Prince of Sorrows

Commissioned by the SIlkroad Ensemble

Adapted, designed and directed by Hamid Rahmanian  |  Music composed by Kayhan Kalhour

Prince of Sorrows was created as part of the Silkroad Ensemble’s music and art collaborative project Heroes Take Their Stand in 2019.

Human societies have used folklore and tradition as means of sharing, reinforcing, and perpetuating values, and conveying deeply held moral and ethical norms. The protagonists we encounter in the suite of five performances which comprise Heroes Take Their Stands were not born heroes. None of them are superior to humankind, nor are they deities or superheroes. They are normal individuals who choose to act or react in ways that spare others’ lives or right profound injustices — and their acts offer enduring inspiration for us all. The decisions they make at these crucial moments in their lives — to do the right thing, to do the just thing, regardless of the personal consequences — is what makes them heroes. Their examples demonstrate that each of us is born with a capacity for heroism — and that it is up to each of us to choose to act, to take our stand.

Animation; Short version: Qmars Kalami
Animation full; length project: Hoda Rami
Character illustration: Syd Fini
Calligraphy: Mohsen Ebadi


Running time: 23 minutes — Running time full version 65 minutes

“The Prince of Sorrows, the closing offering, was both the most spectacular and the most effective in storytelling, about a 10th-century Persian prince’s persistence in moral, spiritual, and humanitarian rightness. It was composed by kamancheh player [Kayhan] Kalhor, whose recorded musical ensemble included Persian tombak drums and nay, a transverse flute, as well as vocals. Kalhor was partnered by fellow Iranian expatriate filmmaker and visual artist Hamid Rahmanian, who deployed projections of enlarged, floating Persian calligraphy, as well as dazzlingly colored illustrations which seemed to reach the audience in three or four dimensions.” Classical Voices, May 6, 2019