Morteza Barjesteh

Iranian pop singer, songwriter & composer who gained fame in Iran during the 1980s

Lila with a Framework of Love & Sorrow

It is very difficult for me to completely express my true feelings for this great poet. What I know and write about Lila Kasra only reflects a small portion of her greatness and because of my impression of her, I am sure that the “mind” of my “pen” will fall short of my being able to truly put on paper who she truly was. 

I became familiar with the name of Lila Kasra in Iran when Fereydoun Khoshnoud suggested that I perform the song “Sultan.” At the start, this song was supposed to be accompanied by the piano, and Sourje was responsible for writing the notes. However, after performing the song with the piano, it was decided that an orchestra, which included percussion & string instruments, should be added, and as a result the song was broadcasted spectacularly. Up to this point I still had not met Lila Kasra in person. 

Destiny brought me to Los Angeles and Mrs. Lila Kasra to San Francisco. We kept in touch by phone when I requested a song from her. With the song “Solheh Sefit va Abi, which was a collaborative effort with Farrokh Rouhi, who composed the music, I gravitated more towards Lila’s song, and because of this collaboration there are 11 songs that shine brilliantly in my professional resume. At my request, she wrote the song “Baghe Asal” for my daughters Ghazal and Nassim, and brilliantly she incorporated their names in the song. The first product of my career as a composer for one of Lila’s songs was the song “Yad and Yad.”

The first time I met Mrs. Lila Kasra, and her husband was during their trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. They were staying in a hotel. I went to meet her there with lots of enthusiasm and we conversed for hours. The result of this meeting was the birth of the song “Dobareh Eshgh.” 

When it came to the song “Dobareh Eshgh”, and its formation, we consulted each other for a while. I liked to perform a song where audience would sing along me, and Lila masterfully wrote “Dobareh Eshgh”, which came out at the same time as “Vavayla”, with music by Mohammad Heydari and the arrangements by Andranic, which is one of the masterpieces of this artistic trio, and I had the honor of performing it. 

When Lila gave me the relics to the song “Aziz”, I composed the music for it. this work touched Lila’s heart, she always said, “while it is rhythmic, it is also sad”. She liked these types of melodies. It was as if she bonded with “sorrows.”  After “Aziz” she gave me an opportunity to have her newly written lyrics for up to two weeks to determine whether I could compose music for them. Unfortunately, our collaboration did not last due to the passing of Lila. I had a few of her songs in my possession, and I chose “Siah Gisou” among them. After composing the music and performing it, I returned the remaining songs to her husband. 

I am confident that if this lady did not have to struggle with her illness, her strong output in songwriting would have left her no rivals in the field. The beautiful songs that she wrote during a very short few years qualify her to stand in the first line of the Iranian Lyricists.