Gavriel Aronovich Mullokandov ( uz, Гавриэл Муллоқандов, Gavriel Mulloqandov, russian: Гавриэль Аронович Муллокандов; 8 April 1900 – 6 February 1972) is widely regarded as the greatest
Bukharian Jewish singer and musician. He was the
People's Artist
People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the USS ...
of
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
.
Biography
Gavriel Mullokandov was born on 8 April 1900 in
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
to a family of music lovers. He got much of his musical training and experience from his older brothers and from the age of nine began to sing in synagogue. At the age of 11 Gavriel was already singing at weddings and concerts and the public loved him. From his childhood, he learned about the
shashmaqam music style and could play a number of
instruments
Instrument may refer to:
Science and technology
* Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft
* Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...
, including the
doira
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Persians, Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, ...
.
During the 1920s Gavriel worked with his brother Mikhael, who was also one of the greatest singers and musicians in Central Asia.
In 1925–26 they were joined by
Levi Bobokhanov, who once was a court musician of
Emir of Bukhara
The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land ...
. Bobokhanov was the tutor and mentor of the musician
Mikhael Tolmasov, who later performed with Mullokandov at the Bukharian Jewish theatre Tarbut.
In the 1930s Gavriel and Mikhael Mullokandov, together with other Bukharian activists, organized and received a commission to form the Bukharan Jewish Musical Drama Theater in Samarkand. In it, they were joined by outstanding Bukharian Jewish performers such as Aron Saidov, Murduhai Bachaev and Bahor Kandhorov. After 1934, the theatre performed in
Stalinabad
Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...
(present-day Dushanbe) where a small community of Bukharian Jews lived; some joined as new performers in the troupe. However, due to repressive policies and Stalinist purges, the theatre closed in 1940. The Bukharan Jewish Musical Drama Theater opened in Israel years later and continued performing musicals in the
Bukharian language.
In 1936 Gavriel and Mikhael became the first Bukharian Jews awarded the title of
People's Artist
People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the USS ...
of
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
. In the following years Gavriel was awarded with many other government awards. In 1940 he was elected to the
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
of Samarkand. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Mullokandov was among the artists of Bukharian Jewish Theater, who traveled around the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
performing in support of the war effort. Mullokandov was active in efforts to promote Bukharian Jewish culture. Songs that he sang and music that he played are saved in the archives of
Uzbek and
Tajik
Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to:
* Someone or something related to Tajikistan
* Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan
* Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan
* Tajik (surname)
* Tajik cu ...
radio and television. In the late 1960s, Mullokandov established the ensemble 'Shashmaqom' that included musicians from several musical dynastic families, including Tolmasov. The group was honored with the 'People's Ensemble' title in 1973 and invited to perform as part of an academic study on Uzbek folk music.
Political life
Mullokandov was elected to public office in Samarkand in 1940 and headed the Bukhara region's art department.
He had been elected to the
in 1938 and remained until 1946.
Personal life
Mullokandov had seven children, including Nison and Roshel Mullokandov who became performers of traditional Bukharian music and opera singing, respectively.
Mullokandov also promoted peaceful and friendly relations between
Uzbek and
Tajik people
Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to:
* Someone or something related to Tajikistan
* Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan
* Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan
* Tajik (surname)
* Tajik c ...
and Bukharian Jews. He was very respected by non-Jewish population. One of his best friends was the great Uzbek writer
Gafur Gulyam, who during the war wrote a poem called "Men – Yahudiy" or "I'm a Jew".
Mullokandov died on 6 February 1972. In 1976 the
Central Committee of Uzbekistan
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
renamed Eastern Street in Samarkand, where he was born and lived most of his life, in his honor.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullokandov, Gavriel
1900 births
1972 deaths
People from Samarkand
Bukharan Jews
Uzbekistani Jews
Soviet Jews
Uzbekistani musicians
20th-century Uzbekistani male singers
Soviet musicians
Soviet male singers