Vienna is one of the most beautiful and fascinating cities on the Danube. The center of the European Union remains one of the leading cultural centers of Europe today. In one of the central parks of Vienna, the Danube Park, is found a monument to the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeir Hajibekov. In 2007, in one of the theaters in Vienna, Austrian singers performed his operetta “Arshin Mal Alan”, which can be found on YouTube.
As a child I loved to watch the movie “Arshin Mal Alan.” This was my favorite movie of the generation of my parents and their friends. Of course, when you are three you do not suspect that music has authors and we were just happy to sing the cheerful words in the yard: “Pulum var? Var! Var!”
"Arshin Mal Alan" is the last and one of the most popular operettas of Uzeir Hajibekov, written in 1913 in St. Petersburg. The action takes place in Shusha, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, the ancient land of Azerbaijan, which is called the "Conservatory of the Caucasus". The premiere of the operetta took place in the Zeynalabdin Tagiev theater in 1918. Since then "Arshin Mal Alan" has been translated into over 75 languages and staged in 187 theaters in 76 countries: in 16 cities in Georgia, in 17 cities in Bulgaria, in 13 American states, in 17 cities in Poland, in 28 Russian cities, in eight Chinese cities, etc.
The music of this piece is full of light, sunshine and youthful enthusiasm. "Arshin Mal Alan" was composed by a 28-year-old musician, who believed in life and the future. This music conveys the breath, the excitement of the youth of the author himself, as well as his people, their belief in a bright future; it was crystallized in people’s souls. None of Azerbaijani works of art from that epoch was such a bright embodiment of faith in the future and hope for the 20th century as "Arshin Mal Alan."
It is worth highlighting the staging of the operetta "Arshin Mal Alan" at the Paris Theater Femina, which premiered on July 4, 1925. The brother of the composer, Ceyhun Beg Hajibeyli, who emigrated to France in 1920, translated the operetta into French.
... This summer, while I was visiting my mother in my native Baku, a classmate invited me to the renovated museum of the composer. The guide Tomilla Khanum, the keeper of the family history of Hajibekov, a historian by profession, has devoted more than 20 years to the study of the composer’s work. She described how in 1937 an American director of Armenian origin, Setrag Vartyan, staged “Arshin Mal Alan” for the third time in America in the Armenian language without mentioning the artist, and earned more than one million dollars. Uzeir Hajibekov heard about this and addressed his protest to Stalin personally. As a result, in 1945 the work of Hajibekov was filmed in Azerbaijan and the name of the author was mentioned. This very film, black and white, but with a soul, we all watched as children.
Initially the picture was not approved by the Soviet censors. However, Sergei Eisenstein disagreed with the opinion of the committee and showed the picture to Stalin, who approved it. Following the approval of Stalin, the film “Arshin Mal Alan” received the Stalin prize and was screened all over the USSR. The movie was shown in 136 countries and dubbed into 86 languages. "Arshin Mal Alan" entered the top 100 favorite movies of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union alone the movie was seen by more than 16 million people. The budget of the film was 5 million 807 thousand rubles, while the rental income exceeded that figure by 5 billion rubles.
Uzeir Hajibekov was born on 6 September 1885 in the settlement of Agdjabedi in Shusha province to a clerk family. His father was Abdul-Hussein Hajibekov, while his mother was Shirinbeyim Khanum from the Aliverdibekovy family. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Shusha, which was one of the largest centers of Azerbaijani culture, and stayed there. The father of the composer served for a long time as the personal secretary of the famous Azerbaijani poet and social activist, the daughter of the khan of Karabakh, Hurshidbanu Natavan, who had a huge impact on the upbringing of Uzeir Hajibekov. This relationship introduced the young Uzeir to the best musical community of the Majlis of Shusha. At an early age he took lessons in mugam singing and learned to play the folk music of Azerbaijan.
After graduating from the madrassa and the two-year Russian-Tatar school, from 1899 to 1904 Hajibekov studied at the seminary in Gori, where he learned to play the violin, cello and brass instruments. There he met the future composer Muslim Magomayev, the grandfather of the famous singer. Over the next four years he taught in schools of Gadruta and Baku. In 1905 he taught in Baku, firstly at the Bibi-Eybatskaya school and then at the “Saadat” school, where he taught Azerbaijani language, mathematics, geography, history and Russian language. At the same time he worked as a translator at the newspaper “Hayat,” then collaborated with the newspaper “Irshad.” In 1911 Hajibeyov went to Moscow for a professional musical education.
In 1909 Uzeir Hajibekov married Maleyka Khanum Teregulova, a descent of the noble Teregulov family well-known in Azerbaijan and Georgia. One of her six sisters was married to Muslimom Magomayev senior. After graduating, Hajibekov lived in Baku with his wife and mother, and took care of the five children of his sister; he did not have any children.
The work of Uzeir Hajibekov represented Western and Eastern musical styles, with elements of Azerbaijani folk music adapted to the classical European tradition. In 1908 Hajibekov composed his first Azerbaijani opera “Leyli and Majnun,” based on the eponymous poem of the Azerbaijani poet Fizuli.
Uzeir Hajibeyov was the founder of a new genre of vocal chamber music - romance-ghazal. In 1918 he composed music for the anthem of Azerbaijan, while the lyrics were written by poet Ahmad Javad. Today, there is a metal monument to the composer in his homeland. The monument represents the life-sized Uzeir Hajibekov playing the piano, with Ahmed Javad reciting the lyrics. Nowadays poetry readings take place next to the monument.
Before Hajibekov, Azerbaijan did not have its own professional composers or conservatory. Uzeir Hajibekov did not only fill this gap, but also initiated a number of reforms in Azerbaijani culture. He was the first Azerbaijani composer to invite women to perform in his operas.
Uzeir Hajibekov initiated the foundation of a higher musical educational establishment - the Azerbaijani State Conservatoire. He died in 1948. Nowadays the Azerbaijani State Conservatory, the State Symphony Orchestra and the Aghdam Music College, as well as one of the central streets of Baku, are named after him. There is also a musical award named after him. In Baku and Shusha there are museums of Uzeir Hajibekov and monuments to him in Vienna and Baku.
The birthdate of Uzeir Hajibekov, September 18, is celebrated in Azerbaijan as the Day of Azerbaijani music.
Gyulnara Wals. Exclusively for VK.
