Karabakh Mugham School
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Following tradition Mehriban ALIYEVA UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President, Heydar Aliyev Foundation Karabakh Mugham School AccORDING TO A UNESCO DECISION, THE MUGHAM OF AZERBAIJAN has BEEN PROCLAIMED A MastERPIECE OF THE ORAL AND INtaNGIBLE HERitaGE OF HUMANITY. IN AZERBAIJAN PROPER, WHERE THE MUGHAM IS PERCEIVED as AN INTEGRAL paRT OF A SYstEM OF FUNDAMENtaL CUL- TURAL VALUES OF THE AZERBAIJANI PEOPLE, THIS DECISION IS VIEWED BOTH as A RECOGNITION OF THE MERits BY OUtstaNDING REPRESENta- TIVES OF THE GENRE AND as A DESIRE TO attRact THE attENTION OF THE WORLD’S CULTURAL COMMUNITY TO THIS UNIQUE HERitaGE. ossessing a centuries-long quirements harmoniously blend this art’s living tissue. The Mugham history, the Mugham reached with the possibility of improvisa- performers, as people initiated into Pits heyday in a period de- tion and creative development of a mystery, can demonstrate this ev- scribed by specialists as Eastern Re- the theme. ergreen tree of living music and po- naissance, when, on a foundation The unique Mugham culture etry through every performance. As of Greek-Roman heritage, the Azer- evolved on a rich philosophical, mu- a synthetic art, Mugham is based on baijani culture created masterpieces sical and literary foundation. Those classical Azerbaijani poetry which is in different spheres ranging from performing the Mugham are often full of allegories and symbols. Ae- literature to architecture. The subse- perceived by listeners as carriers of sopian is combined with a mystical quent development of the Mugham an archaic magical code passed on sense. The context of every poetic did not alter its essence and impor- from one generation to another. line, its real meaning opens only tance. The Mugham continues to This provides listeners with the op- to those knowing eastern philoso- be a cultural microcosm which, portunity to connect to the eternal phy, the language of symbols and on the one hand, is a heritage of truth and obtain peace of mind. circumlocutions, can decipher the the past and, on the other, a very No academic books are capable hidden implication of certain lines. modern art. Its strict canonic re- of communicating the nuances of From their early years, the Mugham 26 www.irs-az.com International music festival Khari Bulbul, Agdam, 1989 performers develop an infatuation accompaniment is widespread in Azerbaijan. Although this genre with the form of versification widely Azerbaijan. The bands performing is widespread throughout the used in the writing of ghazels. No the instrumental Mugham may have country, the centers that have Mugham performer will tell you a different composition, but they are given rise to separate schools of how many ghazels of different po- usually bigger than those meant for Mugham are Baku, Shemakha, ets he knows by heart, but when it is accompaniment only. Diverse and Ganja, Nakhchivan and Shusha. necessary to reflect on a subject, the rich as instrumental Mugham is, it is The so-called Karabakh School of relevant lines will be remembered. the solo performance that is consid- Mugham, which represents par- The Mugham was and still is an ered an apogee. It is in the solo per- ticular interest, developed main- inexhaustible source of inspiration formance that the listener can pick ly in Shusha. for Azerbaijani composers. The sym- up the Sufi mysticism of a “journey First records of the Azerbaijani phonic Mugham, created on the into the astral plane” which, accord- Mugham appeared in 1902. Sound basis of classical music, is performed ing to the connoisseurs of Mugham, recording of the Azerbaijani Mu- with tremendous success by or- forms the essence of such musical gham was pioneered by English chestras in many countries around meditation. “Gramophone”, German “Sport- the world. At the same time, the The Mugham singers are tradi- record” and French “Pate Records” Mugham is still a boundless source tionally called khanende in Azer- companies. In 1913, the companies of exploration and interpretation for baijan. Khanende usually sing to started establishing representative modern composers. Those knowing musical accompaniment. The band offices in Riga, Moscow, Warsaw, Pe- the Mugham well can “capture” it in of musicians playing the national in- tersburg, Kiev, Tbilisi and Baku. The different compositions which may struments may vary from a trio (tar, Azerbaijani Mugham was also re- initially appear to be quite far from kamancha and def) to a whole or- corded by Russian “Concert-record”, it. chestra. “Monarch-record”, “Extraphone”, The Mugham intended for both There are several recognized “Gramophone-record” and Hungar- solo performance and instrumental schools of Mugham singers in ian “Premier-record” companies. A www.irs-az.com 27 Following tradition Musical instruments workshop in Shusha number of valuable records were re- to a deep crisis of the Mugham as a Sakhavet Mamedov, Zahid Guliyev, leased in Soviet times by the Apre- genre. Soviet ideology viewed it as a Garakhan Behbudov, Mansum Ibra- levka and the Nogin sound produc- superannuated art alien to the pro- himov, Sabir Abdullayev, Fehruz tion factories. letariat. Even the tar, leading instru- Mamedov. Most of these records are stored ment of a Mugham performance, It is said that people should pre- at the Azerbaijan State Archive of could not avoid attacks. Despite pare for the birth of a great talent Audio Records. Some are kept at the being driven underground, the for centuries. By the time a talent is Azerbaijan State Museum of Musical Mugham managed to return to of- born, there must be lullabies he will Culture. Certain old records of Azer- ficial cultural life. But first high-class hear, fairy tales that will teach him baijani Mugham are also stored at studio records of Mugham masters how to distinguish the good from sound archives of the British library. from the Karabakh School were only the bad, and songs that will initiate A lot has been done in Azerbaijan made in the 1930-50s. These records him into the heritage of his ances- to restore old records. For instance, bear the voices of Khan Shushinskiy, tors. One thing is obvious – if people early 20th century records have been Zulfi Adigezalov, Seyid Shushinskiy, and the environment surrounding converted into a digital format. They Abulfat Aliyev, Mutallim Mutallimov, a talented person are not ready to had not been circulated before, were Yagub Mamedov, Islam Rzayev, Arif perceive him, he may end up not recorded in one copy and were not Babayev, Murshud Mamedov, Gadir realizing himself and remaining un- intended for dissemination. Rustamov, Suleyman Abdullayev. claimed. From this standpoint, Kara- The political cataclysms brought Finally, the third group of per- bakh khanende were lucky to be about by World War One, the break- formers earned recognition in the born in a place and at a time when up of the Russian empire and the es- late 20th century. It is represented by the environment was ready to em- tablishment of the Soviet Union led such khanende as Vahid Abdullayev, brace them. 28 www.irs-az.com Renowned Tar player Mirza Sadikh’s band Their birth in Karabakh largely from Karabakh for years. were preserved. The Karabakhname predetermined their fate. They were Most of Karabakh khanende were a living history reflected in born in a place where almost every- were born in Shusha. The Shusha everyday life, architectural monu- one could sing and appreciate good theme, its image of an unassailable ments, a reality in which historical voice and musical talent. Every na- fortress and spiritual citadel, a cul- truth of days bygone and the pres- tive of Karabakh, whether born in tural shrine of Azerbaijani people, ent harmoniously complemented the upper or lower parts of it, Shu- will always be the leading motif of each other. The history and nature sha or Agdam, was a connoisseur of their work. of these places generated one of the Mugham and who could sing Every native of Shusha knew its the main themes of the Karabakh any folk tune. history. But this knowledge wasn’t School of Mugham – Karabakh. The The Mugham is believed to gained only from chronicles. The well-known Mugham “Karabakh be molding human soul. In Kara- numerous “Stories of Karabakh” – shikestesi” was and still is a visiting bakh, this was an interlocking the Karabakhname – were not seen card of singers from Karabakh. process – the nature shaped souls only as handwritten tomes. They Shusha has given the world that were highly receptive to ev- were an integral part of their pres- a multitude of musicians many erything beautiful, including ent and past lives. Many historical of which chose the pen-name music. The beauty and harmony episodes described in them were al- of Shushinskiy entirely in keep- of these places are reflected in the ways retold, being passed from one ing with Russian poet Yesenin’s unique musical culture which had generation to another. Thus, even well-known phrase: “If not a been cultivated by all performers minute details of historical events poet, then not from Shiraz, if not www.irs-az.com 29 Following tradition Khan Shushinski’s band. From left to right: Khan Shushinski, Bahram Mansurov and Talat Bakikhanov a singer, then not from Shusha”. ess Natavan from Karabakh. here. It was named after a flower Shusha has given the world so many The pure and crystal clear springs growing in these mountains. What remarkable singers, composers and have earned Shusha a special repu- a constellation of young talents that musicians that they could make up tation. The best-known of them, Isa festival revealed! The occupation of an encyclopedia of performing art. Bulag, was seen by many as a sym- Shusha by Armenian aggressors in Shusha has always been right- bol of Shusha. The mountains, which 1992 turned all these rising stars of fully considered the musical con- seem to be pointed right into the Mugham into refugees.