The first special edition in 2011

presents
The first special edition in 2011
THE MUSIC OF AZERBAIJAN:
SOUNDS OF ANTIQUITY
The history of the development of Azerbaijani music
The rich music of Azerbaijan has a history of development spanning many centuries. The first facts about its music
was gained from a number of monuments discovered during archeological digs such as the rock engravings in
Gobustan (12th-6th millenniums BC) and Gemigaya in the Ordubad region of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic (3rd-1st millenniums BC). The epic poem “Kitabi-Dede Qorqud” (7th century), and the poems of Nizami
Ganjavi (12th century) and Mohammad Fuzuli (16th century) give rich details about the musical life of Azerbaijan
during the Middle Ages, its genres and instruments. The works of such famous Azerbaijani men of knowledge such
as Safiaddin Urmavi (13th century), Abdulqadir Maraghai (14th century), Mirzabey (17th century) and Mir Mohsun
Navvab (19th century) describe the highly-developed Azerbaijani musical culture and mastery of performance, and
addressed the theoretical problems of the music. Some parts of our first written monument “Kitabi-Dede Qorqud”
concerned music, as well as the mention of several musical instruments in the epic poem, prove the antiquity of
Azerbaijani music.
The music of Azerbaijan: sounds of antiquity
2
The first written musical works in Azerbaijan were created in 13th century. The
development of the musical theory of the
Near and Middle East in the 13th -15th
centuries was associated with the names
of two great researchers and musicians of
Azerbaijan: Safiaddin Urmavi (1217-1294)
and Abdulqadir Maraghai (1353-1435).
One of the Middle Age’s most broadly-educated Azerbaijani intellectual was
Abdulqadir Maraghai. He studied Eastern
musical theory in depth and was a singer,
tion of Melodies”, “The Aim of Melodies”,
“Music”, “Comments on Circles” and “Ten
Advantages”. Melodies in his letter “Treasure of Melodies” were given by the Urmavi’s literal-numerical system. Letters
show diapason and numbers including
the wavelength of the sounds and names
of frets and measures describing rhythms
and orders of the melody.
Azerbaijani music was further developed in the 16-17th centuries and new
works were created during that period.
Safiaddin Urmavi (1217-1294) was
born in Urmiya, an ancient cultural center
of Azerbaijan. Urmavi was one of the most
famous musicians and music researchers of
the East. He got his first education in Urmiya
and then moved to Baghdad to develop
his education in Mustansariyya, one of
the best universities of his age. Safiaddin
Urmavi’s works opened a new era in the
development of Eastern musical theory
and science. His letters “Kitab al-Advar” and
“Sharafiyya” founded the music theory in
Azerbaijan and created the basis for its
further development. He was a founder of
the systematized school of musical science
and notation. His musical system and sheet
music was the perfect music notation of
that period. The famous British scientist Charles Parry called Safiaddin’s system the most
perfect system to date. Urmavi’s great achievement was the regulation of the sound
system in the East. The basis of his system, the 17-step gamut was distinct from Al-Kindi’s
12-tone chromatic gamut and also Al-Farabi’s 22-tone gamut. He described the range of
sounds of Eastern music in 12 mugham circles and 6 voices within the diatonic gamut.
musician, composer, painter-calligrapher
and poet, and continued and developed
Urmavi’s scientific heritage. Maraghai
composed his poems in Azerbaijani Turkish, Farsi and Arabic, and made a great
contribution to the development of Azerbaijani music with his works like “Collec-
Mirza bey’s “Musical Letter” was one of
the interesting works of the 17th century.
The works created in further periods
gave much attention to the mastery of
performance. It was clearly described by
the musical scientist of the 19-20th centuries Mir Mohsun Navvab Garabaghi
There are several cities in the world, where every stone
and fortress is steeped in music. Vienna in Austria, Naples in
Italy and Shusha in Azerbaijan are among those cities. There
is even a proverb among the people that “infants in Shusha
cry in mugham”. Shusha is rightly called the conservatory of
the Caucasus. Brilliant representatives of Shusha conservatory
glorified Azerbaijani music, performing it all over the world.
Shusha was the homeland of well-known musicians Mir Mohsun
Navvab, Haji Husu, Sadiqjan, Jabbar Qaryaghdioghlu, Kechachi
oghlu Mohammad, Seyid Shushinski, Bulbul, Zulfi Adigozalov,
Khan Shushinski and Gurban Pirimov, and composers Zulfugar
Hajibeyov, Fikret Amirov, Niyazi, Afrasiyab Badalbeyli and Soltan
Hajibeyov.
(1833-1918), who was a poet, painter and
calligrapher as well. His treatise “Identification of Numbers” was devoted to the solution of important theoretical problems. He
wrote this work as a practical manual for
those who learn and perform mugham.
This work contains details about the main
mughams of that period, the theoretical
rules of composing the mugham melodies and manner of performance, and lyrics.
A number of musical assemblies, societies and circles were organized in the
Azerbaijani cities at the turn of the 19th
century. Musicians of that period like Mahmoud Agha in Shamakhi, Gulu Mohammad Oghlu and Mir Mohsun Navvab in
Shusha, and Mashadi Malik Mansurov in
Baku attended such assemblies. “The Assembly of Musicians” organized by Navvab
and Haji Husu (1839-1898) in the 1880s
addressed the esthetic problems of music
and the art of mugham performance. Famous singers and musicians like Mashadi
Jamil Amirov, Abdullayev, Shushinski, and
Sadiqjan attended this assembly. Haji
Husu was known not only as a singer, but
also as a connoisseur and professor of the
Eastern and Azerbaijani mughams.
One of the Azerbaijani musicians of
the 19th century was Mirza Sadiq (Sadiqjan) (1846-1902). He was widely known in
the Caucasus and Iran as a virtuoso of tar
playing. He perfected the tar and added
ringing and tuning strings raising their
number from 5 to 11. Sadiqjan started to
implement a playing position at the breast
(earlier tar was played on the knees) for the
first time. Tar perfected by him was widely
known in the Caucasus and Central Asia
and became a musical symbol of Azerbaijan. Well-known Azerbaijani musicians Mashadi Zeynal, Mashadi Jamil Amirov, Shirin
Akhundov, and Gurban Pirimov were followers of the Mirza Sadig’s school.
The view of Caucasus Conservatoire from the city Shusha.
The city is under Armenian occupation since 1992
special edition
Azerbaijani music in the 20th century
Uzeyir Hajibeyov was born in 1885 in the Aghjabedi region of Azerbaijan. He
was a composer, musical theorist, publicist, dramatist and pedagogue. Uzeyir
Hajibeyov became an Honored Art Figure of Azerbaijan in 1935, and academician
of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences in 1945. He was the chairman of
the Azerbaijan Union of Composers in 1938-1948, rector of the Azerbaijan State
Conservatoire in 1928-1929 and 1939-1948, and director of the Institute of Art of the
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences in 1945-1948. Uzeyir Hajibeyov remains in
our history as a great musician, a classic of the musical culture of Azerbaijan, giving
impetus to its new phase and uniting the national musical traditions with the pattern
of European music. He founded the national opera and Azerbaijan’s professional
composer’s creativity with his opera “Leyli and Mejnun” in 1908. ‘Leyli and Mejnun”
was the first opera of Azerbaijan and the entire Muslim East. The opera “Koroghlu”
staged at the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theater in 1937 took a special place in the
Uzeyir Hajibeyov’s creative work. This opera is considered as one of the masterpieces
of Azerbaijani opera. Influenced by European opera, Uzeyir Hajibeyov composed it as
a great Eastern opera based on the national music tradition. He masterly synthesized
Western and Eastern musical instruments and composed arias, choruses, ensembles
and choreographic scenes observing the forms of classic operas. “Koroghlu” was
successfully performed in 1938 during the Azerbaijani cultural decade in Moscow
and was named as the best opera. It was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941.
The formation and development of Azerbaijani professional music, the creation
and progress of a number of genres, and the formation of a number of professional groups is associated with Uzeyir Hajibeyov’s
name. Hajibeyov is a founder of musical comedy in Azerbaijan as well. Azerbaijani life, habits and traditions were described in his
social musical comedies (“Husband and Wife” in 1910, “O Olmasin, Bu Olsun” in 1911 and “Arshin Mal Alan” in 1913”). His “Arshin
Mal Alan” (staged in 1913) gained wide popularity. The operetta was translated into English, German, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Polish,
Ukrainian, Belorussian, Georgian and other languages and staged in, amongst others, Moscow, Istanbul, New York, Paris, London,
Tehran, Cairo, Beijing, Berlin, Warsaw, Sofia, Budapest and Bucharest, totalling 120 theaters. Hajibeyov’s other famous operetta “O
Olmasin, Bu Olsun” was screened for the first time in 1919 in Yalta, and then by Azerbaijan film studio in 1956.
One of the musicians of the 19th and
20th centuries, who play an outstanding
role in the history of national music, was
Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu (1861-1944).
Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu was a singer, composer and musical figure, and devoted all
of his life to the development of classical Azerbaijani music. He was one of the
most outstanding Azerbaijani singers, and
was awarded with the honorary title of
the people’s artist in 1935. He performed
more than 500 songs and played a major
role in the creation of profession of singer
in Azerbaijan and became famous and the
best performer in the South Caucasus. He
played a major role in the creation of opera
in Azerbaijan, becoming the country’s first
opera singer.
Another one of the persons playing a
major role in the development of Azerbaijani music in the 20th century was Uzeyir
Hajibeyov (1885-1948).
One of the founders of the Azerbaijani professional musical theater during
the early 20th century was Muslim Magomayev (1885-1937). Magomayev started
his career as an opera conductor in 1912
and composed operas “Shah Ismayil” (1916)
and “Nargiz” (1935). He is an editor of the
3
The composition of Azerbaijan national dances
Uzeyir Hajibeyov’s “Azerbaijani Turkic Folklore Songs” collection published in 1927.
One of the persons who played a
great role in the development of Azerbaijani music in this period was Asef Zeynalli
(1909-1932). He was the first Azerbaijani
composer with a professional education.
Unfortunately he died at the age of 23 and
his creative work covered a very short period, consisting of his years of education at
the Turkic Musical College and Azerbaijan
State Conservatoire. He founded chambervocal and chamber-instrumental music in
Azerbaijan. Zeynalli remains in the history
of the Azerbaijani music as an author of the
first national romances and piano and violin
pieces, as well as the first symphonic works.
He composed music for Jafar Jabbarli’s “Sevil” and “The Return”, Nazirli and Rustam’s
“Fire”, Hamid’s “The Indian”, Kirsho’s “City of
Winds” and founded the child music repertoire in Azerbaijan with his “Child Suite”.
www.ocaz.eu
The music of Azerbaijan: sounds of antiquity
The 1920-40s are characterized as a
period of the progress for Azerbaijani music. New groups and centers, including the
Symphonic Orchestra (1920, Uzeyir Hajibeyov’s Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orches4
tra), the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire
(1921), the Folklore Instrumental Ensemble
(1931), the Azerbaijan Union of Composers
Baku Academy of Music
(1934), the Musical Comedy Theater (1938),
the Folklore Art House (1939) and others
were formed in those years. After the split
of the first polyphonic chorus in 1926, the
State Chorus, Song and Dance Ensemble
Baku Academy of Music
The Baku Academy of Music was founded
in 1921 on the initiative of the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. It was
called the Uzeyir Hajibeyov Azebaijan State
Conservatory until 1995. The Baku Academy of Music is the leading musical school
of Azerbaijan. There are winners of international contests, world-famous composers
and researchers among its professors. It
has departments of European and Eastern
classic musical instruments widely known
in the international arena. USS and Azerbaijani People’s Artist, professor Farhad
Badalbeyli, has headed the Baku Academy
of Music since 1991. There are nineteen departments and four schools in the Academy: piano; mastery of performance; history
and theory; and advanced training school.
The education is in Azeri and Russian.
were amalgamated at the Azerbaijan
State Philharmonic Hall (1936). All of these
played very important and significant roles
in the development of Azerbaijani music.
During these years, Said Rustamov wrote
the first contemporary musical comedy
(“Five-Manat Bride”, 1938). A people’s artist,
outstanding composer and music theorist, Afrasiyab Badalbeyli, composed the
first national ballet of Azerbaijan (“Maiden
Tower”, 1940).
The founder of the new national vocal
school, Bulbul (1897-1961), initiated an
important phase in the development of
the Azerbaijani masterly performance. Bul-
Muslim Magomayev (1942-2008) was born in Baku.
He is the grandson of composer Muslim Magomayev
(1885-1937). Magomayev was an outstanding opera and
pop singer, and gained popularity due to his successful
performances at the Helsinki Youth Festival at the age of
18 and during the Azerbaijani cultural decade in Moscow in 1963. He was a soloist of the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater and gained an experience at the
Teatro alla Scala in Milano, Italy. He performed the part
of Figaro in the “Barber of Seville” and the part of Scarpia
in “Tosca” together with Enrico Piazza. He gave his first
concert in 1966 at the Olympia Hall, Paris. Magomayev
graduated from the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire in
1968 and won his first prize at the International Song festival in Sopot, Poland in 1969.
He was appointed as an art director of the Azerbaijan State Pop Symphonic Orchestra
in 1975. He gave concerts together with this orchestra in the cities of the USSR, France,
Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, Canada and Iran. He successly performed popular songs, worldfamous hits, classical pieces and film music.
bul is Murtuza Mammadov’s nickname and
given to him for his extraordinary voice. He
graduated from the Baku Conservatory in
1927 and the Milan Conservatory in Italy
in 1931. Bulbul was an initiator of the scientific department at the Azerbaijan State
Conservatory in 1932 to research Azerbaijani traditional music. The Institute of Art
of the Azerbaijan National Academy of
Sciences has researched Azerbaijani traditional music since 1945. The department
of traditional music was reformed in 1971
and is functioning now under the Baku
Academy of Music. The Azerbaijani opera
singer, master of tasnif (national rhythmic
melody) performance and specialist of traditional music, Bulbul, won the title of USSR
People’s Artist in 1938 for his achievements.
He became the USSR State Prize winner in
1950.
Azerbaijani
music
gained
great popularity
both inside and
outside the country after World
War Two. Gara
Garayev (19181982) takes a special place among
the
persons
bringing worldwide popularity to Azerbaijani music. Garayev was a great composer,
pedagogue and public figure and his ballets “Seven Beauties”, after Nizami Ganjavi’s
poem, and “Path of Thunder”, after South
African Peter Abrahams’ novel, were successfully performed in a number of countries. “Seven Beauties” (1952) founded new
a musical dramaturgy in the Azerbaijani
ballet, and played an important role in the
development of the main ballet genre. The
symphony “Don Quixote”, the symphonic
poem “Leyli and Mejnun” and the “Vietnam
Suite” are all valuable examples of Garayev’s
creative work. “Don Quixote” and “Vietnam
Suite” were composed on the basis of Garayev’s music setting for the films of the
same names. Garayev wrote music for
“Conquerors of the Sea”, “Golden Echelon”,
“Story of the Caspian Oilmen”, “On Distant
Shores” and other films. He was a great professor and trained a number of composers
and became an academician of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences.
Fikret Amirov
(1922 -1984) was
also a great composer of this period. He is known
as a founder of
the symphonic
mugham (“Shur”,
“Kurd
Ovshari”,
“Gulustan-BayatiShiraz”). He successly developed mugham features as
symphonies. He wrote the opera “Sevil”
(1953), the ballet “1001 Nights” (1973) and
the symphony “Nizami” for string orchestra
(1948). “Azerbaijani Capriccio” (1961), “Symphonic dances” (1963) and Arabic concert
for piano and orchestra (1957) took special
place in his creative work.
One of the outstanding composers
of that period was Jahangir Jahangirov
(1921-1992). The area of chorus music took
a special place in his creative work, and he
wrote mostly vocal-symphonic pieces. He
wrote the vocal-symphonic poem “At the
Farther Bank of Araz” (1949) for chorus and
symphonic orchestra, “Song of Friendship”
special edition
(1956), the cantatas “Fuzuli” (1959)
and
“Nasimi”
(1973), the oratories “Sabir” (1962),
“Huseyn Javid-59”
(1984), “Great Victory” (1985), the
operas
“Azad”
(1957), “Fate of
Singer” (1978) and
other pieces. “At the Farther Bank of Araz”
was a new genre in his creativity bringing
features of both symphonic and cantataoratory music together.
The formation and development of the
Azerbaijan’s school of conducting in the
mid-20th century was associated with the
name of Niyazi (1912-1984). He conducted Muslim Magomayev’s opera
“Nargiz” in 1938
in Moscow during the decade
of
Azerbaijani
culture. Later he
conducted Uzeyir
Hajibeyov’s “Koroglu” opera, Gara
Garayev’s
and
Jovdat Hajiyev’s opera “Motherland”, Fikret
Amirov’s opera “Sevil” and Arif Melikov’s ballet “The Legend of Love”. He was the author
of symphonies “Zagatala Suite” (1934) and
“Gaytaghi” (1939), the symphonic mugham
“Rast” (1949), the opera-cantata “1920”, the
“Dance Suite” for symphonic orchestra and
the ballet “Chitra” (1962) based on Indian
writer Rabindranath Tagore’s works. In 1959
he was awarded the title of USSR People’s
Artist for his successful performances in
European and Asian countries. He won the
USSR State Prize and India’s International
Nehru Prize for his ballet “Chitra”.
Azerbaijani
pop and jazz
music has been
developed successfully
since
the mid-20th century. The Azerbaijan State Jazz
Orchestra
(art
director Niyazi,
music director T.
Guliyev) was founded in 1941. The composer and pianist Vagif Mustafazadeh
(1940-1979) played an exclusive role in
the development of Azerbaijani jazz. He
was a founder of jazz mugham and has
led the group “Ozero”, the jazz trio “The
Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall
The Muslim Magomayev Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall founded in 1936 plays
an irreplaceable role in the cultural life of the country. There are seven groups in the
philharmonic hall: the Uzeyir Hajibeyov Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra led
by People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, State Prize laureate, professor Rauf Abdullayev; the
Azerbaijan State Chorus Chapel led by Azerbaijani People’s Artist Gulbaji Imanova; the
Gara Garayev Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra led by Azerbaijani People’s Artist
Teymour Goychayev; the Azerbaijan State Piano Trio; the Azerbaijan State String
Quartet; the Fikret Amirov Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble; and the
Azerbaijan State Folklore Instrumental Orchestra. The Azerbaijan State Philharmonic
Hall is the leading concert venue of the republic. It plays an exclusive role in the
popularization of classical music. Alongside its domestic groups, foreign groups and
soloists also perform on its stage.
Caucasus”, the vocal instrumental women’s ensembles “Leyli” and “Sevil”, and
the instrumental ensemble “Mugham”
since 1964. He synthesized Azerbaijani
music with classic American jazz and
won a series of international contests
and festivals (Tallinn in 1966, Tbilisi in
1978, Monte Carlo). Vagif Mustafazadeh
was posthumously awarded with the
Azerbaijan State Prize in 1982. He wrote
concerts for piano and symphonic orchestra, the symphony “Mugham”, and a
number of jazz compositions and pieces. He won 8th International Jazz Festival
in Monaco in 1978.
Rashid Behbudov (19151989), an outstanding singer
of
Azerbaijan,
performed parts
in Balash (“Sevil”, F. Amirov)
and Asgar (‘Arshin mal alan”,
5
U.Hajibeyov) on the stage of the Azerbaijani opera theater to great acclaim.
He was a soloist of the Azerbaijan State
Philharmonic Hall in 1946-1956, the
Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater in 1953-1960, and the founder and
leader of the Azerbaijan State Concert
Ensemble in 1957-1959. He founded the
Azerbaijan State Song Theater, which
united different genres of music such as
jazz, ballet and instrumental, and was a
soloist and art director of this theater for
life. The Azerbaijan State Song Theater is
named after him. Behbudov performed
a large repertoire in the Soviet republics, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, China,
Ethiopia, Finland, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy,
Egypt, Turkey and other countries, and
played a great role in the popularization
of Azerbaijani vocal pieces in foreign
countries. He was awarded with the title
of USSR People’s Artist in 1959 and Hero
of Socialist Labor in 1980 for his contribution to Azerbaijani music.
In 1960-80s, the older generation of
www.ocaz.eu
The music of Azerbaijan: sounds of antiquity
6
composers intensified their creativity and
new composers took the stage, making
important strides in all areas and expanding international relations. The Azerbaijani
composers started to frequently address
the genres of opera and ballet. Melikov’s
ballet “The Legend of Love” (1961), Amirov’s
ballets “Epos of Nasimi” (1973; Azerbaijan
SSR State Prize, 1974) and “1001 Nights”
(1979; USSR State Prize, 1980) gained wide
popularity. Composer Shafiga Akhundova
wrote the opera “Bridal Rock” and became
the first female composer writing opera
in the East. She has more than 500 pieces
and continues her creative activity to the
present day. Shafiga Akhundova received
the title of People’s Artist and Presidential
Stipend for her contribution to the art. She
was awarded with the Medal of Glory in
2004.
Azerbaijani music during the period of independence
Azerbaijani composers have attended
different music festivals, international contests, and the world’s reknowned cultural
and musical projects, and popularized
Azerbaijani music in the world since the
republic reached its independence. Works
the development and perfection of the mugham. The Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra (art director and conductor, People’s
Artist R. Abdullayev) successfully performed
Hajibeyov’s, Garayev’s and Amirov’s pieces
at the International Festival in France. Azer-
poser), Siyavush Kerimi (composer), Agshin
Alizadeh (composer), Alim Gasimov (singer),
Alibaba Mammadov (singer), Shafiga Akhundova (composer), Zeynab Khanlarova
(singer), Khuraman Gasimova (singer), Fidan
Gasimova (singer) and others are among
baijani music has developed successfully in
the 21st century too. It is necessary to note
those who made a significant contribution
to the development of Azerbaijani music in
Performerance of famous
mugam singer Alim
Qasımov in the mugam
festival
of Azerbaijani composers have been performed in Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands,
Cyprus, USA, Switzerland, Germany and
other countries, and have won respected
contests. The inaugural performances of
Arif Melikov’s “Symphony No 7” and Vasif
Adigezalov’s oratory “Chanaggala” in 1998,
and Tofig Bakikhanov’s “Northern Cyprus
Views”, and “Northern Cyprus Suite” took
place in Turkey and Cyprus. The works of
F. Garayev (“Khutbe, Mugham and Sure”,
“Babylon Doomsday” in 2000), F. Alizadeh
(“The Mirage”), R. Hasanova (“Heaven”) were
performed in the Netherlands. F. Huseynov
won the UNESCO contest in Japan with his
concert for symphonic orchestra “Travel in
Time” and his oratory “Let peace prevail in
the world” won the UN Prize.
Master of mugham performance Alim
Gasimov was awarded with the UNESCO
Gold Medal in 1999 for his achievements in
Azerbaijan National Conservatory
The Azerbaijan National Conservatory was founded by the decree issued by ex-president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev on June 13, 2000. According to the order
issued on August 10, 2001, the Baku College of Music and the Republican Art Gymnasium
became part of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory. According to this order, Siyavush
Ashraf Karimi was appointed to the post of rector of the Conservatory. There are two
schools (mastery of performance and history-theory) in the Conservatoire at present, and
eight departments within each of them: “Traditional musical instruments”; “Solo performance (singer)”; “Orchestration and conducting of traditional musical instruments”; “The
history and theory of national music”; “The history and theory of music”; “Instrumental
mugham”; “Piano” and “Social sciences”. There are outstanding musicians, professional
conductors, singers, composers and well-known social scientists among the professors
of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory.
the role of the last century’s figures in the
rise of Azerbaijani music and culture in this
period. Farhad Badalbeyli (pianist), Arif Melikov (composer), Firangiz Alizadeh (com-
the last century and continue their activity
today. Azerbaijani music is progressing and
new generation of musicians were reared
due mainly to the comprehensive efforts of
special edition
Young participant of the mugam festival
7
these musicians.
Azerbaijani music has been comprehensively developed, and new operas and
ballets written and a new generation of
musicians and performers have matured in
the first decade of the 21st century. The ensemble “SoNoR” (art director Eldar Mirzayev)
founded in 1995 played an important role
in popularization of Azerbaijani music in
the world. The group was founded by Samir
Mirzayev (piano), Nizami Zeynalov (clarinet)
and Rovshan Mammadov (guitar), gaining
its title from a combination of the initial letters of their names which means “sounding”.
This ensemble has been called the Modern
Musical Initiative Center since 1998. “SoNoR”
was an active participant of all festivals in
Baku and represented Azerbaijan at international level many times including the festival
GIFT (Tbilisi, 1998), New Musical Marathon
(Prague, 1999), Inspiration XX (Tashkent,
2000), the festival “Two Days and Two Nights
of New Music” (Odessa, 2001), as well as two
tours in the cities of the former soviet republics (Moscow, Tallinn, Tartu, Chisinau) and European countries (Germany, the Netherlands
and Belgium) in 2000. The group performed
an original program in Germany in August
2001 where it was called as “the most progressive ensemble” by the organizers of the
Young Euro Classic Festival.
The international music festivals (“Last
century’s new music”, 2001 and “SoNoR,
Links, Cultures, Contacts”, 2003) were
started to be held in Baku in the 21st century, and musical pieces of different genres
were written. New ballets and operas were
composed in the country (Kh. Mirzazadeh,
“White and Black”, 2000; A, Alizadeh, “Travel
to the Caucasus”, 2002; P. Bulbuloglu, “Love
and death”, 2005). V. Adigezalov’s opera “Natavan, daughter of the Khan” (2003) dedicated to Azerbaijani poetess Natavan took
a respectable place in the history of the de-
velopment of the national opera.
The Shostakovich Festival took place in
Baku in 2006 on the world-renowned musician Mstislav Rostropovich’s initiative. The
festival was dedicated to the 100th anniverFamous violinist
Mstislav
Rostropovich
performs in his
native land Baku
music in the world. The world-known composers and musicians, including Vladimir
Sherbakov, Yermin Josef (Ukraine), Kakha
Tsabadze, Elizbar Lombdaridze (Georgia),
Alexander Chaykovsky, Vyacheslav Medushevski (Russia), Balnur Kadirbek (Kazakhstan), Gennady Cobanu (Moldova), Gudratulla Hikmatov (Tajikistan) and others
attended the international festival.
Mugham has also been developed in
Azerbaijan in recent years. The protection of
mugham, its popularization in the world is
a priority of the Azerbaijan’s culture policy.
The International Mugham Festival “The
World of Mugham” was held on March 1825, 2009 at the International Mugham Center in Baku, which was founded on August
25, 2005 with the participation of former
UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura. This festival was one of the high-profile
events held to popularize Azerbaijani music
in the world. Specialists and musicians from
Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, India, Syria, Morocco,
Egypt, USA, France, UK, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, China, Tunisia, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan participated in the contest.
Another international music festival was
held in Azerbaijan in 2009. The 10-day International Music Festival began on August 13,
2009 in Gebele, Azerbaijan. An international
contest of young pianists, a night of classic
sary of the Russian composer. In addition,
the Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra
successfully performed Hajibeyov’s, Garayev’s and Amirov’s pieces in the festivals
“Vela Festival” and “Classic Ariano” in Italy in
2007.
In 2007, Baku hosted the Bulbul 4th International Vocal Contest. Seventy vocalists
from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan attended
this respected contest. Baku also hosted
the 1st International Mstislav Rostropovich
Festival in the same year. Firangiz Alizadeh’s
opera “Garabaghname” was successfully
staged for the first time at the Azerbaijan
State Opera and Ballet Theater within the framework of The Mugam trio accompanies the duet of young singers
this festival. UNESCO named
Alizadeh as the “Artist of the
World” in 2007. The International Music Festival held in
Baku on November 12-17,
2009, on the occasion of the
75th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Union of Composers,
was significant for the popularization of Azerbaijani
www.ocaz.eu
The music of Azerbaijan: sounds of antiquity
8
music and a concert of mugham were held
within the festival. 22 pianists from 15 countries attended the contest of young pianists.
Soloists Daniel and Alexander Gurfinkel
(clarinet), Vyacheslav Vaynorovski (tenor) and
Boris Berezovski (piano) accompanied by
the Israel’s Symphonic Orchestra performed
in the final ceremony of the festival. Dmitry
Yablonski (USA) conducted the concert.
Azerbaijan hosted the International
Music Festival in 2010 too. The five-day
Silk Road International Music Festival was
started on June 27 in Sheki. There are a
number of factors for holding this festival in
Sheki, which is known for its original musical culture and traditions of performance
mastery. Sheki had a wide musical education system. There are four children’s music
schools, a children’s art school and college
of music as well. Participants of the festival
watched the concerts and spectacles of
the South Korean “Samulnori” folklore ensemble, the “Sari Gelin” Norwegian-Azerbaijani ensemble, the Gara Garayev Chamber
Orchestra, the String Quartet “Oasis” of the
Azerbaijan Union of Composers, the chorus
and symphonic orchestra of the Azerbaijan
Broadcasting Company, and local and Baku
musical groups, as well as Azerbaijan State
Opera and Ballet Theater.
Azerbaijani music has been integrated
into the European musical space in recent years. Azerbaijan’s participation and
achievements in the Eurovision Song Contest in the past three years is a sign of development of the national music. Azerbaijani
representatives took 8th place in the Eurovision 2008 in Belgrade, 3rd in the Eurovision
2009 in Moscow and 5th in the Eurovision
2010 in Oslo leaving behind many European countries.
Azerbaijani national music
Festival in front of Double Fortress
Gates in Baku [Gosha Gala]
The folkloric music with ancient traditions, and substantial, perfect and rich
genres is an integral and important part
of Azerbaijani music. Traditional music expressed the history, lifestyle and wishes of
the people, and described habits and traditions. It has colorful genres uniting songs,
dances, mugham, ashug music and others.
The traditional songs are the oldest
and most important genre of musical-poetical creativity of the Azerbaijani people,
which brilliantly describe its purity and rec-
Ancient handicraft examples of Azerbaijan
titude, and inward wishes and hopes. Azerbaijani traditional music has several groups
of genres for their themes and contents,
clearness of its musical and poetic language and colorfulness, for example labor
songs, ceremonial songs, popular (including lyrics) and historic songs.
The oldest genre of the people’s creativity is a labor song. The most popular
labor songs are sayachi (stock farming) and
holavar (crop farming) songs, for example
“Choban avazi” (“Shepherd’s voice”), “Tutu
Traditinal music
Vocal, vocal-instrumental and musical-dance creations of the people
are called traditional music. Nomadic
farmers, shepherds, hunters, craftsmen created traditional music.
nenem” (“My grandmother Tutu”), “Saghim
mahnisi” (“Milking song”), “Chek, shumla
yeri” (“Turn up the soil”), “Shum neghmesi”
(“Husbandry song”), etc.
One of the ancient songs of the Azerbaijani people is a ceremonial song. The
festivals, weddings and funerals were accompanied by the traditional songs and
most of these songs were saved until the
present time. The songs created in ancient
time and sung during the seasonal ceremonies and dedicated to the sun, fire, rain and
other natural forces are included in this kind
of song. There are many popular games and
spectacles accompanied by these traditional songs, whose lyrics were taken from
bayati, the quatrain traditional poems.
The popular songs include children’s,
humoristic, satirical and lyric songs, which
have different contents, forms and expres-
special edition
The composition of Azerbaijan national dances
9
sions. The children’s songs, particularly lullabies, are the oldest type of popular songs.
The lyric songs are the richest and most
beautiful type of this genre, which were
dedicated to pure love, separation, sorrow
and other feelings.
Epic-historical and heroic songs have
an important place among the Azerbaijani
traditional songs. These songs have been
created since ancient times about any historic event or popular hero, who played an
outstanding role in the people’s life. There
are epics and songs dedicated to popular
heroes such as Koroghlu, Gachag Nabi,
Gachag Kerem, Gachag Ismayil, Deli Ali, Ganadli Naghi and others.
Dances are an important part of the
Azerbaijani national traditional music
alongside the traditional songs. The traditional dances are the basis of the Azerbaijani national instrumental music. The
dances were created by the people and
descended from generation to generation
expressing the feelings and characters of
the people. The most lyric and fine dances
such as ‘Vaghzaly”, “Uzundere”, “Nelbeki” and
“Ceyrani” were performed by the women.
Fervent feelings, quickness, rhythms and
spirits are characteristic for the dances
performed by the men, for example, “Gaytaghy”, “Jangi”, “Gazaghy”, “Khanchobani”,
“Gochali” and “Cutcu”.
There are collective dances among the
traditional dances and most of them are
related to the working process and popular ceremonies. The dance “Halay” is one of
such dances. The “Vaghzaly” is usually performed at wedding ceremonies. The “Yalli”,
which has ancient roots, is the most popular collective dance.
Mugham. Alongside the traditional
songs and dances, the genres of people’s
vocal professional traditions were also developed in Azerbaijani music and the most
important among those is mugham. It is a
peak of the Azerbaijani and the Near and
Middle East national music, and the best
creative example of the popular vocal instrumental composition with deep and
complicated content, ideas and emotional
meaning as well. Since ancient times, and
throughout the centuries, mugham was
developed, formed and improved. There
are 12 mughams in the classic Oriental music (Ushaq, Nava, Abusalik, Rast, Iraq, Isfahan, Zirafkend, Buzruk (Bozorg), Zangule, Rahavi, Hicaz), 24 divisions, 48 parts, 6 voices,
reng and tasnifs. Seven of the 12 mughams
remain in contemporary Azerbaijani music.
The epithet of mugham has two meanings.
The first one is the same as the term for fret.
The names of the main mughams are the
same as the names of the 7 frets, which
created the fret basis of Azerbaijani music
(Rast, Shur, Segah, Chahargah, Shushter,
Bayati-Shiraz, Humayun). The second one
means the musical work, which has multiple, very complicated and interesting, as
well as original, composition. This work is
based on only fret and develops according to the serious orders and rules of mugham. The singers and trio (tar, keman and
tambourine players) accompanied them,
or solo-instrumentalists brought different
changes and new colors to this mugham
throughout centuries depending on their
creative fantasy, skills and talent. The singers
perform mugham using lyric-philosophical
ghazals of famous poets: Khagani; Nizami;
Nasimi; Fuzuli; Vahid; and others.
Azerbaijani traditional music is based
on the above-mentioned seven main and
three additional frets (Shahnaz, Saranj and
second Chahargah).
The poetical and musical mejlis (assemblies) organized in the Azerbaijani cities
from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century played great role
National musical instruments
www.ocaz.eu
The music of Azerbaijan: sounds of antiquity
10
in the popularization of mugham performance and made it professional. The most
popular of them were “Mejlisi-Faramushan”,
“Mejlisi-Uns”, the Society of Musicians
in Shusha, “Beytus-Sefa”, and Mahmoud
Agha’s musical mejlis in Shamakhi, “Macma-ush-Shuara” in Baku, “Divani-Hikmet” in
Ganja, “Encuman-ush-Shuara” in Ordubad,
and “Fovcul-Fusaha” in Lankaran. Mejlis was
the main form of performance before an
audience, but in the beginning of the 20th
century it left the scene because a new
form of performance, concerts, started to
be organized at that time. Mejlis formed
an atmosphere of tasteful and intelligent
listeners, who were cultivated enough to
give full attention to mugham and the high
requirements of the performers. It gave an
impetus to the professional music of Azerbaijan in the 19-20th centuries.
Azerbaijani musicians for the first time
in the Muslim East gave performances on
a European tours and gained a unique
audience of mugham listeners with their
gramophone records. For the first time, the
English Gramophone Company recorded
the voice of famous singer Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu and other Azerbaijani musicians in 1906.
In the beginning of the 1930s, an oldfashioned view of mugham was formed
in Azerbaijani society and it continued
until the 1970s. This view was changed as
UNESCO started to organize symposiums
and festivals of traditional music (Moscow
1971, Alma-Ata 1973, Samarkand 1978,
1983), which had wide resonance in Soviet
society. These events sparked an interest
in traditional music and encouraged views
on it as a high professional art. Great work
has been done for the protection of Azerbaijani mugham music, its development
and popularization in recent years. UNESCO included Azerbaijani mugham in the
List of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity and called it a leading form of mugham among the mugham
genres of other peoples.
The art of ashugs. The art of ashug in
Azerbaijan is the logical result of centuries-
The monument was erected in 1999 in
Nakhchivan in the honour of 1300 anniversary
of Dede Gorgud epos
The ashug art is very large, manifold
and colorful. It contains ancient epic works,
songs praising freedom and the heroism of
the people, friendship and love, as well as
satiric and humoristic songs. This is a synthetic art in that the ashugs compose the
lyrics and music, and play the saz and sing.
The ashugs are accompanied by the players
on the balaban and an ensemble of wind
instruments. The main instrument of the
ashug is the saz. The saz is an ancient Azerbaijani string instrument. It has very nice
timbre and therefore it was always praised
by the poet. The most popular genre of
ashug art is the epic, particularly heroic-epic
pieces. The vocal-instrumental parts of the
epic replace poetic conversational pieces.
There is a famous epic about the national
hero Koroghlu, who fought against the
feudalists and foreign invaders. His heroism
is praised by the ashug songs such as “Koroghlu’s janghi”, “Rider Koroghlu” and others.
There are sorrowful (“Yaniq Kerem”, “Dilgami” and etc.) and lively (“Afshari”, “Sharili”,
“Misri” and etc.) songs in the ashug art.
The ashug art gained wide popularity in
the Gazakh, Tovuz and Shamakhi regions of
Azerbaijan, as well as in the historical Goycha
and Borchali regions. Gurbani (16th century),
Abbas Tufarganli, Sari Ashug (17th century),
Khasta Gasim, Ashug Valeh (18th century),
Ashug Ali, Ashug Alasgar (19th century) and
others are the outstanding ashugs of the
past. Ashug Huseyn Bozalganli, Ashug Mirza,
Ashug Shamshir, Ashug Kamandar, Ashug
Isfandiyar, Ashug Mikayil Azafli, Ashug Akbar
and others are among the followers of the
ashug art in the 20th century.
long development, which has deep historical roots. The representatives of this
art have been called ozan, uzan, varsaq,
dede, qam, ata and other names since ancient times. “Ashug” is from the word “eshq”,
which means “love”, or “love of art”. It was
created as a term in the 14th century. The
ashug art became popular among people
as a praise of people’s dreams and wishes.
The traditional classic ashug melodies are
based on bayati, gerayli, goshma, muhammas, divani, tacnis and other poetic forms.
The most popular poetic rhythm in the
ashug art is a syllabic measure. The oldest
written source dedicated to life, love, patriotism and heroism of
The saz is an ancient Azerbaijani string instrument.
the ancient ozans, who
were ancestors of modern Azerbaijani ashugs,
is the epic of the 7th
century “Kitabi-Dede
Gorgud”.
National musical instruments of Azerbaijan
Qobustan rock engravings (12th-6th millenniums BC)
The traditional musical instruments of
Azerbaijan, which have had a major role in the
performance and sound of the music, have an
ancient and rich history just like the music of
Azerbaijan. Musical instruments are the national wealth of Azerbaijan and most of them
were created in the ancient time and were
improved and saved until the present time.
Our ancestors played on “drum stone”, which is
saved among the 6000-year-old rock engravings in Gobustan. The engravings of different
musical instruments found during the archeological excavations show that the instruments
special edition
have an ancient history. The material cultural
examples, classic poetic works, letters and
miniatures of the musicians and painters of the
Middle Age, wall paintings and museum collections prove that nearly 100 musical instruments were used in Azerbaijan formerly. Some
of them left the scene later, but others were
improved and saved until the present time.
The Azerbaijani art of music, as part of the
Azerbaijani culture, followed a long path of development and is successfully progressing to
the present day. Today one of the main factors
Some of the Azerbaijani national musical instruments
The tar is a popular
Azerbaijani music instrument played with a plectrum. It was played in
Azerbaijan during the period of the development cinating sound, is played on the knees with a
of art and culture during metallic plectrum placed on the forefinger. It
the Middle Ages. This in- was popular in the Eastern countries, as well
strument was mentioned as in Azerbaijan once. At some stage, it disapin the poems of Nizami peared from the scene and then returned to
Ganjavi (12th century). In orchestras and ensembles in the 1950s.
the mid-19th century, Mirza Sadig (Sadigcan)
The Ud, with its
brought a novelty to the structure of tar. This solid and fascinating
novelty was welcomed in the Caucasus, Cen- sound and played
tral Asia and other countries as a fine and with an eagle feathfresh contribution to the world of music. The er, is also an ancient
tar had five strings and was played on the musical instrument.
knees, but Sadigcan (19th century) made it The names of Rusone-string and played it at the breast.
sian “lyutnya” (lute),
Earlier the kemanGerman “laot”, Italian
cha was a one-string
“luto”, Spanish “lado” also originated from allong-branch ancient
ud. Ud had four strings until the 10th century
musical
instrument,
and later a fifth string was added to it and all
but later three strings
of the strings were paired to make its sound
more were added to
louder. The Azerbaijani musician of the 13th
the kemancha. It has
century, Urmavi, gave details of the creation
four strings now. Nizaand characteristic features of the ud in his
mi Ganjavi mentioned
work “Kitabi-al-Advar” (The book of songs).
the kemancha in his
The Ud was brought to Sicily and Spain first,
works (12th century).
and then became popular in the whole of
The Azerbaijani musician, Safiaddin Urmavi, of Europe during the Middle Ages. It reached its
the 13th century, the famous composer and peak in the 17th
and 18th centuries, and then
musician, Abdulgadir Maraghai, of the 14th
lost its popularity and was replaced by the
century, and the outstanding Azerbaijani
violin and guitar. It maintained its popularity
poet, Mohammad Fuzuli, of the 16th century
in the Eastern countries only.
also described the kemancha in their works.
One of the
The
deoldest musical invelopment of
struments of Azeranother musibaijan is the zurcal instrument
na. It has at least a
played with a
three-millennium
plectrum, the
history. It is a wind
saz, was closely tied with the ashug art. This
instrument which
instrument was frequently mentioned by the
expresses the spirit and taste of the Azerbaiclassic poets and ashugs. At first, saz was a
jani people. The zurna was mentioned in the
two- or three-string with a little bowl. Later,
epos “Kitabi-Dede Gorgud” (7th century).
due to the development of ashug music, the
The Tutek (pipe) is also an ancient wind
saz was enlarged and the number of strings
instrument of Azerbaijan. It was used by shepand acts were increased. It has several types
such as tavar or large, middle and djure and
chest. There are 8-11 strings in tavar, 8-9 in
middle, 4-7 in djure saz.
The Qanun, which has a soft, fine and fas-
in the development of Azerbaijani music is the
great interest of young people in national music. As a result of recent festivals and contests, a
great interest in the Azerbaijani national culture
of music is observed not only in Azerbaijan, but
also outside the country.
11
herds at one time, and then became popular
among amateur musicians. It was played by
hundreds of professional muscians as well.
The tutek was made from reed, bone, wood,
porcelain and metal. As it was used by shepherds, it allows us to think that this instrument
was created 10-12 thousand years ago when
people farmed in Azerbaijan.
The Balaban
is a widely-known
wind instrument
in Azerbaijan. It
also has a long
history. The people call it the “flat
balaban”,
“balaThe famous Belgian musician and flutist Christian
Plouvier: “When arriving in a new country, I try to meet
local musicians and to listen to the national music. I will
try to perform mugham together with local musicians
in the concerts in Baku. It will be great test for me. I listened to some mugham compositions before coming
here and gathered information on the Internet. You
have very good mugham masters. Mugham is a special
kind of music and it is very appealing”.
www.apa.az
man” and “ney”. It is used now in weddings,
in the traditional orchestras and ensembles.
The balaban has a wide variety of uses. It can
play mughams, traditional music, dances and
instrumental pieces. It is widely used in the
ashug art as well. The balaban has a peculiar
fine and soft timbre.
The qaval
The naghara
The qosha naghara
The Qaval (tambourine), naghara (drum)
and qosha naghara (pair-drum) are the most
widely-known percussion instruments of our
period. These instruments also have a long
history.
www.ocaz.eu
© M.Hasanoglu
Baku Academy of Music
The building of the organ and chamber musical hall
of the Azerbaijan state Philharmonic.
Creative Group
Vali ALIBAYOV
Fuad BABAYEV
Gulshan BESHIROVA
Elnur HAJIYEV
Elchin JAFAROV
Khalid MAMMADOV
Muslum MAMMADOV
© M.Hasanoglu
Technical Support
Elviz ISMAILOV
Office of Communication
of Azerbaijan
200, Avenue Louise 1050,
Brussels, Belgium
office@ocaz.eu
www.ocaz.eu