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 Uzeyir Hajibeyov
(1885-1948), - great Azerbaijanian composer, the founder of the Azeri classical music, national opera, national anthem, and many famous operas.
U.Hajibeyov was born in a noble family of a Shushavian in Agjabedi settlement not far from Shusha. After finishing primary school in Shusha, he went to the Gori seminary in Georgia, and later took private courses in Moscow Philharmonic Society and St.Petersburg Conservatoire.
January 12, 1908 marked a new era in the history of Azerbaijanian music. Uzeyir Hajibeyov completed and put on stage his "Leyli and Majnun" opera written based on the motives of a famous poem by Fuzuli, the great Azeri-Ottoman poet of XVI c. This event marked the birth of a unique Azeri opera and classical music in general. Thus, U.Hajibeyov who was only 23 years old at the time, made Azerbaijan the first Muslim nation to have its own national opera.
Enormous success inspired Hajibeyov to continue his works. Quickly afterwards he write the operas "Rustam and Sohrab", "Sheikh Sanan", "Asli and Kerem" (which was a love story of an Armenian girl Asli and Azeri man Kerem), "Shah Abbas and Khurshid Banu", "Harun and Leyla". U.Hajibeyov was also the person to first organize national opera troupes to stage his works.
U.Hajibeyov was also the founder of the musical comedy genre in Azerbaijan. He splendidly captured the way of life of the 19th century Azerbaijan in his musical comedies "Husband and Wife", "Not this one, then that one" (or "Meshadi Ibad"), "Arshin mal alan" etc., which became the immortal classics of the Azeri music. The musical comedy "Arshin mal alan" achieved world-wide glory, was translated into many languages and staged in theaters in London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Warsaw, Sofia, Teheran, Cairo, Beijing and many other cities of the world. In 1917, 1945 and 1956 movies were produced based on the motives of "Arshin mal alan" in Azerbaijan, and one movie was produced in 1937 in the USA. It is worthwhile to note that "Arshin mal alan" was also the first musical in the history of world music.
During 1932-1937 U.Hajibeyov wrote his most prominent opera "Koroglu", based on a Azeri-Turkic heroic epos of XVI c. As in all his works, Hajibeyov widely resorted to Azeri folk music when writing this opera.
U.Hajibeyov was not only a great composer, but also a talented playwright. He personally wrote all the librettos to his operas and musical comedies.
Hajibeyov has also significantly contributed to the development of modern musical education in Azerbaijan. He founded the first music school in Azerbaijan, which later served as a basis for creating the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. He also carried out significant research on Azerbaijanian folk music and along with his friend, composer Muslim Magomayev, published the first collection of Azeri folk songs.
U.Hajibeyov died in 1948 in Baku. The Azerbaijan State Conservatoire and the Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra, which he once headed are named after him.
Before Shusha's occupation in 1992 there was a home-museum of U.Hajibeyov and several monuments. After occupation the house-museum, where U.Hajibeyov used to live, and all his monuments were destroyed.
Several years ago Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan bought statues to Hajibeyov and several other famous Karabakh Azeris in a black market in Georgia. These monuments, which once decorated the central streets of Shusha were intended to be sold as a scarp metal. Nowadays these monuments are kept in the courtyard of the Azerbaijani Museum of Arts in Baku. Pocked by bullet holes, Natavan's monument stands as another mute witness to the casualties that have resulted in the war over Mountainous Karabakh.
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