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
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.
- Published
- Author
- Əkrəm Babayev
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Zulfugar Hajibeyov was born in Shusha in 1884, one year before his brother Uzeyir. His name often sits in his brother's shadow, yet one of the most performed genres in the country today rests on the foundation he laid.
“Ashiq Gharib”
Completed in 1916, the opera “Ashiq Gharib” is based on the folk epic of the same name. It continues the mugham-opera tradition while bringing the rhythmic and melodic character of ashiq music into the score.
Musical comedy
With works such as “Married Yet Single”, “Young at Fifty” and “The Eleven-Year-Old Wife”, Zulfugar Hajibeyov created the repertoire of Azerbaijani musical comedy.
He was among the founders of the Azerbaijan State Musical Comedy Theatre, which is still active today.
One family, three generations
He was the father of the conductor and composer Niyazi. Between Uzeyir, Zulfugar, Jeyhun and Niyazi, a single family holds much of the founding period of Azerbaijani music.
The composer died in Baku in 1950.
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