Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

(which was re-adopted after Azerbaijan regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991). Hajibeyov also composed the anthem used by Azerbaijan during the Soviet period. He was the first composer of an opera in the Islamic world. He composed the first oriental opera '' Leyli and Majnun'' in 1908 and since then he is revered for adapting the written masterpiece to the theatre.

Early life

Uzeyir Hajibeyov was born in Aghjabadi, near

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, on 18 September 1885. His father, Abdulhuseyn bey Hajibeyli, was the secretary to

Khurshidbanu Natavan Khurshidbanu Natavan (; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyric poetry, lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in either Azerbaijani language, A ...

for many years, and his mother, Shirin, grew up in the Natavan household. Growing up, Hajibeyov was strongly influenced by Natavan's work.Naroditskaya, Inna (2000) "Azerbaijanian Female Musicians: Women's Voices Defying and Defining the Culture" ''Ethnomusicology'' 44(2): pp. 234-256, p.242

, often dubbed as the cradle of

i 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. Hajibeyov received his early education in a religious school (

madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning ...

), where he perfected his

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. Later he studied at a two-year Russian-Azerbaijani school. Here, with the help of his favorite 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 Hajibeyov. He would later reflect on his experiences: "The first musical education I got as a child in Shusha came from the best singers and saz-players. At that time I sang

mugham Mugham () or Mughamat () is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is an art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is a modal system. ...

s and tasnifs. The singers liked my voice. They would make me sing and teach me at the same time." Uzeyir Hajibeyov's first teacher was his uncle Aghalar Aliverdibeyov, an excellent connoisseur of Azeri folk music. In 1897–1898, when Azerbaijani playwright Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev and singer

Jabbar Garyaghdioglu Jabbar Garyagdioglu or Garyaghdyoglu ( pronounced ) (31 March 1861 – 20 April 1944) was an Azerbaijani folk singer (khananda). He is known as the first khananda to perform mughamats in the Azeri language. He mostly sang in Azerbaijani and Per ...

staged the episode ''Majnun on Leyli's grave'' from '' Leyli and Majnun'', 13-year-old Uzeyir sang in the choir. Students of Gori Teachers Seminary

From 1899 to 1904 Uzeyir Hajibeyov studied at the Gori Pedagogical Seminary, later to be known as the Transcaucasian Teachers Seminary. There, along with general education, he also acquired music. In this school, Hajibeyov learned to play the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, the

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

and the

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meani ...

. After his graduation from the Pedagogical Seminary, Uzeyir Hajibeyov was appointed a teacher to the village of

Hadrut Hadrut (, ) is a town in the Khojavend District of Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The town had an ethnic Armenian-majority population prior to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Numerous Armenian civilians were killed in and around H ...

in Upper Karabakh. Having worked there for a year, Hajibeyov permanently settled in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, where he carried on his career in teaching

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, Azerbaijani and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

languages, and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. 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

. Hajibeyov was no stranger to the tragic chaos of war; he lived through the Revolutions of

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

, the fall of the

Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democratic republic in the Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transitio ...

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 Azerbaijani were changed three times — from Arabic to Latin, and from Latin to Cyrillic — 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

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 3 December 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 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 b ...

zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...

and

kamancha The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (, , , ) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian traditional music, Persian, Azerbaijani music, Azerbaijani, Armenian music, Armenian, Kurdish music, Kurdish, Music of Georgia (country), ...

, 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. Hajibeyov had the opportunity to open music schools that combined various educational systems. In these schools, national cadres who could integrate into the world music culture were trained. The history and music theory of Azerbaijani music were researched, and education classes were written. Uzeyir Hajibeyov in the field of music education combined and created in Azerbaijan Western and East traditions.

Music

In 1908, Hajibeyov wrote his first opera, '' Leyli and Majnun'', based on the tragic love story by the 15th century poet

Fuzûlî Muhammad bin Suleyman (, ; 1483–1556), better known by his pen name Fuzuli (, ), was a 16th-century poet who composed works in his native Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani, as well as Persian language, Persian and Arabic. He is regarded as on ...

. This would be the first of 7

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s and 3 musical comedies that Hajibeyov would compose throughout his life. In ''Leyli and Majnun'', the uniqueness of the traditional modal music of

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 Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

on his way to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

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 The ''Epic of Koroghlu'' (; ; ; ) is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples, mainly the Oghuz Turks. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to music and played at sp ...

'', an opera that many acclaim to be his finest. In contrast to '' Sheikh Sanan'', Hajibeyov's operas '' Rustam and Sohrab'' (1910), ''Asli and Karam'' (1912), '' Shah Abbas and Khurshid Banu'' (1912), and ''Harun and Leyli'' (1915) were entirely based on Azerbaijani folk music elements, primarily

. In October 2006, the musical comedy '' Arshin Mal Alan'' ("The Cloth Peddler") by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, written in 1914, was announced to be performed on western stages for the first time. One of Hajibeyov's greatest legacies was bringing forward the idea of establishing a professional music school. Hence, the

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

(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 Tofig Alakbar oglu Guliyev (; 7 November 1917, Baku – 4 October 2000, Baku) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani composer, pianist, and conductor. Biography Tofig Guliyev was born in Baku, in the family of salary worker. He became a student of the Aze ...

, 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 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, links=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, mʲɪxɐˈil ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognit ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

and others. Hajibeyov thus was the first musician to adapt the note system to traditional Azerbaijani musical instruments. In 1936, Hajibeyov assisted in the 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 Azerbaijani folk songs, which allowed harmonization to distort style of the song and, on occasion, even alter the melody line when it changed modes. Hajibeyov resolved this problem by using

contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

and

unison Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

-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.

Operas

“Leyli and Majnun”

The opera art was established art not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the entire Muslim East by means of Hacibeyov's opera "Leyli and Majnun" which premiered on 12 January 1908, at the theatre of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. Hajibeyov wrote with his brother Jeyhun Hajibeyli this libretto of the opera based on a poem of the same name written by Fuzuli. The first performance was made by actor and director Huseyn Arablinski. The band-master was the writer-dramatist Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev. Huseynqulu Sarabski was in the role of “Majnun” and Abdurrahim Farajov in the role of “Leyli”.In next performances, Hajibeyov himself and his close friend and colleague, composer Muslim Magomayev, performed as band-master. This role was acted for the first time by Huseyinqulu Sarablinski. Then, these people - Sidghi Ruhulla, Khanlar Hakhverdiev, Aliovsat Sadigov, Shirzad Huseynov, Gulagha Mammadov, Mais Salmanov, Gulu Asgerov, Bakir Hashimov, Ali Mehdiyev, Arif Babayev, Baba Mirzaev, Janali Akbarov, Safa Gahramanov, Alim Gasimov and Mansum Ibrahimov performed in a role of Majnun at the next performance.

“Koroghlu”

“Koroghlu opera” premiered firstly on 30 April 1937, at the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theatre. This is the first classical opera that based on the motives of heroic epic in Azerbaijan. In this opera, Hajibeyov created arias, mass choral scenes, various ensembles, ballet numbers and recitatives. In the next years of his life, he worked on "Firuza" opera.

Musical comedies

“Husband and wife”

The first musical comedy of Hajibeyov is “Husband and wife” which consists of three scenes. This is the first example of Azerbaijani musical comedy. The first premiere of it was in 1910. H.Sarabski and A.Aghdamski performed in the roles of Marjan and Minnat. Hajibeyov wrote the sketch of the comedy himself.

“
If Not That One, Then This One ''If Not That One, Then This One'' (; ), also known as ''Mashadi Ibad'' (; ) is a 1910 Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani operetta in four acts written by composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. The comedy reflects social and everyday life relations in October Revolutio ...
”

After “Husband and wife” opera, he began to write the second operetta of him. The first premiere of it was at the theatre of Mailovs brothers in Baku in 1911. “Mən nə qədər qoca olsam da” song and “Uzundere” national folk music are sounded in this opera with some changes on it. Later, this opera was translated into various languages, performed in Caucasian countries, Turkey, Bulgaria and other countries.

"Arshin Mal Alan"

The first feature film based on “Arshin Mal Alan” Musical comedy was shot in 1916. This film was the silent film. For the next time it was screened at "Baku movie studio" in 1945 with some changes on it. The main role of the film belonged to Rashid Behbudov. This comedy again was screened in Baku, in 1965. The director of the film was Tofiq Taghizade and Fikrat Amirov performed as a music redactor. It was translated into many languages such as English, German, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Polish etc.

Publications

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

. 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 ''Principles of Azerbaijan Folk Music'', which has been translated into several languages including English in 1985 devoted to the centenary of his birth.

Legacy

In 2013,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

celebrated Hajibeyov's 128th Birthday with

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

on its Azerbaijani version.

Official honours

Hajibeyov was the creator of the first

s and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

s in the

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

. In 1938, he was awarded with the title of

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

. He was also honored with the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

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

(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 Composers Union of Azerbaijan. Hajibeyov joined the Communist Party in 1938. He served twice as a deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

, the highest legislative institution in the Union. Hajibeyov died of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

at the age of 63, and was buried at the Alley of Honor in Baku. On 18 September 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.Üzeyir Hacıbəyovun anadan olmasının 110 illik yubileyinin keçirilməsi haqqında Azərbaycan Respublikası Prezidentinin 1 sentyabr 1995-ci il tarixli Qərarı
— anl.az ''(in Azerbaijani)'' In 2008, the National Bank of Azerbaijan minted a 100 manat gold

commemorative coin A commemorative coin is a coin issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Some coins of this category serve as collector's items only, while most commemora ...

dedicated to Hajibeyov's memory. In June 2011 President of Azerbaijan

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

and President of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Tadic unveiled a monument of Hajibeyov on the Dunavski kej in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

, Serbia. On the occasion of the 130th birthday anniversary of the composer, Los Angeles Mayor

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to India, United States ambassador to India from 2023 to 2025. He was the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles f ...

proclaimed 18 September 2015 as the "Uzeyir Hajibeyli Memorial Day" in the City of Los Angeles and called on all residents to join this celebration. Also U.S. Congressman

Paul Gosar Paul Anthony Gosar ( ; born November 27, 1958) is an American politician and dentist who has represented in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023 and represented from 2013 to 2023. A Republican, he was elected in 2010 to represent the ...

from Arizona extended a Congressional Record recognizing Hajibeyov's achievements.

Uzeyir Music Day

18 September is celebrated as "Uzeyir Music Day" after national leader Heydar Aliyev's decree in 1995. Different events and celebrations are usually held on this day with participation of world-famous musicians.

Stage works

* '' Leyli and Majnun'', opera, 1908. * ''Sheikh Sanan'', opera, 1909. Destroyed by the composer. * '' Husband and Wife'', operetta, 1910. * ''O olmasın, bu olsun'' ("

If Not That One, Then This One ''If Not That One, Then This One'' (; ), also known as ''Mashadi Ibad'' (; ) is a 1910 Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani operetta in four acts written by composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. The comedy reflects social and everyday life relations in October Revolutio ...

"). Musical comedy (operetta) in four acts, 1910 * '' Rustam and Zohrab'', ''mugham opera'', 1910. * '' Asli and Kerem'', ''mugham opera'' in four acts and six scenes, 1912. * '' Shah Abbas and Khurshid Banu'', ''mugham opera'', 1912. * '' Arshin Mal Alan'' ("The Cloth Peddler"). Musical comedy (operetta), 1913. * '' Harun and Leyli'', ''mugham opera'', 1915 * ''

'' ("The Blind Man's Son"), opera. Written 1936, premiered 1937. * '' Chirpynirdi gara deniz'' (“The Black Sea raged”), song. Written 1918. * ''Yaxşı yol'' ("Farewell"), Soviet march.

References

Notes

Citation

External links

* * 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 Azerbaijani Latin of most of Hajibeyov's operas and musical comedies. HAJIBEYOV.com created by ''Azerbaijan International'

Monument of Uzeyir Hajibeyov to be erected

by Matt O'Brien in ''Azerbaijan International'', Vol. 13:1 (Spring 2005), pp. 80–81.

by Aida Huseinova, in ''Azerbaijan International'', Vol. 14:2 (Summer 2006), pp. 56–65. * A short section of a stage production of the opera ''Koroghlu'', YouTube

(10 min 55 sec).
The

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

of this part of opera is in

. * A short section of Hajibeyov's celebrated social satire ''Mashadi Ibad''

(9 min 40 sec).
Political and Socio Analysis of Mashadi Ibad
by Abulfazl Bahadori, i

''Azerbaijan International'', Vol. 6:4 (Winter 1998), pp. 22–23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hajibeyov, Uzeyir 1885 births 1948 deaths People from Aghjabadi District People from Elizavetpol Governorate Azerbaijani communists 20th-century Azerbaijani composers Azerbaijani conductors (music) Azerbaijani film score composers Azerbaijani music educators Azerbaijani musicologists Azerbaijani ethnomusicologists Azerbaijani choral conductors National anthem writers Azerbaijani opera composers Soviet opera composers People's Artistes of the Azerbaijan SSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet composers Soviet male composers Recipients of the Stalin Prize Soviet Azerbaijani people Azerbaijani Muslims Burials at Alley of Honor 19th-century Azerbaijani people 20th-century Azerbaijani educators 20th-century musicologists 20th-century conductors (music) Musicians from Shusha Writers from Shusha Honored Art Workers of the Azerbaijan SSR Transcaucasian Teachers Seminary alumni Muslims from the Russian Empire