Niyazi Zulfugar oghlu Taghizade Hajibeyov ( az, Niyazi Zülfüqar bəy oğlu Hacıbəyov) (1912–1984) was a prominent

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, ...

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

conductor, and composer of the renowned symphonic mugham "Rast".

Early life

Niyazi was born on August 20, 1912 in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

in a family of prominent Shusha musicians. His father was the composer

Zulfugar Hajibeyov Zulfugar Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Zülfüqar bəy Əbdülhüseyn bəy oğlu Hacıbəyov, 17 April 1884 – 30 September 1950) was an Azerbaijani composer and a member of a family noted for its musical talents. He was one o ...

. He is the nephew of Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the founder of the Azeri classical music. He was playing the violin in "Qırmızı Kadet" Turkish military orchestra in 1921. He studied at the Gnessin Music School in Moscow in 1925-1926. In 1929-30 he studied at the Central Musical Technical School in Leningrad (now

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

), but dropped out due to health problems. He returned to

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 ...

in 1931. Right after that he was sent to

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 ...

where he met his future wife Həchər khanum. Hecher Khanum's family would not approve of the marriage. So she and Niyazi decided to run away and secretly married. They lived a very difficult yet fulfilling life. The great love of his wife gave him strengths to produce most of his masterpieces, which contributed to

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 ...

's and the musical treasury of the rest of the world.

Works

Niyazi conducted many of the major symphony orchestras in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

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and Ulan-Bator and played an important role in making the Azeri classical music known to the world. Niyazi was also a talented composer. Building upon the traditions of Uzeyir Hajibeyov, he splendidly synthesized the traditional Azeri folk songs and mugam with western classical symphonic music. Niyazi's most significant works include the opera "

Khosrow and Shirin Khosrow and Shirin ( fa, خسرو و شیرین) is the title of a famous tragic romance by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), who also wrote Layla and Majnun. It tells a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love ...

" (1942), and the ballet "Chitra" (1960). His symphonic

mugam Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific ...

"Rast" achieved worldwide popularity and was included to the repertoire of many symphony orchestras around the world. Niyazi was the conductor and music director of the Azerbaijan State Symphony orchestra for 46 years, from 1938 to his death. He died on August 2, 1984. Niyazi was honored as the

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

(1959) and received the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(1951, 1952) and

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(1982).

References

External links

Listen to Niyazi
Music Section of Azerbaijan International {{Authority control 1912 births 1984 deaths Azerbaijani composers Soviet composers Soviet male composers Musicians from Tbilisi People's Artists of the Azerbaijan SSR People's Artists of Armenia People's Artists of the USSR Soviet Azerbaijani people Baku Academy of Music alumni 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century composers 20th-century male musicians Azerbaijani conductors (music) Ballet conductors Honored Art Workers of the Azerbaijan SSR