Haji Dadash oglu Khanmammadov ( az, Hacı Xanməmmədov) (June 15, 1918,

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It is ...

– April 7, 2005,

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

) was an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

composer. He is best known for writing the first concertos for the Azeri stringed folk instruments

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

and

kamancheh The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) ( fa, کمانچه, az, kamança, hy, Քամանչա, ku, کەمانچە ,kemançe) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, and ...

Early life

Khanmammadov was born in

(present-day

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) and began studying tar at age 10. In 1932, the boy's life experienced a major change when his father and uncle were arrested during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

and permanently exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

on account of owning land. After Khanmammadov graduated from middle school, his mother, who was struggling to take care of six children, sent him to

to find

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Üzeyir bəy Əbdülhüseyn oğlu Hacıbəyov; russian: Узеир Абдул-Гусейн оглы Гаджибеков, translit=Uzeir Abdul-Guseyn ogly Gadzhibekov; September 18, 1885November 23, 19 ...

, an Azerbaijani composer known for his patronage of the arts. Indeed, Hajibeyov did provide lodging for the boy and, after being convinced of his musical abilities, the composer enrolled him in the Asaf Zeynally Music College. Khanmammadov would go on to develop into a fine artist.

Contributions

Khanmammadov composed his first song ''Gozal pari'' ("Beautiful Nymph") in 1942. In 1946 he was sent to

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

, then ruled by the

-backed

Azerbaijan People's Government The Azerbaijan People's Government ( az, آذربایجان میللی حکومتی - Azərbaycan Milli Hökuməti; fa, حکومت خودمختار آذربایجان) was a short-lived unrecognized secessionist state in northern Iran from Nov ...

to found a

philharmonic orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

but after the Soviets' withdrawal returned to Baku. In 1947, Khanmammadov was admitted to the

Azerbaijan State Conservatory The Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music (Azeri: ''Hacıbəyov adına Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası'') is a music school in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was established in 1920 in Baku and was previously known as the Hajibeyov Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. H ...

to study

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

taught by Hajibeyov and

Gara Garayev Gara Abulfaz oghlu Garayev ( az, Qara Əbülfəz oğlu Qarayev, russian: Кара́ Абульфа́зович Кара́ев (Kara Abulfazovich Karayev), February 5, 1918 – May 13, 1982), also spelled as Qara Qarayev or Kara Karayev, was a pr ...

respectively. He graduated in 1952. It was Garayev who challenged him to write a concerto for tar and symphonic orchestra for his graduation piece. Khanmammadov also wrote two successful musical comedies: ''Bir dagiga'' ("One Minute", 1961; lyrics by Maharram Alizadeh) about the life of oil workers; and ''Butun arlar yakhshidir'' ("All Husbands Are Good", 1971; lyrics by Alexander Khaldeyev in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

). He also composed about 150 vocal songs, many of which were written specifically for the plaintive voice of

Shovkat Alakbarova Shovkat Feyzulla qizi Alakbarova ( az, Şövkət Ələkbərova) (20 October 1922 in Baku – 7 February 1993 in Baku) was an Azerbaijani singer. Life and career development Shovkat Alakbarova was born to Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani paren ...

.Haji Khanmammadov: Composed the First Concerto for Tar and Symphony
by Matt O'Brien. ''Azerbaijan International''. Summer 2005, #13.2 In addition to his work as a composer, Khanmammadov was involved in administration as Director of the

Azerbaijan Musical Comedy Theatre Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country, transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Wester ...

in 1944–1948), Artistic Director of the

Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble The Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble was created in 1938 by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the founder of classic Azerbaijani music. Composers such as Said Rustamov, Jahangir Jahangirov, Vasif Adigozalov, Haji Khanmammadov, Telman Hajiyev and Ramiz M ...

in 1952–1954, and Director of the

Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society The Muslim Magomayev Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall ( az, Müslüm Maqomayev adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Akademik Filarmoniyası), located in Baku, is the main concert hall in Azerbaijan built in 1910. Since 2006 Murad Adigozalzade i ...

in 1966–1968.Haji Dadash oghlu Khanmammadov
. ''Eastbazar.info''

Recognition

Khanmammadov's contribution to Azerbaijani music was acknowledged on the State level with the following awards: Honorary Art Worker of Azerbaijan (1967),

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 Azerbaijan (1988), Professor of the Azerbaijan State Conservatory (1993), Order of Honor (1998), and the coveted Presidential monthly benefit since 2001. Khanmammadov was 87 when he died.

References

External links

Music by Haji Khanmammadov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khanmammadov, Haji Azerbaijani composers Azerbaijani people of Dagestani descent 1918 births 2005 deaths People's Artists of Azerbaijan Soviet composers Soviet male composers Soviet Azerbaijani people People from Derbent 20th-century male musicians Burials at II Alley of Honor