Today is the day of remembrance of the brilliant composer Asaf Zeynally

Today is the day of remembrance of the brilliant composer Asaf Zeynally, whose name is associated with the first romances in the history of Azerbaijani music.

BAKU.WS reminds that the famous Azerbaijani composer and teacher Asaf Zeynally was born in 1909 in Derbent.

When he was seven years old, his mother enrolled him in Derbent's Realschule. Here he began singing in the children's choir and learned to play the clarinet. During those years, the Derbent brass band performed concerts in the city park on summer evenings. Asaf was also sometimes invited to play the clarinet as part of the orchestra.

When Asaf was 11 years old, his family moved to Baku. First, he learned to play the trumpet in the brass band at the military school, then studied "trumpet," "cello," and "piano" at the Baku Music Technical School. At the age of 14, he independently performed his own piece for trumpet at the technical school.

From 1923-1926, Asaf Zeynally graduated from the Baku Music Technical School, and in 1931 - from the Azerbaijan State Conservatory in Uzeyir Hajibeyov's composition class. From 1929-1931, he worked at the Turkish (Azerbaijani) Workers' Theater as head of the music section and chairman of the Union of Proletarian Musicians of Azerbaijan. Among his students were Gara Garayev and Tofig Guliyev.

Despite his short life (he lived only 23 years), Asaf Zeynally left an indelible mark on national musical art. He is the founder of national romance, piano, and symphonic music. His romances Ölkəm, Sərhədçi, Sual, Çadra, Seyran are pearls of our national vocal music. He is the author of the "Children's Suite" cycle for piano, pieces like Çahargah, Muğamsayağı for violin and piano, two fugues, "Fragments" for symphony orchestra, music for theatrical productions, and arrangements of folk songs. He did extensive work collecting, notating, and processing Azerbaijani musical folklore. He compiled the textbook "Elementary Music Notation."

Asaf Zeynally wrote music for dramatic performances such as "Sevil" and "Return" by Jafar Jabbarli, "City of Winds" by Vladimir Kirshon and others staged at the Turkish Workers' Theater. The "Children's Suite" written by the composer laid the foundation for children's music repertoire. Asaf Zeynally recorded about 70 Azerbaijani folk songs. The romance Ölkəm ("My Country"), written to lyrics by Jafar Jabbarli, is considered his most famous work.

Asaf Zeynally visited Karabakh to collect samples of Azerbaijani musical folklore and became seriously ill there. Having contracted typhus, the composer returned to Baku for treatment. While in the hospital, he wrote his last symphony on the wall of his room and asked his brother to transfer this work from the wall to paper. Unfortunately, no one fulfilled his last request.

Thus, Asaf Zeynally died on October 27, 1932, during the peak of his creative career. He was buried in the Chemberekend Cemetery, and later his grave was moved to the Qurd qapısı ("Wolf's Gate") Cemetery. Local media have repeatedly raised the issue of the neglected state of his grave.

Asaf Zeynally was engaged to musician Kevkeb Safaralieva. After Asaf Zeynally's untimely death, she never started a family with anyone else.

The Baku Music College and one of the capital's streets are named after the composer.