TEHRAN -- Iranian scholar Mehran Purmand has recently completed a documentary about Alfred Jean-Baptiste Lemaire (1842–1907), the French musician of the Qajar court, who composed Iran’s first national anthem during the reign of Nasser ad-Din Shah.

The Qajar Art Research Team, which is led by Purmand, spent ten years studying about Lemaire to complete the documentary entitled “A French Musician of the Shah’s Court” (“Un musicein Francais a la cour du Shah”), Purmand told the Persian service of ILNA on Saturday.

He divided Lemaire’s life into two periods, the first of which extends from his birth in 1842 to 1868, when he came to Iran to reorganize Iranian military orchestras along Western European lines at the request of Nasser ad-Din Shah.

In the second period, Purmand puts the spotlight on Lemaire’s endeavors to organize courses at the Dar ul-Fonun, the Iranian polytechnic established in 1851, to train military musicians to perform with Western musical instruments.

The king also asked him to composed Iran’s first national anthem and a collection of military pieces.

The documentary is scheduled to be screened at the Center for Documentary and Experimental Film in Tehran at 5 p.m.

Photo: A poster for “A French Musician of the Shah’s Court”

MMS/YAW
END