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>  
> 
> Autumn 1995 (3.3)
> Pages 76-77, 87
> 
>  
> 
> 110th Jubilee
> Composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov
> 
> by Anar and Ramazan Khalilov
> 
> Music - Azerbaijan National Hymn by Uzeyir Hajibeyov
> About Azerbaijan's National Anthem
> 
> Musical score plus Azerbaijani words for Azerbaijan's National Hymn are
> available in magazine
> 
> 
> 
> Above: Uzeyir Hajibeyov (left) with friends, Ramazan Khalilov (now 94 and
> current Director of the Museum of Hajiybeyo) and Suleyman Alaskarov (prominent
> composer who teaces at the Acadmey of Music). Hajibyeov died in 1948, Khalilov
> in 1948. Photo: Courtesy of Hajibeyov Musuem.
> 
> Uzeyir Hajibeyov (oo-ZEH-yir Ha-ji-BEH-yov) (1885-1948) is not very well known
> in the West although Azerbaijanis consider him one of their most brilliant and
> beloved composers. He has been compared with the giants of Soviet music
> including composers such as Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Kachaturian, Kabelevski
> and Jerinski. Some would even suggest that "he led the pack".
> 
> The city of Shusha used to be famous for its annual "Mugam Festivals" where
> the musical tradition of mugams was performed outdoors near the gigantic
> statue to the memory of Hajibeyov whose birthplace was near Shusha. Hajibeyov
> is remembered for his dedication in preserving this music that has been played
> in Azerbaijan for hundreds of years. He devoted his life to guarantee that the
> nuances of mugam music would not be lost to future generations. The last
> Shusha Festival, shown here, was in 1988. Because of the Conflict in the
> Karabakh region, Shusha has been occupied by Armenia forces since 1992 and all
> Azeris have fled. Azeris insist that they want Shusha back as it was their
> cultural center of music and art. In the meantime, the Mugam Festival is being
> organized in Shaki since November 1994. Photos: Fatali Fataliyev.
> 
> Hajibeyov was the first composer in the entire Soviet Union, not just in
> Azerbaijan, ever awarded the title, "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 medal of "Lenin's Order" and
> "Stalin's Prize" which he won twice, once for the opera, "Koroglu" (1937), and
> the other for the 1945 movie based on his opera, "Arshin Mal Alan" (For plot,
> see AI 2:3, 64).
> 
> 
> 
> September 18th, 1995, marks the 110th Anniversary of Hajibeyov's birth. 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.
> 
> Born in 1885, Uzeyir Hajibeyov's lifetime spans a period of incredible
> political chaos, upheaval and transition. His first 32 years were lived under
> the Russian czar, followed by two years under the independent fledgling
> Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. The remaining 28 years of his life were
> under Soviet authority until his untimely death in 1948, at the age of 63,
> when he died of complications aggravated by his diabetes.
> 
> Hajibeyov was no stranger to the tragic chaos of war; he lived through the
> Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the attack on Azerbaijan by Soviet troops in
> 1920, and both World Wars. The political repercussions of these military
> conquests were often manifest in other forms of chaos. For example between
> 1920 and 1930, the alphabet systems for writing Azeri were changed three times
> - from Arabic to Latin and Cyrillic - a process which greatly hindered and
> interrupted the educational and cultural process and may well have been one of
> the factors influencing him to present his ideas verbally on the musical
> stage. (See AI 1:3, September 1993)
> 
> The economic system underwent radical change under the Soviet system. Private
> wealth was confiscated and redistributed to the masses. Oil barons who had
> built mansions and palaces on the main streets of Baku at the turn of the
> century were often evicted, and sometimes even murdered, on their own
> premises, and their residences were converted into public institutions, quite
> often, museums.
> 
> The Great Compromiser
> But throughout all this tumultuous change, one characteristic consistently
> reflects the character of this great genius. Hajibeyov always searched for
> ways to merge and integrate the past with the present rather than to discard
> either form. He was the great compromiser. His mind was flexible enough to
> synthesize what others saw as irreconcilable viewpoints.
> 
> Rather curiously, even files at the boarding school where he attended
> secondary school (Gory Seminary in Georgia) 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."
> 
> Musical Laboratory - Shusha
> Much of Hajibeyov's early musical education was informal. It might be said
> that much of his musical instinct was acquired by osmosis, since he grew up
> totally surrounded by music. Born in the village of Agjabedi near Shusha,
> Uzeyir was the second child of Abdul Husein, a clerk and village writer, and
> his attractive wife, Shirin Khanum.
> 
> Shusha in those days had a reputation for its musical heritage and was often
> referred to as "the Music Conservatory of the Caucasus" because of its many
> talented musicians and singers.
> 
> Today, Shusha, located inside the Karabakh region has been occupied by
> Armenian military forces since 1992. Not a single Azerbaijani lives there
> (with the exception of those who might be held hostage) as all others have
> fled the region.
> 
> But 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. "Leyli and Majnun" a tragic love story by the poet Fizuli,
> would be the first of 7 operas and 3 musical comedies that he would compose.
> The uniqueness of the traditional modal music of "mugam" was incorporated into
> the Western genre of opera via the use of instruments indigenous to both
> traditions.
> 
> Traditional vs. European
> Hajibeyov's second opera in 1909 was written in a form entirely opposite to
> the first. This time he employed a purely European style. "Sheik Senal"
> received raves as a musical composition, but the content was too progressive
> for the period. 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 Sheik 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 sheik denies 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, "Koroglu", an opera that many acclaim to be his
> finest.
> 
> Emancipation for Women
> 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.
> 
> Intellectual Contributions
> In 1921, the composer wrote an essay on the issue of whether Azerbaijanis
> should spend time, effort, and money to learn European musical culture. "We
> won't succeed in educating our people musically if we conceal from them the
> creations of such geniuses such as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart."
> 
> Conversely, when Russian-influenced musicians tried to ban traditional
> Azerbaijani instruments like the tar, zurna and kamanche, Hajibeyov and his
> colleagues pushed to incorporate them into the Western orchestra, thereby,
> giving them an even higher status.
> 
> In 1927, he published "Collection of Azerbaijani Folk Songs" with the Composer
> Muslim Magomayev. It was the first time, many of the songs had been documented
> by notation. In 1931, he helped established the first "Note Orchestra for
> Traditional Folk Instruments" under the Radio Committee. This orchestra
> performed pieces by Glinka (a famous Russian orchestral composer), along with
> Mozart, Shubert, Bizet and others.
> 
> In 1936, he helped establish the first Azerbaijan Choral Group at the
> Philharmonia. One of the most serious problems he faced was that the
> repertoire of Azerbaijani folk songs were mono-voiced, thus harmonization
> could easily distort the folk song style 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
> these sections. But it's one more example of synthesizing the old with the
> new.
> 
> In 1945, he published "The Basis of Folk Music in Azerbaijan" which is even
> available in English today. One of Hajibeyov's greatest legacies was in
> helping establish a professional music school (now called the Music Academy)
> which has trained Azerbaijan's finest composers such as Gara Garayev, Fikrat
> Amirov, Jovdat Hajiyev, Soltan Hajibeyov, Tofig Guliyev and even Vagif
> Mustafazade, who combined mugam with jazz improvisations. The school is still
> the highest musical institution in Azerbaijan. His statue "sits" in front of
> this grand building that is still devoted to the synthesizing Eastern and
> Western musical traditions.
> 
> Anar is recognized as one of Azerbaijan's prominent writers and thinkers. In
> 1985, he wrote the screen play and directed a two-part documentary on the life
> of great composer to commemorate Hajibeyov's 100th Anniversary. Anar is
> President of the Azerbaijan Writer's Union.
> 
> Ramazan Khalilov, 94, was Hajibeyov's assistant. He is the individual most
> responsible for helping carry on the memory of Hajibeyov's legacy. Since 1974,
> he has been Director of the Hajibeyov Museum which was created in composer's
> home. Mr. Khalilov is still very active in the Museum and has detailed
> memories of his years working together.
> 
> From Azerbaijan International (3.3) Autumn 1995.
> © Azerbaijan International 1995. All rights reserved.
> 
> Back to Index AI 3.3 (Autumn 1995)
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