + Giohanfiv Zooari (Violin and Song 7056)
Father and Son (= Vl. + Song).

[next page]

1)     Genesis, 1st Chapter, 1-6
2)   
3)     Prophets

[Note in a box on the side] P.O.B. 314 Teheran.

9-4-61

חזן:

Seiffulah Dil

יהודה דיל (משד)

[remark on the side: recordings in Teheran, in the synagogue]
 
Born in Mashad, 36 years old, and emigrated from Mashed 14 years ago due to riots. Since then, he has been a Chazzan. He is also a businessman, carpet exports to Italy, from there importing gamoshkas, motorcycles etc.  He spent three years in the land (Israel) 34 years ago and spoke [Hebrew] fluently.

1) בראשית א, 1-6                         עם: "בסימן הטוב"
2) ויקרא ט, 1-6;9                          ויהי ביום השמיני
3) 10 הדברות
4) הפטרה: שמואל ב |                     2,7

[pagebreak]

5) שיר השירים |                             complete
6) תהילים 107:למואדים (פסח)         Ps.107
7) chapter 9 (העשרת….) Ester |            xi
8)  אחות קטנה (ראש השנה, ערבית)
9) הי שמעתי שמעך

[Note on the side]: Synagoge Abdhullah Zadehi

Teheran בית הכנסת הגאולה
Kushe Biamarestan
Vaziri, Teheran

[next page]

There is a Chassan in Israel
חיים (ישראל) בן גדליה
From a city named: (מן אורמו): Min Ormo [Hormuz?]

The daughter asked for the address:
She has the best Chazzan שמאול
He is from Rezaֵַ[y]ie[h] (=Urmi[a])

 

The “Persian Letters” (German transcription followed by English translation)

Letter no. 1

Hotel Plaza
Av. Pahlavi Nahré Karadj, Teheran

5.4.61

Mein lieber Kurt,

nun bin ich also wirklich in diesem Wunderland angelangt. Der Flug (- wir fuhren verspätet ab, weil man auf 6 Fahrgäste aus einem El Al von Brazil wartete -) war einfach fantastisch – zum erstenmal saß ich in einem riesigen Jet Bo]ing[ 707, unheimlich vollkommen, in 3 hr. 20 min. waren wir in Teheran. Dort warteten schon einige Abgesandte des ]Konfektes[, darunter Dr. Barkeshli, und brachten uns in das feinste Hotel Plaza. Ich bekam das feinste Zimmer, so scheint mir, mit eingebautem Badezimmer und wunderschönem Mobiliar.

Heute morgen wurde ich erst durch ein Telefongespräch aufgeweckt und fand, daß es bereit ½ 11 h war - so habe ich gedöst, nach den Pillen und den durchgearbeiteten Nächten. Freund Spira ist sehr kameradschaftlich und gutmütig, aber sonst herzzerbrechend ungebildet und chauvinistisch. Ohne Frühstück (ach mein guter Kaffee!) holte man uns dann von der Agence Juive ab und brachte uns zu Dr. Dariel, dem Leiter und außerordentlich gut informierten, philosophisch lancierten Menschen. Er und Spira platzten dann auch bald aufeinander wegen des letzteren „imperialistischer“ Denkweise. Mittags haben wir ein excellentes Lunch im Hotel – wir sind ja total eingeladen, dann schlief ich wieder in einen Totenschlaf ein, bis uns eine Angestellte der נציגות   (Jud. Agence) zu einem Trip durch die Bazare abholte. Die Stadt macht einen zauberhaften Eindruck, neues + altes durcheinander, im Hintergrund sieht man überall die mit ewigem Schnee bedeckten Berge in Höhe von 5400 meter, - Teheran selbst liegt 1200 meter, -  und als wir aus dem Flugzeug traten, schlug uns eisige Weihnachtsluft entgegen! Jerusalem, aber verstärkt.

Heute also ist unser 25. Silberhochzeitstag. Alles Gute uns allen für die nächsten 25 Jahre.

Traf schon viele Berufsfreunde, davon im nächsten Brief.

Dank für alle Hilfe, herzlichen Gruß an Vater.

Deine Edith
 

Hotel Plaza
Av. Pahlavi Nahré Karadj, Teheran

5.4.61

My dear Kurt,
I have finally arrived in this wonderland. The flight was absolutely fantastic (we departed late because we were waiting for passengers from an El Al flight from Brazil). It was my first time on a huge Jet Boing 707 and it was incredibly perfect. We reached Tehran in just 3 hours and 20 minutes. Upon arrival, some representatives from the Congress, including Dr Barkeshli, were already waiting for us. They took us to the finest hotel, Plaza, where I was given a beautiful room with a built-in bathroom and exquisite furniture.

A phone call woke me this morning, and to my surprise, it was already half past ten. After taking some pills and working through the night, I fell into a deep sleep. Friend Spira is very comradely and indulgent, but I must admit that he is also heartbreakingly uneducated and chauvinistic. Without breakfast (oh, how I miss my good coffee!), we were picked up from the Jewish Agency and taken to meet Dr Doriel, the agency's director. He is an exceptionally well-informed and philosophically inclined person. However, Dr Doriel and Spira had a heated debate due to Spira's "imperialist" way of thinking.[9] 

At noon, we had an excellent lunch at the hotel, which we were invited to attend. Afterwards, I fell into a deep sleep again until an employee of the נציגות (netzigut, i.e. Jewish Agency)  came to pick us up for a trip through the bazaars. The city is a fascinating blend of old and new, and in the background, you can see mountains covered in eternal snow, rising up to a height of 5400 meters. Tehran itself is situated at 1200 meters above sea level. When we stepped out of the plane, we were greeted by the icy Christmas air! It reminded me of Jerusalem but much colder.

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary. Here is to another 25 years of happiness together. I have already met many professional friends here, but I will tell you more about them in my following letter. Thanks for all the help, and please give my warm regards to Father.

Yours always,
Edith

 
Letter no. 2

Neue Plaza Hotel
Ave. Pahlavi, Ave Homayoun Corner Zahed

6.4.61

Mein lieber Kurt,

Gestern, 5.4. war noch ein voller Ferientag. Vormittags nahm mich Mr. Bragard, Direktor des Brüsseler Museums f. Instrumente, mit auf eine Stadttour, - er hat hier eine frühere Schülerin, große Geigerin, die inzwischen an einen reichen Bankier verheiratet ist und [jetzt]

schon einen genialen kleinen Geiger-Sohn von 9 Jahren hat. Wir konferieren lange über den Plan, das Kind zu Partos zu bringen, der als größter Geigenerzieher gilt, das arme Kind war schon 1 Jahr in Brüssel, wo er das Opfer 2er streitender Lehrer wurde. Es ist nur die Frage, wo soll man so ein kleines Kind (Moslem) unterbringen? Vielleicht fällt Dir was ein. Sie haben schon mit Partos korrespondiert, der zugesagt hat.

Den Rest des Vormittags verbrachte ich mit unserer Nulpe (alias Dr. Spira) auf einen Spaziergang durch die Hauptstraße, waren auch bei El-Al + ich habe vorläufig auf 20.4. belegt. Dann waren wir in einem großen Warenhaus, wo die Nulpe wild begeistert den größten Dreck kaufte. Der bedienende Perser sprach klassisches Deutsch (deutsche Frau!), desgleichen zwei der besten Musiker, die wir nachmittags beim Empfang im Golestan-Palais kennen lernten – sie haben jahrelang in Wien studiert und dann den Krieg in Berlin überlebt. Ich wurde dem Unterrichtsminister vorgestellt, dgl. dem Direktor der AK[ademie[

der schönen Künste, u. zahllosen anderen, ferner auch dem Vater einer Midrasha-Schülerin unter den Anwesenden, Direktor des einzigen Konservatoriums außerhalb Teherans (in Tabriz) Shabani, den ich einst in TA kennenlernte. Dieser stellte sich als äußerst nett und nützlich heraus, nahm mich heute, Fr. früh (6.4.) um 7 Uhr in die Synagogen von Teheran in seinem kleinen Volkswagen, auf meine Bitte (Schmini Atsereth), da ich die hiesigen Juden in ihrem Milieu kennenlernen wollte. Wir waren a) in dem Beth Knesseth [Araba) (Babylon. Ritus), in b) Beth Knesseth Teheran und schließlich c) in Beth Knesset Meshed, wo ich als ersten einem meiner frühen Sänger und Tarspieler wieder sah!! Wurde dort sehr gefeiert, aus der Esrath Hanashim geholt, Ehrenplatz unter den Männern gegeben u. die Hauptchazanim wollen mir Sonntag abend zur Aufnahme singen. Problem der Maschine (S.2) wurde auch gelöst, als ich plötzlich Crossley Holland vom B.B.C. entdeckte, der die englische Ausgabe meiner „Serie“ bestellt hatte, und der mit erzählte, daß er eine herrliche Maschine mithabe, die er mir gern zur Verfügung stellt. Wir werden es gemeinsam machen. Ein junger Amerikaner, Saletan, er hier (in Israel) verkitschte Ausgaben von Volksliedern aller Völker mit Gitarrenbegleitung sang (Protegé von Miron ist auch mit Maschine da.

Heute fuhren wir zum Mausloleum des Shah Reza hinaus – grandiose Sache in herrlichem Marmor und legten Kranz nieder.

Freitag: Jetzt geht’s zumr eigentlichen Eröffnung der [Konferenz[, an de[r[ auch die Kaiserin anwesend sein wird.

Grüße für heute

Herzlichst deine Edith

Notiz unter EGKs Brief (andere Schrift):

Lieber Curt,

die Welt ist klein. Edith nimmt mich heute mit zu ihrem Empfang und Konzert. Wir hatten ein nettes Lunch zusammen.
Uns geht es gut. Viel interessante Arbeit.

Herzliche Grüße

Susan

 

6.4.61

My dear Kurt,

Yesterday, April 5th, was another full day off. In the morning, Mr Bragard[10], the director of the Brussels Museum of Instruments director, took me on a city tour. A former female student of his[11] is also here; a wonderful violinist who is now married to a wealthy banker and has a brilliant 9-year-old son who is also a talented violinist. We discussed the plan to bring the child to Partos, who is considered the most outstanding violin teacher[12].  The poor child has already suffered for a year in Brussels, where he became a victim of two quarreling teachers. The question now is where to accommodate such a young (Muslim) child. You can think of something.

I spent the rest of the morning with our nulpe [Berlin German slang term that roughly translates as ‘dud’ or ‘loser’], (alias Dr Spira) on a stroll down the main street. We also stopped by El-Al, and I made a preliminary booking for April 20th. Then we visited a large department store where Nulpe was thrilled to buy some junk. The salesman spoke classical German (German spouse!), just like the two excellent musicians we met later in the afternoon at the reception in the Golestan Palace. They had studied for years in Vienna and survived the war in Berlin. I was introduced to the Minister of Education, as well as to the Director of the Academy of Fine Arts and many others. Among the attendees was also the father of a Midrasha [teachers’ college in Tel Aviv where Gerson Kiwi taught] student, M. Shaban [or Shaabani, see below]. He was the director of the only conservatory outside Tehran (in Tabriz). I had met him once before in Tel Aviv. He turned out to be incredibly kind and helpful. On Friday morning (April 6th), at my request [...], he took me to the synagogues of Tehran in his small Volkswagen so I could experience the local Jewish community. We visited Beth Knesseth Araba[13]  (Babylon. Rite)[14], b) Beth Knesseth Tehran and finally, c) Beth Knesset Meshed[15], where I was able to reunite with one of my early singers and tar players after many years!

I was very well treated. I was taken out of the Esrath Hanashim [a separate area designated for women in an orthodox synagogue], given a place of honor among the men, and the main hazzanim [cantors] wanted to sing for me on Sunday evening for the recording. The issue with my machine [page 2] was also resolved when I unexpectedly ran into Crossley Holland[16] from the BBC. He had ordered the English edition of my series and offered to lend me a wonderful [recording] machine. We will work on [the recording] together. A young American named Saletan[17]  (a protege of Miron[18]) is also here with a machine, singing sentimental renditions of folk songs from around the world with guitar accompaniment.
Today, we drove out to the mausoleum of Shah Reza – a magnificent structure made of beautiful marble – and laid a wreath.

On Friday, the actual opening of the conference will take place, which the empress will also attend.

Warm regards for today,

Edith.

Note under Edith's letter in different handwriting
 
Dear Kurt,

It's a small world, right? Edith's taking me along to her reception and concert today. We had a lovely lunch together, too.
Things are going well on our end. I got plenty of exciting work to keep us occupied.

Take care,

Susan

 
Letter no. 3 [Postcard]

ISRAEL
Dr. Rud. Kiwi
Y.M.C.A.
Jerusalem

Teheran, 9/4/61

Mein lieber Vater,
hoffentlich treffen dich diese Zeilen bei guter Gesundheit an.
Ich hatte herrlichen Flug (3:20 Std.) und hier den allerherzlichsten Empfang, in einem sehr eleganten Hotel. Teheran ist eine moderne Stadt, mit einem Uni-Campus, nicht unähnlich unserem. Bald hoffte ich aber im umstehenden Persepolis zu sein. Traf hier auch Lottes Schwester Susi, die zufällig diese Woche hier in Teheran ist. 
Der Kongress ist interessant, doch anstrengend.

Herzlichst, alles Gute,
Deine Edith

Teheran, 9/4/61

My dear father,
I hope these lines find you well. I had a wonderful flight (3:20 hours) and received the warmest welcome in an exquisite hotel. Tehran is a modern city with a university campus, not unlike ours. Soon, I hope to be in nearby Persepolis. I also met Lotte's sister Susi here, who happened to be in Tehran this week. The congress is interesting but tiring.

Warm regards, all the best, your Edith.

 
 
Letter no. 4 

Hotel Plaza
Av. Pahlavi Nahré Karadj, Teheran

10.4.

Mein lieber Kurt, lieber Vater,

Es bleibt kaum eine freie Minute zum Schreiben, - während des ersten Empfangs im früheren Kaiser-Palais Golestan sah ich ein bekanntes Gesicht herumstreifen – es war Susi Bachert, die gerade eine Woche in Teheran zu tun hatte. Ich war sehr erfreut, denn so können wir uns öfter sehen, sie lud mich für den nächsten Tag (Fr) zum Essen in einem sehr hübschen Garten-Restaurant (Léons Grill Carré) ein, einer der wenigen Plätze, wo Damen allein hingehen können. Es macht sich doch bemerkbar, daß wir uns in einem muslimischen Land befinden: die Frauen, falls nicht aus den höheren Ständen + sehr assimiliert, gehen verhüllt mit einem großen, wehendem Tuch, das sie von Kopf bis Füßen bedeckt und nur die obere Gesichtshälfte freihält; gewöhnlich halten sie das Tuch mit den Zähnen zusammen. Diese in vielen Farben wandelnden Mysterien machen viel vom Außenbild aus, das sonst ganz neuzeitlich ist. Offenbar allerdings, noch sehr im Aufbau zumal in der Anlage, es fehlen noch die Straßenzüge. Oft macht es den Eindruck wie nach einem Bombenangriff; es fehlt auch eine repräsentative Hauptstraße (siehe auch Jerusalem, mit dem es auch das etwas scharfe Bergklima gemeinsam hat).  Ebenfalls fand ich bei dem Empfang einen jüd. Perser Mr. Shabani, wieder, Vater einer Schülerin in der Midrasha, Konservatoriumsdirektor in Tabriz, machtvoller Mensch, mit Wagen, der sich inzwischen als die größte Hilfe in allen Dingen herausgestellt hat.) Er fährt mich herum, er ahnt wohin ich will, kennt alles + jeden, - großer Chevremann, nahm mich auch in die Synagogen mit, wodurch ich den Chazzan kennenlernte, der es mir ermöglichte, gestern, Sonntag, die ersten Aufnahmen zu machen. Shaabani nahm mich auch zu Verwandten mit ([Ulafluni], haben in der „Oxford“-Street )„Lalezari“) einen Herrenduftaden, verkauften bisweilen mit Erfolg Israeli „englische“ Herrenstoffe, in Lachisch hergestellt. Diese gaben mir auch einen kleinen [„Gelso“] - Aufnahmeapparat mit, worüber ich sehr glücklich bin. Zwar brauchte ich ihn gar nicht, da ich inzwischen Crossley-Holland vom BBC traf (= Leiter der „Foklor“-Abt., etc., der bei mir die großen Vorträge bestellte), entzückender Mensch, der mit einer Nagra-Maschine, der vollkommensten, aus der franz. Schweiz) hier ist und gestern mit mir in die Synagoge kam, wo wir wundervolle Aufnahmen der Meschhed – Juden machten. Er läßt mich eine Copy machen. Wir machen noch weitere Aufnahmen. – Inzwischen ist so viel geschehen, daher nur im Telegramm Stil:

8.4. (Shabbat): Erster Kongress Tag: Viele alte Bekannte: Marius Schneider-Kohn; Bragard (Brüssel), Yuize (Japon), Baud-Bovy (Geneve). Sehr [interessant] die Araber, mit denen ich tief befreundet bin, je einer von Lebanon, Iraq, Tunis, dazu Türkei / Saygun, mehrere Inder (Menon), Indonesier und Japaner, nur 3 Soviets, 3 Tschechen, 1 Jugoslave u. ein Ungare, mit welch letzteren Vieren vom „hinter dem Vorhang“ man wenigstens mal deutsch sprechen kann!

12.4. – Der Brief ist leider liegengeblieben – es gibt kaum eine Minute Zeit: die Sitzungen dehnen sich endlos aus, die Teilnehmer haben einen unkontrollierbaren Drang, sich zu [produzieren]-, endlos zu sprechen, die Leiter haben nicht die Kultur der englischen Chairman, der als Conférencier die goldene Mitte hält und auch mal mit einem Tropfen Humor über den tierischen Ernst und die abgrundlose Unkompetenz der lieben Russen hinweghilft.

(S.3) Inzwischen ist der Kongress beendet, mein Vortrag wurde durch immer neue Einschübe unerwarteter Kongressisten immer wieder verschoben, so daß ich tatsächlich der letzte der Hauptvorträge war (nicht „Mitteilungen“ gewisser Länderregierungen) und es wurde extra eine Abendsitzung deswegen einberufen, mit Ausfall des Dinners. Das war gut, denn ich hatte zwar hungrige Mägen, aber eine volle Audienz, vor allem die mir wichtigen Wissenschaftler, nicht Musiker, denn es war eine ziemlich unglückliche Mischung von Musikern + Ethnologen – keine gemeinsame Sprache!). Dieser letzte Vortrag wurde dann aber auch eine Art Krönung der ganzen Tagung, wie man mir aus vieler Munde versicherte, schon aus dem kaum glaublichen Grunde, weil man zu dieser späten Stunde zum ersten Male echte, klassische persische Musik – in Persien – hörte.  – Außerdem hatte ich die Ehre in ein kleines internat. Comitee gewählt zu werden, das 25 Centenarium (an. 1963) planen soll – es fand mit dem pers. Kultusminister + permanenten Abgeordneten bei der UNO, Excellenz Raadi statt. Meine Vorschläge reichte ich ihm auf seine Bitte schriftlich ein u. sie sind bereits im ersten Protokoll schriftlich aufgenommen und an seine Majestät geschickt. Außerdem lernte ich durch den Indologen Danielou den kaiserlichen Rat u. persönliche Adviser des Shahs kennen, gebürtiger Schweizer, Dr. Perron, ein wundervoller Mensch, großer Israelfreund, leider durch Polio gelähmt. Er machte mir ein ganz besonderes Geschenk, nahm (m)ich (und daher – leider – auch die [Nulpe] [)] auf (S.4) eine Fahrt in seinem Wagen mit in die Berge. Da(s) war wirklich ein unerwartetes Erlebnis, kaum in wenigen Worten zu beschreiben. In nördlicher Richtung (zum kaspischen Meer) kommt man gleich außerhalb der Stadt in eine Bergwüste, kahle Berge, Mondlandschaft, aber die Bergrücken haben buntes Gestein, rot, grün, blau. Dazwischen kleine Oasen mit Bächlein und Lehmdörfern von vorweltlicher Primitivität. Plötzlich war man in Zentralasien. Schon nach 50 km. waren wir in 2500 Meter Höhe angelangt und tief im weißen Schnee, tranken in einem ganz einsamen Ski-Hotel guten persischen Tee, um uns von dem eisigen Wetter aufzuwärmen. Die Menschen, unglaublich arm + zerrissen, sehen stark mongolisch – kalmückisch aus, die edlen, unvermischten Perser zeigen mehr den schmalen Kurdischen Flaschenkopftyp mit Adlernasen. – Unvergeßlich.

Heute (Mi, 12.4.) nachm. hat uns die Prinzessin Shams Pahlavi, Schwester des Shah, empfangen, im kaiserlichen Palaisx. Von den 50 Kongressisten wurden ihr einige wenige (meist Unesco-Vertreter) vorgestellt, darunter ich gleich als Dritte. Alles um mich herum schnappte nach Luft, als EXC. Raadi mich abführte. Ich unterhielt mich sehr angeregt mit ihr (engl.), sie erzählte mir, daß sie 2x in Jerusalem war, was sich wohl inzwischen verändert habe, daß sie wiederkommen möchte, daß sie hebräische Musik liebt – worauf ich ihr eine Platte mit meinen Aufnahmen versprach. Daneben stand auch der Bankdirektor Kashani (durch [Raschid] empfohlen), der eng mit dem Kaiserhaus befreundet ist u. mit dem ich mich inzwischen auch angefreundet hatte – in Kurz, aufregende Entwicklungen!

Randbemerkung S.3: Heute beim Abschluß der Resolutionen, waren Die Russen guter Laune, stimmten nicht dagegen „verkündeten zum Schluß die frohe Bombe: Mann auf „Mond“!

Randbemerkung S.4: Morgen früh (Do.) geht’s nach Isfahan. Soviel für heute - habe noch keinen Brief von Euch, hoffentlich ist alles gut.

Allerherzlichst, Eure Edith

 

10.4.

My dear Kurt, dear father,

I'm finding it difficult to find a free moment to write. At the first reception held in the former Royal Palace Golestan [Kākh-e Golestān], I caught sight of a familiar face - it was Susi Bachert, who had just spent a week in Tehran. It was delightful to see her, and we have arranged to meet more often. She has invited me to a charming garden restaurant called Léons Grill [Carré] for dinner tomorrow (Friday). It's one of the few places where ladies can go unaccompanied. It's clear that we are in a Muslim country: the women, unless from the upper classes and well-assimilated, wear a veil - a large, flowing cloth that covers them from head to toe, leaving only the upper half of their face visible, they usually hold it together with their teeth. These shifting mysteries of many colors make up much of the exterior, which is otherwise relatively modern.
  
However, [the country] is clearly still under construction, particularly in terms of the layout, as the streets are yet to be fully established. It often gives the impression of looking like it has been bombed; also, a representative main street is yet to be established (similar to Jerusalem, with which it also shares the somewhat harsh mountain climate). At the reception, I also bumped into Mr Shaabani, a Jewish-Persian gentleman and father of a student at the Midrasha. He is the director of the conservatory in Tabriz, a powerful man with a car who has proven to be a tremendous help in everything. He drives me around, anticipates where I want to go, and knows everything and everyone - a great Chevremann [Yiddish/Hebrew for “fellow”]. He also took me to the synagogues, where I met the hazzan, who allowed me to take the first recordings yesterday, Sunday. Shaabani also took me to visit some relatives ([the Schazunis], who have a men's fragrance shop in "Lalezari" [Laleh-Zar], their Oxford Street). They occasionally sold Israeli "English" men's fabrics made in Lachish, with some success.  They also gave me a small "Geloso" recording device, which made me very happy. Although I didn't really need it, as I have since then met Crossley-Holland from the BBC (= head of the "Folklore" department, etc., who ordered my major lectures, a delightful person from French-speaking Switzerland). He brought the perfect Nagra device, and yesterday, they came with me to the synagogue, where we made beautiful recordings of the Meschhed-Jews. He will let me make a copy. We will make further recordings.

So much has happened in the meantime, which is why I am writing in telegram style.

8.4. (Shabbat): First Congress Day: Many old friends: Marius Schneider-Kohn[19] ; Bragard (Brussels),[20] Yuize (Japan), Baud-Bovy[21] (Geneva). Very [interesting?] the Arabs, with whom I am sincerely friends; these included individuals from Lebanon, Iraq, Tunis, and Turkey (Saygun[22]). Additionally, I had the opportunity to speak with several Indians (Menon),[23] Indonesians, and Japanese. Of the attendees present, only three were Soviets, three were Czechs, and one each was Yugoslavian and Hungarian. However, I am able to converse in German with the latter four individuals from 'behind the curtain.'

12.4. - The letter has been left unattended as there is hardly any time to spare. The meetings seem to drag on endlessly, with participants having an uncontrollable urge to speak at great lengths. The leaders lack the refined culture of English chairmen, who deftly navigate tense situations with a touch of humor, guide proceedings towards a golden middle ground, and thereby alleviate the tense and incompetent nature of the dear Russians.
 
(Page 3) As it turns out, the congress has now concluded, and my presentation was continuously delayed by unexpected contributions from congress participants. This led to my speech being the very last among the main speakers (not including "announcements" from certain country’s governments). As a result, an evening session was specially convened for my speech, leading to dinner cancellation. That was fortunate for me, as I may have had hungry stomachs to feed, but I was able to speak to a full audience, especially the scientists whom I valued highly. (Regrettably, it was a rather unfortunate mix of musicians and ethnologists, with no common language between them, so I was glad to have the opportunity to speak to those who were most interested in my topic.)

I heard from many people that this final lecture was the pinnacle of the entire conference, mainly because, at such a late hour, we could eventually experience authentic classical Persian music for the first time in Persia. It was almost unbelievable!

Furthermore, I had the honor of being elected to a small international committee tasked with planning the 25th anniversary (in 1963) [of the IMC]. The meeting [of the committee] took place with His Excellency Raadi [Ḡolām-ʿAli Raʿdi Āḏaraḵaši, 1909-1999], the Persian Minister of Culture and Permanent Representative to the UN. Upon his request, I submitted my proposals (in writing), which was immediately included in the first protocol and sent to His Majesty.

Furthermore, through the Indologist Daniélou[24] , I had the pleasure of being introduced to Dr Perron, a remarkable individual and the imperial advisor and personal confidant of the Shah. Originally from Switzerland, Dr Perron was a strong supporter of Israel.[25] Regrettably, he was paralyzed by polio. As a special gesture, Dr Perron offered me, and unfortunately, also ‘the Nulpe’, a car ride to the mountains.

It was truly an unexpected experience, one that can hardly be described in just a few words. As we headed north (towards the Caspian Sea), we soon found ourselves in a mountain desert just outside the city. The barren mountains resembled a lunar landscape, but the ridges were adorned with colorful rocks in red, green, and blue shades. In between, we came across small oases with streams and mud villages of ancient primitivity. 

All of the sudden, we found ourselves in the heart of Central Asia. After just 50 kilometers, we reached a breathtaking altitude of 2500 meters and found ourselves surrounded by deep, white snow. We came across a lonely ski hotel and took refuge inside, where we were warmed by good Persian tea that helped us combat the unforgiving cold. The people were incredibly impoverished and looked distinctly Mongolian-Kalmyk, while the pure Persians had the narrow bottle-shaped head and aquiline nose of the Kurds. It was unforgettable.

Today (Wed, 12.4.) in the afternoon, Princess Shams Pahlavi, [elder] sister of the Shah, received us at the imperial palace. Only a few of the fifty congress participants (mostly UNESCO representatives) were introduced to her, including myself as the third person. We had a lively conversation in English, during which she mentioned that she had been to Jerusalem twice and that it had probably changed by now. She expressed her desire to return and shared her love for Hebrew music. I promised to send her a record of my recordings. Next to us was the Bank [Melli, Iran National Bank] director [Ebrahim] Kashani (recommended by [Rashid]), a close friend of the royal family whom I had also become friends with in the meantime - in short, exciting developments!

Warmest regards, Edith.

Marginal note on page 3: Today, whilst wrapping up the resolutions, the Russians were in good spirits and refrained from voting against them. In the end, they dropped a bombshell - "Man on 'Moon'!"[26]

Marginal note on page 4: Tomorrow morning (Thu.), we are heading to Isfahan. That is all for today. I have not received your letter. Hopefully, everything is okay. 

 
Letter no. 5

Hotel Plaza
Av. Pahlavi Nahré Karadj, Teheran

18.4.1961

Mein lieber Kurt, Mein lieber Vater – 

Nun bin ich wieder in Teheran zurück, denke, am Donn. 20.4. mit El-Al zurückzufliegen, mit Plane No. 704, der hier 8:15 abgeht und um (Do.) 11:20 vormittags im Land ist.
Zwischen Do (13.4.) und Mo (17.4.) war ich auf einer traumhaften Fahrt nach Isfahan und Shiraz. Es würde Bände füllen alles zu beschreiben. – Der Kongress endete am Tag zuvor, Mittwoch, mit dem Empfang in KK Palais, veranstaltet von der Schwester des Shah, Chams, sehr aktive Frau des Ministers [for Foreign AF]. Ich schrieb euch wohl schon, daß ich unter den wenigen (- u. allerersten) war, die ihr persönlich vorgestellt wurden. Wir plauderten eine ganze Weile: Sie erzählte mir, daß sie 2x in Jerusalem war, in den 40iger Jahren, u. gern wiederkäme, um den Fortschritt zu sehen, und auch, daß sie hebräische Musik sehr liebe - worauf ich ihr versprach ihr einige Aufnahmen aus meinem Institut zu schicken.

Donnerstag früh flog ich mit einigen, darunter auch Spira, nach Isfahan, hatte längeres Gespräch mit Marius Schneider, überzeuge mich, daß er ein „Roshe“ [Hebr. רשע ist ein Jiddisches Wort für eine böse Person] ist, bekam dagegen sehr positive Eindrücke von Prof. [Recamey?] und ganz besonders Prof. Baud-Bovy (jüd. Mutter), beide franz.- Schweizer Professoren. – Isfahan ist sicher die exotischste Stadt rein islamischer Kultur, eine Art „Rothenburg ob/Tauber.“ Wir wanderten den ganzen Vormittag in den herrlichen Mosquen u. Gärten umher, die Mosaik- und Terrakotten-Kunst, Arabesken-Muster + Farbenspiele sind schwer beschreiblich, es ist einfach atemberaubend, diese [wichtigen Quadern] islamischer „Grafik“ mit Millionen winzigen Mosaiksteinchen im azurnen -purpurnen Farbenprisma bedeckt zu sehen.

Nachmittag: Die andere Seite: Ein Besuch in der Mahaleh, dem jüd. Ghetto: Unsere gutmütige Nulpe (der Doktor Spira) trabte natürlich mit mir mit, doch in diesem Fall war ich ganz froh, daß er das einmal mit eigenen Augen sehen lernte, als alter zionistischer Funktionär. Ein Taxis führte uns bis zum nordöstl. Rand der Stadt, dann gings nicht weiter, der Fahrer aber, ahnend, daß wir Juden waren – rief einen armen zerlumpten Mann herbei, - Jude -, den er bat, uns hindurch zu führen. Was ich da sah werde ich mein Leben lang nicht vergessen. Eine Höllenstadt, ein vergrößerter Maulwurfshügel, mit einem Labyrinth unzähliger Erdgänge, alles Erde, Lehmbauten, bestenfalls ganz enge Straßen, breit genug für einen Esel, beidseitig Mauern, Mauern, dahinter in den Höfen und um sie herum menschli(che Behausungen unter unmenschlichen Bedingungen, in jedem der höhlenartigen Räume eine ganze Familie, 10 Kinder, 8 Kinder, 11 Kinder, alte siechende, kranke Frauen, alles starrte einen aus verhungerten Augen an, zerlumpt, verdreckt, mit elenden Körpern. Wir waren wie eine messianische Erscheinung, bei dem Wort „Israel“, „Jerusalem“ hoben sie die Hände zum Himmel u. küssten den Rand meines Rockes. Eine riesige Kinderschar umringte uns bei unserem Gang durch die Synagogen und die Wohnungen einzelner Familien, darunter die eines Chazan mit 10 Kindern, Garnweber von Beruf – Nigunim haben sie längst verloren, brummeln nur noch. – Kleine Lichtblicke. „Hehalutz“ hat einen Lehrer dort, der in einem ärmlichen Raum gerade eine Gesangsstunde gab u. ein Lied zum (יום העצמאות) einübte(.) „Lilie im Sharon“ sangen die verhungernden, debilen, schwer hustenden Kinder leiernd nach. – Wir gingen weiter durch Kot, der frei über die Wege läuft und dessen Geruch mir bis heute noch nicht aus der Nase geht. Gingen tief in einen Lehmkeller eines Garndrehers hinab, durch dessen Luftlöcher die moslem. Kinder sich amüsieren, auf uns zu spucken. Der Hass ist groß, und völlig irrational. Ebenso groß ist der Stumpfsinn und die Lethargie unserer Juden dazu. Sie wissen nicht, wie tief sie sind, u. das ist das schlimmste.

Abend traf ich mich mit Susi, die auch gerade auf ihrer Inspektionsreise in Isfahan war, um mit einer [anderen] „Joint“ – sozial arbeiten. Mrs. + Mr. Gerson, aßen in ihrem (feudalen) Hotel: Ich dagegen wohnte in einem ganz primitiven (Cyrus-Hotel), ganz moslemisch.

Nächsten Morgen fuhren wir noch mit Prof. [Recamey]  + ein älteres Ehepaar aus Marseille  ([Canat], Physik Prof.) nach Shiraz weiter, kamen dort auf einem rudimentären Flugplatz um 10:00 an, stellten die Sachen im Hotel unter und fuhren gleich auf einen Tagesausflug nach PERSEPOLIS etwa 60 km entfernt. Unvergessliches Erlebnis, auch und gerade nach Athen.   Näheres später. Kamen abends um 6h nach Shiraz zurück, ich verabschiedete mich und ging zum Joint, wo Susi den Schlüssel ihrer Wohnung für mich gelassen hatte. Nach einer dramatischen Suche (- er war inzw. versehentlich weitergewandert -) bekam ich ihn + dazu eine entzückende 3 Zimmer Wohnung auch mit Frigidär, Boiler, Butangaskocher etc. etc. drei Tage, in denen ich wirklich ausruhte, obwohl ich wohl 8 Std. am Tag dauernd am Laufen war. Auch hier, tiefer Orient, [wieder] das Ghetto einerseits, die Pracht der Mosqen andererseits – und vieles mehr, besonders machtvolle Menschen (Juden), über diese im nächsten Brief.

Allerherzlichst,
eure Edith

18.4.1961

My dear Kurt, my dear father,

I am back in Tehran now and planning to fly back with El-Al on Thursday, April 20th, on flight no. 704, which departs at 8:15 am and arrives in Ludd at 11:20 am (Thursday). I went on a fantastic trip to Isfahan and Shiraz between Thursday, April 13 and Monday, April 17. It would take volumes to describe everything. 

The congress ended the day before, on Wednesday, with the reception at the KK Palais [Hotel], hosted by Shah's sister, [Prince] Chams [Shams], the very active [second] wife of the Minister of Culture [Merhad Pahlbod]. I think I mentioned to you that I was one of the few (very first) who were personally introduced to her. We had a good chat: she told me that she had been in Jerusalem twice in the 1940s, would love to go back and see how things have progressed, and that she is very fond of Hebrew music - so I promised to send her some recordings from my institute.

I flew to Isfahan early on with a few people, including Spira. I had a lengthy conversation with Marius Schneider and was convinced he was a "Roshe" [רשע, Hebrew-based Yiddish term for a wicked person]. However, I had very favorable impressions of Prof. [Recancey?] and especially Professor Baud-Bovy (whose mother is Jewish), who were French-Swiss professors.

Isfahan is certainly the most exotic city within Islamic culture, a kind of "Rothenburg ob/Tauber." We spent the whole morning exploring the stunning mosques and gardens, the mosaic and terracotta art, the arabesque patterns, and the color plays that are simply indescribable. It is just amazing to see these [stunning blocks] of Islamic "Gothic" adorned with millions of tiny mosaic stones in a range of beautiful azure and purple hues.

In the afternoon: The other side: A visit to the Mahaleh, the Jewish Ghetto: Our gentle puppy, Doctor Spira, trotted along with me. As an old Zionist official, I was eager for him to see it with his own eyes. A taxi took us to the northeastern edge of the city, but we couldn't go any further. Sensing that we were Jews, the driver called over a poor, ragged man - a fellow Jew - and asked him to lead us through. What I saw there, I will never forget. It was a city from hell, an enlarged molehill with a labyrinth of countless earth passages, all made of soil and mud buildings. The streets, if they could be called that, were at best only wide enough for a donkey, with walls on both sides. Behind the walls were human dwellings under inhumane conditions - each cave-like room housing an entire family, with ten children, eight children, eleven children, old, sickly, and ill women. They all stared at us with starving eyes, ragged, dirty, with miserable bodies. To them, we were like a messianic vision - at the mere mention of "Israel'' and "Jerusalem," they raised their hands to the sky and kissed the hem of my coat. A large crowd of children surrounded us as we walked through the synagogues and the homes of individual families. Among them was the family of a hazzan with ten children, who was a weaver by profession. Their niggunim have long since been lost, and now they only hum.

There were small glimpses of light, [such as] "Hehalutz"[27] We encountered a teacher from "Hehalutz" who was giving a singing lesson in a humble room, teaching a song for Independence Day (יום העצמאות). The children, who were starving, retarded, and suffering from persistent coughs, sang "Rose of Sharon" in a droning monotone.[28]

We continued walking through the filth that flowed freely over the paths, and to this day, the smell remains etched in my memory. We went down into a clay cellar of a yarn spinner, where Muslim children amused themselves by spitting on us through the air holes. The hatred we encountered was fierce and senseless, while the dull-witted apathy of our fellow Jews towards their suffering was equally profound. They were unaware of how low they had sunk, which was the most troubling aspect of it all.

In the evening, I met with Susi, who was also on her inspection tour in Isfahan, working on social projects with another Joint[29] representative. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Gerson were dining at their palatial hotel, but I stayed at the basic Cyrus Hotel, which had an utterly Muslim atmosphere.

The next morning, we drove to Shiraz with Professor Recancey [?] and an older couple from Marseille (Canat, a physics professor). We arrived at a rudimentary airport at 10:00, checked our things into the hotel, and immediately went on a day trip to PERSEPOLIS, about 60 km away. It was an unforgettable experience, especially after having been to Athens.

I'll give you more details about it later. We returned to Shiraz at 6 pm, and I said goodbye to the group. I went to the Joint [offices] where Susi had left me the key to her apartment. After a dramatic search (it had accidentally wandered elsewhere), I found the key and a delightful three-room apartment with a refrigerator, boiler, and gas stove. I spent three days there, resting despite strolling for around eight hours daily. Once again, in this deep Orient, I saw the ghetto on the one hand, the grandeur of the mosques on the other, and many other things, especially the magnificent Jewish people, which I will tell you about in my next letter.

Warmest regards, your Edith

 

Footnotes

[1] An extensive epistolary between Gerson Kiwi and Cohen-Melamed is available at the Gerson-Kiwi archive at the National Library of Israel.

[2] The old designation of Israel’s only international airport (today’s Ben Gurion Airport) named after the city of Lod or Lydda that is located close to it.

[3] Mahdī Barkišlī (1912-1988) was a renowned Iranian musicologist and physicist. He obtained his PhD from Sorbonne, Paris, and served as a professor at the University of Tehran, where he made significant contributions to the fields of music, physics, and acoustics. Barkeshli held several key positions in music and academia, including the Head of the National Conservatory of Music in Tehran and the Iranian National Music Committee. He established a graduate program in musicology and theatre at the University of Tehran and Farabi University, and later became the Head of the Iranian Society of Physics. Barkeshli authored numerous publications on acoustics and traditional Persian music in Persian, English, and French.

[4]Yeshayahu Spira was the deputy director of the Israeli Radio, Kol Israel. The IMC and IFMC conferences included media individuals who promoted “folk” or “authentic” music in radio stations. He may have had other concealed roles during his tenure in Tehran.

[5] For an authoritative biography of this American composer, see: https://www.virgilthomson.org/about/biography/

[6] Shinichi Yuize (1923-2015) was a distinguished performer of Japanese traditional music. See: https://www.discogs.com/artist/379814-Shinichi-Yuize

[7] Alain Daniélou (1907-1994) was a French musicologist, Indologist, intellectual and artist. He was known for his expertise in the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. Just in the year before the conference in Tehran, Daniélou returned to Europe after three decades in India. Later in 1963, he founded the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation in Berlin; from 1969-70 directed the Istituto Internazionale di Musica Comparata (IISMC) in Venice. He had the honor to direct the UNESCO Collection series of traditional world music recordings.

[8] This section is primarily written in English and Hebrew, with a more legible handwriting. Additionally, there are some remarks in German, and their translations are provided in italics.

[9] Details on this debate appear with more detail in the diary entry for the same date, see above.

[10] Roger Bragard (1903-1985) was a Belgian musicologist, philologist, and curator. He directed the Musical Instrument Museum at the Royal Conservatory from 1957 to 1969, during this time it gained international recognition. At the conference in Tehran he delivered a lecture titled “Les Musées instrumentaux, moyens de préservation des formes traditionnelles de la musique savante et populaire dans les pays d'Orient et d'Occident.”

[11] Edith Gerson Kiwi’s employs in her private correspondence idioms that convey possessiveness and ownership. In this case she is referring to a former student of Mr. Bragard as literally ‘a student that he is having here’. In the continuation of this letter, she also refers to a colleague [Dr Spira] as ‘our Nulpe’, or ‘the friend Spira’. Below is a reference to someone she calls ‘my tar player’. These expressions may reflect both Gerson Kiwi's style and the cultural and linguistic norms of mid-20th-century German, where such phrasing was more common and did not necessarily carry negative connotations of cultural appropriation. Gerson Kiwi's frequent use of these idioms in contexts where hierarchies or sympathies are explicitly expressed may suggest a deliberate choice on her part.

[12] Ödön Pártos aka Oedoen Partos (Budapest, 1 October 1907 - Tel Aviv, 6 July 1977) was a distinguished Hungarian-Israeli violist and composer. A recipient of the Israel Prize, he taught and served as director of the Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music, today the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.

[13] Probably, a reference to Beth Knesseth Abad.

[14] Babylonian Rite, the rite of the Jews of Baghdad.

[15] Beth Knesset Mashed is the synagogue of the Jews of Mashhad (northeast Iran) in Tehran. The Mashhadi community was forced to convert to Islam in 1839 and had to practice Judaism secretly for generations. In 1946, they faced another pogrom and eventually relocated to Jerusalem and Tehran due to ongoing persecutions in Mashhad.

[16] Peter Crossley Holland (1916-2001) was a notable British ethnomusicologist and composer, also known for his work as a producer for the BBC’s classical music station. He served as the assistant director of the Institute for Musical Research in Berlin and went on to become a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1969 until his retirement. He developed an intimate relationship with Gerson Kiwi, particularly because of his willingness to share with her his sophisticated BBC recording equipment.

[17] Tony Saletan (1931-2025) was an American folk singer known to have instructed Pete Seeger in singalong sessions. It was during these sessions that Seeger learned Issachar Miron's famous Hebrew song "Tzena, Tzena." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Saletan

[18] This reference to Issachar Miron, the Israeli-America composer, conductor, film maker, poet and arranger, known for his contributions to Israeli folk music, shows Gerson Kiwi’s familiarity with him. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issachar_Miron

[19] Marius Karl Alfons Schneider (1903-1982) was a German ethnomusicologist who taught ethnomusicology at the University of Cologne from the 1950s until 1968. For the Nazis, Schneider’s comparative approach was insufficiently rooted in racial theories. As a result, he was unable to graduate during this time. Nevertheless, with good reasons Gerson-Kiwi rejected Schneider’s work for being "coupled with racial theories’ (see her Vocal Polyphonies of the Western Orient in Jewish Tradition, Jerusalem 1968).

[20] See above n. 9.

[21] Samuel Baud-Bovy (1906-1986) was a Swiss musicologist and conductor. 

[22] Ahmet Adnan Saygun (1907-1991) was a Turkish musicologist and composer. He is considered a reformer of Turkish traditional music and a pioneer of Western classical and traditional Turkish music.

[23] Thrissur Vadakke Kurupath Narayana Menon (1911–1997) was a distinguished scholar of classical Indian music and dance.

[24] See above n. 7.

[25] Ernest Perron (1908-61) was a highly controversial Swiss courtier in Iran under the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Perron

[26] A reference to Yuri Gagarin’s launch into space on April 12, 1961, becoming the first human to orbit the Earth. 

[27] Hehalutz (החלוץ) is a Zionist youth movement founded in the early twentieth century with the goal of training young Jews in agricultural skills and preparing them for settlement in Palestine/Israel. It became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth movements worldwide and it played a significant role in the establishment of Israel.

[28] Song of Songs 2:1. Perhaps a reference to ‘Havatzelet ha-Sharon,’ a 1957 song composed by Zvi Avni.

[29] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee founded in 1914, known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City.


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