Uzeyir Hajibeyli — the man who reconciled East and West in one score
Staged in Baku in 1908, “Leyli and Majnun” was the first opera in the Muslim East. Its author also wrote the theory of mugham.
Composers
Tofig Guliyev — father of Azerbaijani jazz and popular song
The musicologist who notated mugham also wrote the country's most-sung popular songs.
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- Əkrəm Babayev
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Tofig Guliyev was born in 1917 in Bilgah, near Baku. His career shows how carefully the supposedly “light” side of Azerbaijani music was built.
Notating mugham
As a young man Guliyev worked with Zakir Bagirov on transcribing mughams into notation — the practical continuation of Uzeyir Hajibeyli's theoretical work.
Jazz and popular song
He was among the first organisers of jazz orchestras in Azerbaijan. His songs are part of the country's musical memory.
Their melodic shape comes from folk music and their harmony from jazz practice; that combination defined the sound of Azerbaijani popular song.
Film music
He scored dozens of films. Cinema became the main channel that carried his songs to the whole country.
Tofig Guliyev died in Baku in 2000.
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Muslim Magomayev — from “Shah Ismail” to “Nargiz”
Uzeyir Hajibeyli's lifelong friend and the second founder of Azerbaijani classical music. The State Philharmonic bears his name.
Zulfugar Hajibeyov — the founder of musical comedy
Uzeyir's elder brother and Niyazi's father — author of the opera “Ashiq Gharib” and a founder of the Musical Comedy Theatre.