In the 1860s Iran and France were on absolute good terms. Nassereddin Shah was then the ruler and more than once had traveled to France where he was always gloriously welcomed. The military band playing in his honour attracted his attention especially.
Returning to Iran in 1867 he ordered his ambassador to France, Hassan-Ali Garrussi, known as Amir-Nezam, to hire a French musician to re-organise the orchestras previously founded and trained by two other military Frenchmen, namely Bousquet and Rouillon, then practically disbanded. Marechal Niel, then the Defence Minister of the French Republic, chose Alfred Jean-Baptiste Lemaire who held the post of Music Deputy of the Equestrian Military Regiment of the Republic to be dispatched to Iran. There he trained military band members and invited another French musician, Duval, to teach violin and other stringed instruments. Due to the efforts of Lemaire there appeared several trained military bands in Iran. Through this, Lemaire within a short time brought polyphonic music to this country. ...