Today is the birthday of the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov

Today marks the 141st anniversary of the birth of the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov.

As reported by BAKU.WS, U. Hajibeyov, who dedicated his entire life to the development of Azerbaijani music, is the founder of operatic art not only in Azerbaijan but throughout the entire Muslim East.

U. Hajibeyov was born in 1885 in Karabakh. The composer's childhood and adolescence were spent in one of the most beautiful corners of our country - the city of Shusha, whose cultural environment played an important role in his formation.

During his years of study at the Gori Teachers' Seminary, U. Hajibeyov became acquainted with the progressive ideas of Russian and world culture and art. There he mastered European classical music, learned to play the violin, cello, and wind instruments, and transcribed Azerbaijani folk songs into musical notation.

In the first years after completing his studies, U. Hajibeyov was engaged in teaching and journalism, prepared dictionaries in Russian and Turkic languages, and translated Nikolai Gogol's "The Overcoat" into Azerbaijani.

On January 12, 1908, U. Hajibeyov staged his first opera in Baku - "Leyli and Majnun," thereby laying the foundation for operatic art throughout the entire Muslim East. In 1911, he went to Moscow to obtain a systematic musical education. For one year, U. Hajibeyov studied at the music courses of the Moscow Philharmonic Society under A. Ilyinsky.

On April 30, 1937, the premiere of the opera "Koroghlu," which became the pinnacle of U. Hajibeyov's musical creativity, took place on the stage of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. In creating this work, which is rightfully considered one of the gems of Azerbaijani operatic art, the composer for the first time followed all the canons of classical opera, writing full arias, mass choral scenes, various ballet numbers, and recitatives.

U. Hajibeyov laid the foundation for the national school of composition and a new direction in the history of Azerbaijan's musical culture, leaving a deep mark on the history and culture of the Azerbaijani people. He deeply studied Azerbaijani music and demonstrated its rich and diverse aspects in his scientific works. In 1921, U. Hajibeyov established the first music school for local students in Baku - the Azerbaijan State Music School.

In 1927, together with Muslim Magomayev, he published the collection Azərbaycan türk el nəğmələri.

Uzeyir Hajibeyov was a People's Artist of the USSR (1938), a Stalin Prize laureate (1941), Chairman of the Union of Composers of Azerbaijan (1938-1948), Rector of the Azerbaijan State Conservatory, and an academician of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. He is also the author of the music for the anthems of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Azerbaijan SSR.

The birthday of the founder of modern professional musical art in Azerbaijan, U. Hajibeyov, is celebrated in our country as National Music Day. Since 2009, an International Music Festival dedicated to U. Hajibeyov has been held.