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Fikret Amirov was born in Ganje in a family of a well-known Shushavian family. His father Meshedi Jamil Amirov was a famous "khanande" (mugam singer) and tar player.
Born in a family of a musician from Shusha F.Amirov grew up in an atmosphere of mugam and folk music. During his childhood and early adolescence, Fikret began composing pieces for the piano. After graduating from Ganje Music College, he entered Baku State Conservatory and studied under Uzeyir Hajibeyov.
When World War II broke out in 1941 Amirov, who was only 19 at the time, was drafted, and his studies at the Conservatory interrupted. Amirov was wounded near Voronezh and hospitalized. He was demobilized from the military service and returned to Baku to continue his studies at the Conservatory.
Amirov's music was strongly influenced by Azeri folk melodies. He created a new genre called symphonic mugam. Amirov's symphonic mugams were based on the classical folk pieces and were performed by many renowned symphony orchestras throughout the world, such as Houston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
Amirov was a prolific composer. His most famous pieces include symphonic works such as "Shur" (1946), "Kurd Afshari" (1949), "Azerbaijan Capriccio" (1961), "Gulustan Bayati-Shiraz" (1968), "The Legend of Nasimi" (1977), "To the Memory of the Heroes of the Great National War" (1944), "Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra" (1948) etc.
His ballets include "Nizami" (1947) and "1,001 Nights," (sometimes referred to as "The Arabian Nights") which premiered in 1979. Amirov wrote the opera "Sevil" in 1953.
He also wrote a number of pieces for the piano including "Ballad," "Ashug's Song," "Nocturne," "Humoreska," "Lyrical Dance," "Waltz," "Lullaby" and "Toccata." He also wrote numerous film scores.
Amirov was honored as People's Artist of the USSR (1965) and awarded the USSR State Prize (1949, 1980).
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