Parviz Yahaghi

Before the arrival of the 1979 political revolution in Iran, Yahaghi had already resigned from the government radio station and set up a recording studio of his own in Tehran. In the wake of the revolution, many of Yahaghi's friends and associates departed from Iran and did not return. But Yahaghi stayed. His wife, Homeyra, one of Iran's most famous singers, moved permanently to the USA without him. (The revolutionaries outlawed female solo singing, though women were free to continue to play musical instruments and to sing in choruses.) Yahaghi was arrested, interrogated, and released by the new regime. During the 1980s with the war between Iran and Iraq going on, he was invited by the regime to compose music, particularly patriotic music. He declined. But the official authorities came around to viewing him with such esteem that after his death some of his musical instruments, recording equipment and other items were appropriated as national and historic property.

Starting from about 20 years of age Parviz Yahaghi was employed for a little over two decades as a musician with the Iranian government-financed radio station. In the 1960s and 1970s at the radio station he composed hundreds of pieces both for violin and for celebrated singers in Iran such as Banan, Marzieh, Delkash, Pouran, Elahe, Homeyra, Mahasti, Dariush Rafei, Homayoonpour, and Iraj (Hossein Khajeh Amiri). These compositions were often produced in connection with the long-running radio program Golha. Yahaghi's ability in playing violin, his compositions, and his musical director's role made him a central figure in Persian music during the 1970s.

His birth name was Parviz Sedighi Parsi. He was musically educated primarily by his uncle Hossein Yahaghi, a violinist and violin teacher, from whom Parviz adopted the Yahaghi name. During his youth Parviz was exposed to many highly professional musicians in Tehran who were friends of his uncle. A notable visitor at his uncle's house was the violin teacher, composer, and musicologist Abolhasan Saba, who is credited with making improvements in violin playing technique in the Persian tradition. Saba published a two-volume training manual for the violin in 1944-45.

Parviz Yahaghi (Persian: پرویز یاحقی) (September 23, 1935 – February 2, 2007) was a distinguished Iranian composer and violinist. He resided in Tehran city for practically his whole life, and was born and died there.