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Music of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that reach back nearly 1,000 years.^[1] For centuries Azerbaijani music has evolved under the badge of monody, producing rhythmically diverse melodies.^[2] Azerbaijani music has a branchy mode system, where chromatisation of major and minor scales is of great importance.^[2] As is the case also with Arabic and Turkish and even more evidently, much of the musical terminology of Azerbaijani cultures is of Persian origin.^[3]

Mugam[link]

The classical music of Azerbaijan is called mugam (more accurately spelled muğam), and draws on the music of the Iranian-Arab-Turkish maqam.^[4] It is usually a suite with poetry and instrumental interludes. The sung poetry sometimes includes tahrir segments, which use a form of singing similar to yodelling. The poetry is typically about divine love and is most often linked to Sufi Islam.Mugam created in ancient Iran territory and developed in Azerbaijan republic and Iran Azerbaijan provinces since Safavid(The most branch of mugam which called by bayat(like bayat-e-kurd,bayate-shiraz, bayat-e-turk...)created by an Azerbaijani tradition(Bayat which have music talents)in different provinces of Iran like kurdisatn, shiraz, isfahan. The most of royal musicians in palaces of ancient Iran kings in provinces were Bayat and there is no relation between Persian and mugam because of different morality and life philosophy between Persians and ancient Iran traditions.

Azerbaijan has a wide range of music and music styles but the most popular is rap music. In 2011, Azerbaijan won the Eurovision song contest by rap. In contrast to the mugam traditions of Central Asian countries, Azeri mugam is more free-form and less rigid; it is often compared to the improvised field of rap.^{[5] [6]}

UNESCO proclaimed the Azerbaijani mugam tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 7, 2003.

Musical instruments[link]

Soviet postage stamp depicting musical instruments of Azerbaijan

Instruments used in traditional Azeri music include the stringed instruments tar (skin faced lute), the kamancha (skin faced spike fiddle), the oud, originally barbat, and the saz (long necked lute); the double-reed wind instrument balaban, the frame drum ghaval, the cylindrical double faced drum naghara (davul), and the goshe nagara (naqareh) (pair of small kettle drums). Other instruments include the garmon (small accordion), tutek (whistle flute), daf (frame drum) and nagara (drum) (barrel drum).

Ashiqs[link]

Ashiqs are traveling bards who sing and play the saz, a form of lute. Their songs are semi-improvised around a common base.

Opera in Azerbaijan[link]

	"Traditional Azerbaijan and Turkish music which played national musical instruments balaban (Azerbaijan) and ney (Turkey)" "Azerbaijani folk song - "Tops of the mountains of Shusha are covered by snow"" "Vokaliz""
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• Opera of "Leyli and Majnun" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov (first performed, 1908)
• Opera of "Rustam and Zohrab" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov
• Opera of "Asli and Karam" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov
• Opera of "Harun and Layla" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov
• Opera of "Shah Abbas and Khurshidbanu" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov (1912)
• Opera of "Firuze" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov (unfinished)
• Opera of Koroglu by Uzeyir Hajibeyov (first performed, 1938)
• Opera of "Shah Ismail" by Muslim Magomayev
• Opera of "Nargiz" by Muslim Magomayev
• Opera of "Xoruz-bey" by Muslim Magomayev
• Opera of "People's punishment" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Opera of "Golden Key" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Opera of "Bahadur and Sona" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Opera of "Aydın" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Opera of "Nizami" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Opera of "Ashig" Garib by Zulfugar Hajibeyov
• Opera of "Star" by Fikret Amirov
• Opera of "Sevil" by Fikret Amirov
• Opera of "Tenderness" by Gara Garayev
• Opera of "Motherland" by Gara Garayev and Jovdat Hajiyev
• Opera of "Azad" (Free) by Jahangir Jahangirov
• Opera of "The Fate of the Singer" by Jahangir Jahangirov
• Opera of "Expectation" by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
• Opera of "Iskander and Shepherd" by Soltan Hajibeyov (children's opera)
• Opera of "Bridal Rock" by Shafiga Akhundova (b, 1824) (the first opera written by an Azerbaijani woman composer
• Opera of "Seven Beauties" by Eldar Mansurov (rock-opera)

Ballet in Azerbaijan[link]

Scene from Ballet of "The Maiden Tower" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli

Scene from Ballet of "Leyli and Majnun" by Gara Garayev

Scene from Ballet of "Love and Death" by Polad Bulbuloglu

• Ballet of "The Maiden Tower" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Ballet of "Smiling man" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Ballet of "Garaja" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli
• Ballet of "Tarlan" by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli (children ballet)
• Ballet of "Seven Beauties" by Gara Garayev
• Ballet of "The Path of Thunder by Gara Garayev
• Ballet of "Leyli and Majnun" by Gara Garayev
• Ballet of "The Arabian Nights" by Fikret Amirov
• Ballet of "Nizami" by Fikret Amirov
• Ballet of "The Legend of Nasimi" by Fikret Amirov
• Ballet of "Caspian conquerors" by Fikret Amirov
• Ballet of "The Legend of Love" by Arif Malikov
• Ballet of "Stronger than Death" by Arif Malikov
• Ballet of "Twain" by Arif Malikov
• Ballet of "Poem of Two Hearts" by Arif Malikov
• Ballet of "Whites and blacks" by Khayyam Mirzezadeh
• Ballet of "Love and Death" by Polad Bulbuloglu

Azeri Musicians[link]

External videos
	AZERI Music
	Azeri classical music
	Genre Meyxana
	Azeri jazz: Vaqif Mustafa-Zadeh
	Azerbaijan opera Koroglu by Uzeir Hacibeyov
	Azeri symphonic rock Mugam
	Concert of Iranian Azeris
	Azerbaijani music 1990: Firangiz Rahimbekova
	Azeri pop group Karvan, early 1990s.

The most famous contemporary Azeri musicians are perhaps jazz singer Aziza Mustafa Zadeh and her father, Vagif Mustafa Zadeh, who are quite popular internationally in jazz circles.

Mugam singers:

• Jabbar Garyagdyoglu
• Kechachi oghlu Mahammad
• Seyid Shushinski
• Khan Shushinski
• Hajibaba Huseynov
• Agakhan Abdullayev
• Arif Babayev
• Rubaba Muradova
• Mansum Ibrahimov
• Alim Qasimov
• Zahid Guliyev
• Sakina Ismayilova

Popular music singers

• Bulbul (Murtuza Mammadov)
• Rashid Behbudov
• Muslim Magomayev
• Lutfiyar Imanov
• Brilliant Dadashova
• Sevda Alekperzadeh

Classic music singers

• Rashid Behbudov
• Novruz Mamedov
• Azer Zeynalov
• Flora Karimova
• Hasan Enami Olia

All time classics

• Zeynab Khanlarova
• Şövkət Ələkbərova

Composers:

• Uzeyir Hajibeyov
• Gara Garayev
• Fikret Amirov
• Ali Salimi
• Tofig Guliyev
• Soltan Hajibeyov
• Jahangir Jahangirov
• Rauf Hajiyev
• Emin Sabitoghlu
• Said Rustamov
• Arif Malikov
• Frangiz Alizadeh
• Eldar Mansurov
• Javanshir Guliyev
• Jovdat Hajiyev
• Rahman Asadollahi

International Azerbaijani musicians and bands

Kamancheh players

• Habil Aliyev
• Fakhraddin Dadashov
• Shafiga Eyvazova
• Arif Asadullayev
• Ismayil Hamidov
• Imamyar Hasanov
• Munis Sharifov
• Mirnazim Asadullayev
• Elshan Mansurov
• Gilman Salakhov
• Talat Bakikhanov
• Elman Badalov

Tar players

• Mirjavad Safarov
• Ramiz Guliyev
• Firuz Aliyev
• Mahmud Aliyev
• Bahram Mansurov
• Malik Mansurov
• Muhlid Muslumov
• Ahsan Dadashov
• Haji Mammadov
• Aga salim abdullayev

Balaban players

• Alihan Samedov

Oboe players

• Kamil Jalilov

Saz players

• Adalat Nasibov

References[link]

• Broughton, Simon and Sultanova, Razia. "Bards of the Golden Road". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 24–31. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-5
• Almaty or Bust

Notes[link]

External links[link]

	Azerbaijan portal
	Music portal

• BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Ashig troubadours, Mugham and the Kamancha. Accessed November 25, 2010.
• BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): The Saz and Mugham singer Alin Qasimov. Accessed November 25, 2010.
• Mp3-Az.com
• Azeri Music
• Azeri song lyrics

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2011)

Alihan Samedov (Azerbaijani: Əlixan Səmədov; Azerbaijani pronunciation: [æliˈxɑn sæmæˈdov]) (born in 1964 in Sumqayıt) is a musician known for playing wind instruments and Azerbaijan folk instruments.^[1]

Alihan Samedov was born in Sumqayıt, Azeri SSR in 1964. Descending from a musician family, he completed his first and secondary education between the years 1971 and 1979. He received his music education at the Samad Vurghun and Nariman Narimanov music school. In 1986 he entered the applied teaching school of Azerbaijan State Pedagogy University and graduated from the same in 1990. He is the master player of wind instruments (balaban, clarinet, tutek, zurna, oboe, saxophone) and Azerbaijan regional folk instruments. He is a chess master. He is currently teaching chess at Erenkoy First School and he is the Music Directors of Kadıköy Folklore Education Centre. Folk Dances Department of Eyuboglu Educational Institutions. Istanbul Caucasus Dance Company as well as the person in charge of Azerbaijani Music at Samanyolu TV's (STV) Music and Entertainment Programs. In his albums Samedov presents the instrument the balaban with his own interpretation. The album, titled Balaban, is released by Mega Music.

Artistic activities[link]

• 1988 Germany - Azerbaijan Cultural Festival
• 1990 Antalya - Golden Orange Festival
• 1991 France - National Lion Festival
• 1994 France - Amneville Folk Dances Festival
• 1994 Ankara - ITU TMDK Concerts
• 1995 Gaziantep - G.Antep Conservatory Festivities
• 1995 Istanbul - ITU TMDK Concerts
• 1996 Poland - Zakopane Folk Dances Festival
• 1997 Spain CIUDAD Folk Dances Festival
• 1998 Istanbul - Istanbul Culture Festival
• 1998 Poland - Olsztyn Folk Dances Festival
• 1999 Şırnak - OHAL Region Culture Festival
• 2000 Kırıkkale - 3rd Turkish World Festival
• 2001 Spain - CIUDAD Folk Dances Festival
• 2001 Singapore - Turkish week

Awards[link]

• 1993 Istanbul / Folk Dances -The Best Music
• 1996 Poland - The Best Music & The Best Musician
• 1997 The "Milliyet" Newspaper Special Awards

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alihan Samedov website

Alim Qasimov
Alim Gasimov
Background information
Born	1957
Origin	Shamakhi, Azerbaijan
Genres	Mugham, Ashiq
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Singing, Daf
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Farghana Qasimova

Alim Qasimov (born 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician, and one of the foremost mugam singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of the highest international accolades for music. His music is characterised by his vocal improvisation and represents a move away from the traditional style of mugham.^[1] Qasimov has recorded nine albums, three of which are mugham albums with his daughter, Ferghana Qasimova.

According to The New York Times, "Alim Qasimov is simply one of the greatest singers alive, with a searing spontaneity that conjures passion and devotion, contemplation and incantation."^[2]

He joined fellow Azerbaijani, Sabina Babayeva on stage at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku to sing back vocals for her entry, When the Music Dies.

Biography[link]

Formative years[link]

Born in 1957, Qasimov grew up in Nobur near Shamakha, Azerbaijan, a village 100 km north of the capital Baku.^[3][4] His family worked on a Soviet commune and Qasimov worked alongside his parents from a young age.^[5] He later reflected that growing up in poverty helped him to live modestly later in life and he never attempted to extricate himself from his peasant background.^[6] Qasimov's father was an occasional singer with a good voice but he was a humble man; he never pursued a professional career in singing.^[3] Qasimov on the other hand was a keen singer from a young age and his parents noticed his musical desire.^[5] Lacking the money to buy him an instrument, his father used a frame and a goat's stomach lining to make a crude drum for his son.^[3]

He began singing at religious events and his parents suggested that he study music at school.^[5] The form proved difficult for him at times: once, while performing in a local music contest at the age of fourteen, the audience —thinking he did not grasp the correct traditional style—laughed him off the stage.^[3] Despite various setbacks, his parents urged him to persist and he did, enrolling in the Musiki Mektebi state music school in Baku at 21-years-old.^[5][6] The course consisted of four years of study, specialising in vocal technique and mugham — the repertoire of classical Azerbaijani song. It was here that Qasimov honed his voice and his teachers were so impressed that they encouraged him to take the final exams two years early. He refused, stating that he still needed time to perfect his abilities.^[6] He had realised that music was no longer a pastime for him, but rather a necessity, saying his sole talent and desire was for music.^[3] Over the final years of his study he refined his vocal technique, easily passing the final exam, but he later reflected that he had placed too much emphasis on vocal perfection; he believed it was not until later that he fully understood the deeper content and emotion of mugham.^[6]

Professional career[link]

Qasimov began singing professionally while Azerbaijan was still under Soviet rule and the mugham form had not received support from the state. Performances were restricted and, whilst a few singers aimed to preserve the history of the traditional style, the ruling communist party largely regarded it as a local curiosity.^[6] However, Qasimov's growing popularity was accompanied by declining Soviet influence and in 1983 he won the national Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu Singing Competition.^[3][6]

As his career progressed he was recognised internationally, winning awards at the 1983 and 1987 UNESCO Symposia on Traditional and Modern Art of Central Asian ans Asian Countries. His tours were very well received in his both home country and abroad; as travel outside the Soviet Union was rare for citizens at the time, his tours and concerts garnered much press and many television announcements.^[6] As his career was blossoming, so was his personal life — Qasimov and his wife, Tamilla Aslanova, had their first child in 1980, Ferghana Qasimova, and later had two more children: a son, Gadir, and second daughter, Dilruba. Despite such changes, Qasimov's background continued to shape his personality and music, dismissing the foreign influences found in cities and television.^[4]

Over time, Qasimov's style had developed to include not only traditional Azerbaijani music and mugham, but also ashiq, a rural bardic tradition with roots in Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Azeri region of Iran.^[7] In addition, he was influenced by artists from other disciplines, placing particular importance on Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: "When I heard him in concert many doors were opened for me and many questions answered".^[6] His success was all the more impressive for he had broken from the traditional style of mugham and brought his own interpretation to the genre. He saw this as a way of showing mugham to a wider audience and making it relevant to contemporary society, saying: "The world in which we live changes daily. Music has to lend emotional expression to this vitality. I accommodate that by seeking out new paths and interpretations".^[6] Similarly he revolutionised the strict mugham instrumentation, introducing his own improvisation and including new sounds such as the double-reeded balaban (also known as a duduk), the clarinet and the nagara, a metal-bodied drum.^[3] Additionally, he remained conscious of the need to modernise when choosing his ensemble; mixing older, experienced players with younger, more dynamic musicians.^[6]

The 1990s saw Qasimov tour widely with concerts in Iran, Brazil, the United States and throughout Europe.^[3] His music gained more exposure in Europe and North America when a chance meeting with American musician Jeff Buckley at a classical music festival in France resulted in a collaboration. Buckley was a fan of Qasimov's music and they performed a duet of "What Will You Say" which featured on Buckley's Live à l'Olympia release.^[5] Buckley, an avid listener of Qawwali, was highly impressed with Qasimov's performance, noting: "he just came with his drum, and he sang, and it was so pure and effortless... That's what the voice is for".^[8] Qasimov was equally pleased with the collaboration, stating that his American counterpart "was very gifted and had a real feeling for Eastern people." The performance resulted in the introduction of Qasimov's music to a broader Western audience.^[5]

Revitalised by Azerbaijan's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union, the artistic importance of Azeri culture, including both Qasimov and mugham, began to be recognised internationally. Qasimov was named the "People's Artist of Azerbaijan" in 1993 and earned the highest honour in his field in 1999 when he won the International IMC-UNESCO Music Prize — an award given to high calibre musicians such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Ravi Shankar and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.^[6][9] Partly helped by Qasimov's extensive touring and promotion of mugham, UNESCO proclaimed the mugham of Azerbaijan a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2003, reassuring the preservation of a centuries-old classical tradition.^[10][11] Similarly, the preservation of Qasimov's own music was assured as he recorded and internationally released his music for the first time, beginning with Classical Mugham, a 1996 collaboration with the Mansurov brothers, and following with Azerbaijan: Art of the Mugham and Legendary Art of Mugham in 1998.^[12]

2000 to present: Introducing Ferghana[link]

	"Bagishla mani" noicon from Love's Deep Ocean Demonstrating the mugham style
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Qasimov's daughter, Ferghana Qasimova, had been informally practising with her father since the age of sixteen and was an avid student of mugham.^[3] By the age of twenty she had become a fully-fledged singer in her own right and Qasimov chose to introduce his daughter into his ensemble. Ferghana first appeared on 1997's The Legendary Art of Mugham on which the two shared the vocal tasks on the song Getme Getme. Their next album included a track, Bagishlamani, dedicated to his forebear; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.^[6] The release marked a high point for Qasimov as it was his first widely available release to western audiences and it proved a critical success.^[13] His aim to reconnect younger generations with mugham began to pay dividends; not only was he appealing to traditional Islamic sections of the Azerbaijani population, but also to more Americanised and modern audiences.^[5] The break through amongst the younger generations spurred him on: "Sometimes young people come up after a concert to thank me. That's like giving me wings. I feel so elated when I can awaken such feelings in people while they are still young; mugham is not an easy genre for young people to understand".^[3]

Qasimov recorded and released further works with The Art of Mugham in 1997 and Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan in 2007.^[12] He took the opportunity to perform in New York City in 2005 as part of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. The concert aimed to promote multi-cultural artistic exchange between eastern and western cultures and The New York Times regarded Qasimov's performance, alongside Malik Mansurov and Rauf Islamov, as the highlight of the event.^[14] He toured throughout Europe, now bringing Ferghana along with him, and was in demand to appear at spiritual music festivals in countries such as France and Egypt.^[4][15] Their performances were often critically acclaimed, regardless of the location. Remarking upon a performance in London as part of "Voices of Central Asia", Michael Church stated in The Independent that "initial shock turned to delight as we were drawn into his intimate, multicoloured world".^[16] The father and daughter duo paid dividends and, following their performance in Cairo in May 2008, Al-Ahram Weekly stressed the qualities of their powerful vocal unity and stage presence, describing Qasimov as "a master of mugham".^[4]

Their brand of mugham proved equally popular the following September, performing a collaboration with experimental classical group the Kronos Quartet. Band leader David Harrington was keen to work with the Azerbaijani for the Ramadan Nights Festival, saying: "I realised his voice was as unique as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's, or the tenor John McCormack's in Irish ballads, or Bessie Smith's in St Louis Blues. There's a special quality to that voice, a connection between it and his inner life...he is up there in the top five of all time [singers]".^[5][17] Despite initial problems involving the Kronos Quartet's arrangements and Qasimov's improvisation, the event received positive reviews. Robin Denselow of The Guardian opined that Qasimov "is certainly one of the most thrilling, unashamedly emotional performers on the planet, and the finest exponent of mugham".^[18]

Influence and legacy[link]

In 21 November 2009, he was included in a 500 most influential Muslims of world book.^[19][20][21] The Icelandic singer Björk complimented Qasimov, by naming him as her "favourite singer alive today".^[22][23] In 2010, Alim Qasimov was nominated for the United States National Public Radio's "50 great voices in recorded history" award. ^[24]

Discography[link]

Alim Gasimov on the semi-final allocation draw ceremony of Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Albums[link]

• Classical Mugham (3 January 1996)
• The Art of Mugham: Azerbaidjan (Live) (1 December 1997)
• The Mugham of Azerbaidjan (1 October 1999)
• Love's Deep Ocean (11 October 1999) with Ferghana Qasimova
• The Legendary Art of Mugham (15 October 1997) with Alim Qasimov Ensemble
• Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan (25 September 2007) with Ferghana Qasimova
• "Intimate dialogue" - Live at Morgenland Festival Osnabrück 2009 with Ferghana Qasimova

Singles[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Alim and Fergana Qasimov: The Master and his Pearl Interview with Qasimov in Al-Ahram Weekly

External links[link]

• Alim and Ferghana Qasimov performing live

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Üzeyir bəy Hacıbəyov
Also known as	Uzeyir Bey
Born	(1885-09-18)September 18, 1885
Origin	Agjabadi, Azerbaijan
Died	November 23, 1948(1948-11-23) (aged 63)
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Composer, conductor, publicist, playwright, teacher, translator
Years active	51 years
Website	www.hajibeyov.com

Photo of Uzeyir Hajibeyov's family (Uzeyir in top-left) in Shusha, 1915.

Uzeyir bey Abdul Huseyn oglu Hajibeyov (Azerbaijani: Üzeyir bəy Əbdülhüseyn oğlu Hacıbəyov / عزیر حاجی‌بیوو; Russian: Узеир Абдул-Гусейн оглы Гаджибеков; September 18, 1885, Agjabadi – November 23, 1948, Baku) was an Azerbaijani and Soviet composer, conductor, publicist, playwright, teacher, translator, and social figure from Azerbaijan. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani composed classical music and opera. Uzeyir Hajibeyov composed the music of the national anthem of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (which was re-adopted after Azerbaijan regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991). He also composed the anthem used by Azerbaijan during the Soviet period. He was the first Muslim^{[citation needed]} composer of an opera.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

Uzeyir Hajibeyov was born in Agjabadi in the Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, which is now part of Azerbaijan. His father, Abdul Huseyn Hajibeyov, was the secretary to Khurshidbanu Natavan for many years, and his mother, Shirin, grew up in the Natavan household.^[3] Growing up, Hajibeyov was strongly influenced by Natavan's work.^[4]

Shusha, often dubbed as the cradle of Azerbaijani music and culture, had a reputation for its musical heritage. The town was also referred to as "the Music Conservatory of the Caucasus" because of its many talented musicians and singers. And the fact that Hajibeyov grew up in Shusha explains how at 22, in 1908, with very little formal musical education, he was capable of writing a full-length opera.

Huseyngulu Sarabski as the first Majnun in the opera Leyli and Majnun (Baku, 1908).

Hajibeyov received his early education in a religious school (madrasah), where he perfected his Arabic and Persian. Later he studied at a two-year Russian-Azerbaijani school. Here, with the help of his favourite teacher Mirza Mehdi Hasanzadeh, he familiarized himself with the heritage of the famous classic writers of the East and the West. The richness of the musical performance tradition of Shusha greatly influenced the musical education of Uzeyir Hajibeyov. He would later reflect on his experiences: "The first musical education I got as a child in Shusha came from best singers and saz-players. At that time I sang mughams and tasnifs. The singers liked my voice. They would make me sing and taught me at the same time." Uzeyir Hajibeyov's first teacher was his uncle Agalar Aliverdibeyov, an excellent connoisseur of Azeri folk music. In 1897–1898, when Azerbaijani playwright Abdurrahim Hagverdiyev and singer Jabbar Garyagdyoglu staged the episode Majnun on Leyli's grave from Leyli and Majnun, 13-year old Uzeyir sang in the choir.^[5] From 1899 to 1904 Uzeyir Hajibeyov studied at the Gori Pedagogical Seminary. There, along with general education, he also acquired music. In this school Hajibeyov learned to play the violin, the violoncello and the brass instrument. After his graduation from the Pedagogical Seminary, Uzeyir Hajibeyov was appointed a teacher to the village of Hadrut in Upper Karabakh. Having worked there for a year, Hajibeyov permanently settled in Baku, where he carried on his career in teaching mathematics, geography, history, Azeri and Russian languages, and music. He wrote the Turkic-Russian and Russian-Turkic Dictionary of Political, Legal, Economic and Military Terms, Used in Press in 1907 and the textbook Arithmetic Problems in 1908, and had them published by the Orujov Brothers Publishing House in Baku.^[6]

Hajibeyov was no stranger to the tragic chaos of war; he lived through the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the fall of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan in 1920, and both World Wars. The political repercussions of these military conquests often manifested in other forms of chaos. For example between 1920 and 1940, the alphabet systems for writing Azeri were changed three times — from Arabic to Latin, and from Latin to Cyrillic^[7] — a process which greatly hindered and interrupted the educational and cultural process and may well have been one of the factors influencing Uzeyir Hajibeyov to present his ideas verbally on the musical stage.

Merging traditional and Western styles[link]

Uzeyir Hajibeyov with his wife

Throughout all the tumultuous change in Azerbaijan that took place between 1900 and 1940, one characteristic consistently reflects the character of Uzeyir Hajibeyov. He always searched for ways to merge and integrate the past with the present rather than to discard either form. Rather curiously, even files at the Gori Pedagogical Seminary have shown his persistence in holding on to his own roots even under pressure. On December 3, 1900, when he was 15, it is noted that "the student, Uzeyir Hajibeyov, was rebuked because he was talking in his native language." Conversely, when Russian-influenced musicians tried to ban traditional Azerbaijani instruments like the tar, zurna and kamancha, Hajibeyov and his colleagues pushed to incorporate them into the Western orchestra, thereby, giving them an even higher status and ultimately a chance to survive.

Musical contributions[link]

Uzeyir Hajibeyov's manuscript of Arshin Mal Alan, written in 1913.

In 1908, Hajibeyov wrote his first opera Leyli and Majnun Opera based on the tragic love story^[8] by the 15th century poet Fuzuli. This would be the first of 7 operas and 3 musical comedies that Hajibeyov would compose throughout his life. In Leyli and Majnun, the uniqueness of the traditional modal music of mugham was incorporated into a Western genre with the use of instruments indigenous to both traditions.

Hajibeyov's second opera Sheikh Sanan was written in 1909 in a form that was entirely opposite to the first. This time Hajibeyov employed a purely European style. Sheikh Sanan received raves as a musical composition, but the content was too progressive for the period. In this opera, Hajibeyov advocated that marriage should not be bound by nationality or religion - in essence, it was another form of integration. But this time, it backfired. The story line follows a religious sheikh on his way to Mecca who meets a very beautiful Georgian lady. To his horror, the lovely creature's father turns out to be a swineherd, caring for what, to him, was a forbidden animal. In the end, the sheikh denounces his religion to win the woman. It is said that when the opera was performed, many people were offended and walked out, leaving Hajibeyov with the realization that he had outpaced his generation too much this time. As a result, he made a drastic decision and burned the score. When asked by Ramazan Khalilov, his assistant, how he could do that, Hajibeyov replied: "I didn't destroy my opera. It's my own creation so it's always in my head." Khalilov said that Hajibeyov went on to use this same magnificent music 27 years later to create, Koroghlu, an opera that many acclaim to be his finest.^[9][10]

In contrast to Sheikh Sanan, Hajibeyov's operas Rustam and Sohrab (1910), Asli and Karam (1912), Shah Abbas and Khurshudbanu (1912), and Harun and Leyli (1915) were entirely based on Azeri folk music elements, primarily mugham.

In October 2006, the musical comedy Arshin Mal Alan ("The Cloth Peddler") by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, written in 1913, was announced to be performed on western stages for the first time.

A poster of "Arshin Mal Alan" at Femina theatre of Paris in 1925.

One of Hajibeyov's greatest legacies was bringing forward the idea of establishing a professional music school. Hence the Baku Academy of Music (known then as the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire), was founded in 1920 and named after Hajibeyov after his death. The school has trained Azerbaijan's finest composers such as Gara Garayev, Fikrat Amirov, Jovdat Hajiyev, Soltan Hajibeyov, Tofig Guliyev, and Vagif Mustafazade. His statue "sits" in front of this grand building that is still devoted to the synthesizing Eastern and Western musical traditions.

In 1931, Hajibeyov helped in establishing the Azeri Folk Instruments Orchestra affiliated with the Radio Committee. This orchestra performed European classical pieces, such as those by Mikhail Glinka, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Georges Bizet and others. Hajibeyov thus was the first musician to adapt the note system to traditional Azeri musical instruments.

In 1936, Hajibeyov assisted in founding of the Azerbaijani State Choir within the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Society. One of the most serious problems he faced was the mono-voiced repertoire of Azeri folk songs, which allowed harmonization distort style of the song and, on occasion, even alter the melody line when it changed modes. Hajibeyov resolved this problem by using contrapuntal polyphony and unison-doubling rather than four-part singing in the problematic sections.

Hajibeyov devoted much energy to the idea of integrating woman's role and status into the male-dominated world. The concept of women's emancipation runs through many of his works often in the form of comedy or satirization as in the case when he makes fun of the process of selecting marriage partners, a process hindered by the fact that women were still wearing veils until the 1920s when the Soviet regime prohibited them.

Publications[link]

From 1919 to 1920 Hajibeyov served as editor-in-chief for the newspaper Azerbaijan, the main governmental media body of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan.

In 1927, Hajibeyov published Collection of Azerbaijani Folk Songs along with composer Muslim Magomayev. For the first time, more than 300 pieces of Azeri folk music were documented by notation. In 1945, he published the book entitled The Basis of Folk Music in Azerbaijan, which has been translated into several languages including English.

Official honours[link]

Monument of Uzeyir Hajibeyov in front of Baku Academy of Music.

Commemorative stelae in Donaupark, Vienna.

Hajibeyov was the creator of the first operas and operettas in the Orient.^[11] In 1938, he was awarded with the title of People's Artist of the USSR. During the entire Soviet history, only three or four Azerbaijani musicians ever attained this level. He was also honored with the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Prize which he won twice, once in 1941 for the opera Koroghlu (1936), and the other time in 1946 for the 1945 film based on his opera Arshin Mal Alan.

Hajibeyov was a professor at the Baku Academy of Music (of which he was also head in 1928–1929 and 1939–1948) and Active Member of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. For the last 10 years of his life, he was Chairman of the Union of Azerbaijani Composers.

Hajibeyov joined the Communist Party in 1938.^[12] He served twice as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the highest legislative institution in the Union.

Hajibeyov died of diabetes at the age of 63, and was buried at the Alley of Honor in Baku.

On September 18, 1995 the 110th anniversary of Hajibeyov's birth has been celebrated. No one in the history of modern music in Azerbaijan is recognized for having done more to lay the foundation for Azerbaijani music as it exists today, especially with its unique synthesis of Eastern and Western traditional musical instruments and musical forms.

In 2008 the National Bank of Azerbaijan minted a 100 manat gold commemorative coin dedicated to Hajibeyov's memory.^[13]

In June 2011 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Serbia Tadic unveiled a monument of Hajibeyov on the Dunavski kej in Novi Sad, Serbia.^[14]

Samples of works[link]

Uzeyir Hajibeyov's romances for the lyrics by Nizami Ganjavi:

"Sensiz" (Without You)
Music: Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Lyrics: Nizami Ganjavi
Composed: 1941
Vocal: Bulbul
Language: Azerbaijani

"Sevgili Janan" (Beloved Sweetheart)
Music: Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Lyrics: Nizami Ganjavi
Composed: 1943
Vocal: Azer Zeynalov
Language: Azerbaijani

References[link]

External links[link]

	Azerbaijan portal
	Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Uzeyir Hajibeyov

• Web-site dedicated to Uzeyir Hajibeyov - HAJIBEYOV.com including librettos, articles by and about Hajibeyov and some audio recordings of his works
• Librettos in English and Azeri Latin of most of Hajibeyov's operas and musical comedies. HAJIBEYOV.com [1].
• Monument of Uzeyir Hajibeyov to be erected
• "Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin: The Baton and the Sickle" by Matt O'Brien in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 13:1 (Spring 2005), pp. 80-81.
• "Politically Correct Music: Stalin's Era and the Struggle of Azerbaijani Composers" by Aida Huseinova, in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 14:2 (Summer 2006), pp. 56-65.
• A short section of a stage production of the opera Köroğlu, YouTube: [2] (10 min 55 sec).
  The libretto of this part of opera is in Persian.
• A short section of Hajibeyov's celebrated social satire Mashadi Ibad: [3] (9 min 40 sec).
• Political and socio analysis of Mashadi Ibad by Abulfazl Bahadori, in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 6:4 (Winter 1998), pp. 22–23.