Abolhasan Saba

Abolhasan Saba (; April 15, 1902 – December 19, 1957) was a renowned Iranian composer, violinist, and setar player.

Biography


He was born in Tehran to Abul Qasim Khan Kamal ol-Saltaneh, son of Mohammad Jafar Khan Sadr ol-Hekma, son of Mahmud Khan Kashi Malak ol-Shoara Sadr ol-Shoara Saba ol-Shoara, son of Mohammad Hossain Khan Malak ol-Shoara. He studied several Iranian and non-Iranic musical instruments and became an Ostad in Radif, but he selected violin and setar as his specific instruments. He was a student of Mirza Abdollah as well as Darvish Khan.

Saba is one of Iran's most influential traditional and instrumental Persian music figures. His first radio recording was in 1927 when he played violin alongside Iran's famous singer Ruhangis.

Notable Pupils


Amongst his many students who went on to become great masters of Persian traditional music were Faramarz Payvar, Manoochehr Sadeghi, Habibollah Badiei, Rahmatollah Badiyi, Abbas Emadi, Ali Tajvidi, Mahmoud Tajbakhsh, Sassan Sepanta, Saeid Gharachorloo, Parviz Yahaghi, Dariush Safvat, Gholam-Hossein Banan and Hossein Tehrani.

He died in 1957 and was buried in Tehran's Zahir o-dowleh Cemetery of Artists and Musicians.

Saba Museum
Upon Saba's will in 1974, after his death, the faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran turned his private house into a museum.