A Hundred Sweet Promises
Page 27
Nasrosoltan’s soul was whisked away by the same Angel of Death he had told the tsar of Russia about at a palace dinner twenty-five years earlier. Nasrosoltan Minbashian died from cardiac arrest, most probably resulting from a broken heart, in the back of a carriage. He did not die, as he hoped, surrounded by his wife and children. Instead, the only family with Nasrosoltan in his final moment was a sole brother-in-law.
That day, the ceremony took place, and the anthem was played in celebration, without Nasrosoltan conducting the band. It may have been that the heavens had mercy on him. Even though Nasrosoltan did not come to his great moment, he was instead granted his final wish. His untimely death spared him from having to hear Irina’s melody one last time.
When Nasrosoltan was finally laid to rest, his headstone, unlike Rustam’s, carried no etched-on reminder of the number of years of happiness he hoped would be spent with his beloved.
It seems kismet had determined Nasrosoltan was to live a life of restless love. And though Rustam had warned him early on that divine providence was under no obligation to be kind to all, for Nasrosoltan, fate had not been too unkind.
For at least during a few enchanted months in the spring and summer of 1913, Nasrosoltan and a princess had shared a journey of love. A journey of unbridled hope and unfulfilled dreams, accompanied by a hundred sweet promises.
Appendix—Photographs in Chronological Order
(All photographs are from the Haddad and Minbashian family collections.)
Nasrollah Minbashian (left), standing with clarinet in hand at a café in St. Petersburg with Russian musicians, before his first return to Persia, 1905.
Salar Moazaz (center front row) and the Persian Cossack Brigade military band, Tehran, 1909.
Cover page of the first-ever national anthem of Persia, printed July 19, 1909, composed by Gholam Reza Khan Minbashian “Salar Moazaz,” in honor of the liberation of Tehran.
The piano sheet music of the first-ever national anthem of Persia.
Salar Moazaz Minbashian and his youngest son, Gholam-Hossein Minbashian, Tehran, 1911. After Nasrosoltan’s untimely death, his younger brother Gholam-Hossein, who had studied music in Geneva and at the conservatory in Berlin, took over as director of the Iranian Conservatory. In 1933, he formed the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, which today still performs works of many of the great classical and Iranian composers.
Nasrollah Khan “Nasrosoltan” Minbashian, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1913, the year he tutored Princess Irina.
Hossnieh Vaziritabar Minbashian “Mami,” Tehran, 1919.
Nasrosoltan Minbashian, as an officer in the Cossack Brigade, the second row, left, wearing a white cap, with Russian officials and their families, Tehran, 1923.
Reza Shah Pahlavi (in front) and Nasrosoltan Minbashian to his left (viewer’s right), Tehran, 1925. Unbeknownst to them both at the time of this photo, twenty years later, in 1945, Reza Shah’s daughter Princess Shams would marry Nasrosoltan’s son Ezatollah.
Colonel Nasrosoltan Minbashian, director of the Iranian Conservatory, Tehran, 1932.
Allahyar Saleh (seated far right), Nasrosoltan’s brother-in-law, with Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh (far left) on a flight to the United States, 1951. Allahyar, who was the only family member with Nasrosoltan at the time of his death, became a notable personality in his own right. He was a successful politician and was the most trusted advisor of Mossadegh. He was later appointed ambassador of Iran to the United States during the presidency of Harry Truman. After Nasrosoltan’s unexpected death, Hossnieh and her youngest daughter, Anvar (the author’s mother), moved into the Saleh family home until they could get back on their feet, as they were reeling from the shock of his sudden passing.
Ezatollah (Mehrdad) Minbashian (right), the middle son of Nasrosoltan, who later in 1964 became Iran’s first-ever minister of culture and fine arts, did what his father had wished but never got a chance to do—marry a princess. Seen here with his wife, Princess Shams, daughter of Reza Shah, hosting American jazz artist Dizzy Gillespie in Abadan, Iran, 1956.
Fatollah Minbashian (left), eldest son of Nasrosoltan, with Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, son of Reza Shah, during wargames, Shiraz, Iran, 1965. Fatollah was a music composer and an expert at playing the piano and violin. He joined the military like his father and his grandfather, Salar Moazaz. He initially served as commander of the same garrison in Shiraz where Nasrosoltan had served as band conductor sixty years earlier. He eventually rose to the rank of commander of all Iranian Armed Forces as a four-star general.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sepehr Haddad is the grandson of composer Nasrosoltan Minbashian who was the director of the Iranian Conservatory (Tehran Conservatory of Music).
Sepehr is also a Universal Music Group (UMG) recording artist, with the Billboard chart-topping duo "Shahin & Sepehr." He lives in the Washington DC metro area.
For further information, visit: SepehrHaddad.com
Copyright© 2020 Sepehr Haddad