Venue:
Austrian Cultural Forum, 28 Rutland Gate, London SW7.

Dates and time:
Wednesday 5 May and Thursday 6 May 2004, 7:45 PM.

Organised by:
The Iran Heritage Foundation and the Austrian Cultural Forum.

Convened by:
Nima Mina.

Supported by:
Solo Records.

Introduction:
In 1812/13 the Austrian diplomat and orientalist Joseph Baron von Hammer-Purgstall (1774-1856) published his German translations of the collected works of the classical Persian poet Hafis (1325-1389). Hafis was the poetic name of Schams ud-Din Mohammad which in Arabic means ‘one who knows the Koran by heart’. As a theologian Hafis preached tolerance. As a poet he produced over 700 poems which are considered highlights of Persian literature. These translations immediately inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to write the West-östlicher Divan (1819), a literary response to Hafis and the culture he represents. Goethe’s Divan embodies the poet's passionate concern for Weltliteratur (world literature), a term summarising his belief in a literary tradition that transcended national boundaries. It became a milestone in early 19th century German literature and inspired many later poets to study Hafis’s poetry and his intellectual legacy. Among them was Friedrich Rückert, an editor and professor of Oriental languages in Nuremberg and Berlin. Rückert wrote homages to Asian and Middle Eastern poetry such as the Östliche Rosen and made fine translations of Arabic and Persian verse, including the works of Rumi, Saadi, Ferdowsi and Hafis. Many of Rückert's works were set to music by Schubert, Schumann and Mahler. The poet and philosopher Georg Friedrich Daumer published his graceful free translations of Hafis in 1846 and 1852. Similar to Rückert’s Östliche Rosen, these poems were really original productions and have become widely known through the musical settings of Brahms. 

The “discovery” of the lyrical poetry of Hafis in early 19th century German literature was preceded by the outburst of lyric poetry in the 18th century. Hafis translations and creative responses that emulated the rhetoric of Persian poetry became attractive material for Franz Schubert, and later for Johannes Brahms and Hugo Wolf. The piano, with its array of rhythmic and harmonic devices, offered exciting possibilities for depicting textual imagery, illustrating mood and capturing the spirit of Hafis’s poems in German disguise within the musical idiom of German romanticism.

Admission: 
Tickets: 17.00 Pounds (15.00 Pounds concession).

Enquiries & Box Office:
020 7493 4766 or info@iranheritage.org.
Payments by AMEX, Visa, Mastercard or cheque. Cheques to be issued in the name of the Iran Heritage Foundation and mailed to 5 Stanhope Gate, London W1K 1AH.