Vestnik Kavkaza continues acquainting readers with the music and musicians of the North Caucasus in the Musical Treasury section. This time, it will tell readers about a popular Azerbaijani song in Azerbaijan and Southern Azerbaijan (modern Iran). The song "Naz-Naz" performed by the Iranian band Rastak was written by Azerbaijani composer Vasif Adygezalov.
The poetic text of the song written in the bayaty folk genre reflects the merry, playful tone of a young man expressing love.
"Naz-Naz" is a female name meaning "coquette" in the Azerbaijani language. The song is dedicated to the loved one, a description of her fate. It is very provoking and optimistic.
The song is so popular can be heard on holidays, converts and weddings, being very rhythmic in nature. Azerbaijani singer Anatoly Ganiyev was the first to sing it in the 1970s.
The song has a very interesting history. It turns out that the composition no wedding can do without had a different purpose and the author was surprised at its popularity.
Vasif Adygezalov's son Yalchyn told Vestnik Kavkaza that the song had been written in a lyrical and jocose tone inspired by the surroundings of the author.
"It was the May of either 1975 or 1976. Sitting at the country house in Novkhany [a picturesque village near Baku], dad wrote the song in one night under the charming sounds of nature, inspiration from colourful poppies and the beauty of early spring. No one expected it to achieve such amazing success because it had been written in a jocose rhythm, not suitable for dancing. So no one thought it would become so popular, not to mention becoming an indispensable part of wedding repertoires, Yalchyn Adygezalzadeh said.
The four-line bayaty typical in Azerbaijani folklore is a form of the poetic text. No wonder the song so loved in Azerbaijan spread throughout Iran, where three times more Azerbaijanis live. It manifests strong feelings, sincere love and deeds one would do for the loved one. Moreover, rast is the mode of the song. Another characteristic part is the segyakh turn. The Rastak band of Iran has native Azerbaijani members, adding a special tint to the song. The song of Vasif Adygezalov, so popular in public, is often confused with folk art. The Iranian segment tags the song as folk, often interpreting the name as Gel-gel (Come-come to me). This is most likely because of the chorus. The true glory of a favourite composer comes when a song achieves folk status. The same happened with "Naz-Naz."
"It is a big merit for the talent of any composer, high credit for art. If a composer's song is conceived as a folk song, it is the greatest joy a composer can have. This means that his art is close to people, meaning that it is perceived by people. I think that if my father were alive, he would have been happy to hear that his song was so highly praised in Iran and perceived as a folk song, the composer's son said.
Jamilya Gasanova, a professor of the Baku Music Academy, expressed a similar opinion. "There are many such cases. Members of the Rastak band were most likely interpreting it as a folk song as we, unable to understand that it had an author, as we can see in videos on of the ensemble on the Internet where the song is labeled as an example of Azerbaijani folk music. It is additional prove that the song is popular and wide-spread, it lives in people's memories," the professor told Vestnik Kavkaza.
The Rastak ensemble, more known as a group performing ethnic music of Iranian peoples, was formed in Tehran in 1997 to popularize the music. The band often performs sons in different languages. They sing in Persian, Azerbaijani, Arabic, Kurdish and other languages.
Since forming, the ensemble has been trying to collect, put down and interpret the traditional folk music of the Iranian peoples for world listeners, combining culture and history, using traditional music instruments and modern rhythms. No wonder the song "Naz-Naz" uses the national Azerbaijani instruments the tar and the saz.
Members of the Rastak ensemble graduated from the best Iranian universities and did intense research into the folk music of the Iranian peoples. The group achieved world recognition in late 1998 when Rastak made their debut at a festival in the UAE.
Composer Vasif Adygezalov made a big contribution to the development of Azerbaijani art. He is the author of four symphonies, five musical comedies, six instrumental concerts, four oratorios, three cantatas, chamber instrumental music, theater and cinema music, sentimental songs. The composer paid special attention to elements of traditional Azerbaijani ashug music, mugham, folk pieces, folk dances.
The composer passed away 8 years ago, but his works live in the hearts of people. It is worth noting that the Adygezalov family maintains the glorious traditions of the great composer. The composer's son, Azerbaijani People's Artist Professor Yalchyn Adygezalzadeh, has become a world-renowned conductor, glorifying Azerbaijani culture all over the world.
Listen to the song in our video "Naz-Naz" by Rastak
