Baku to host concert of world's musical masterpieces
By Victoria Moiseyeva
The concert of Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra named after U.
Hajibeyli will take place in the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall
on December 19.
Musical compositions by famous Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg
and Russian-American composer Arthur Lourie will be performed under
the arrangement of honored artist Faraj Garayev.
State Symphonic Orchestra will perform Arnold Schoenberg's
"Expectation", Arthur Lourie's "Synthesis" and Faraj Garayev's
"Vingt ans après - nostalgie".
Arthur Lourie was completely self-taught as a musician. His
earliest known works, dating from 1908, are late Romantic in
style.
Moreover, he played an important role in the earliest stages of the
organization of Soviet music after the 1917 Revolution but later
went into exile. His music reflects his close connections with
contemporary writers and artists, and also his close relationship
with Igor Stravinsky.
In addition, Arnold Schoenberg was one of the founders of musical
Modernism and an incredibly influential figure from the early
twentieth century to at least twenty-five years after his death -
with Stravinsky, one of the two most influential composers of his
time.
Schoenberg was considered a leading light of the younger
generation, attracting the attention of people no less than Gustav
Mahler. He kept up a steady stream of composition, extending the
language of the day as well as striking out in new directions.
Concerning our national composer, Faraj Garayev is one of the
leading composers of the post Soviet era. The chronology of his
creative works resembles more the typical avant-guard cardiogram
than a classical gradual growth.
It is more important for Garayev to mark music and absurdity than
to demonstrate any compositional practice, technology or style. He
easily operates within any musical sign, style, technology or
image.
In the period of total rule of social realism in Soviet art, one
party dictatorship and censorship, Garayev wrote differently from
conventional music, and totally opposed to the accepted composing
tradition and practice.
To picture him as an ardent opponent to the Soviet system, a
radical oppositionist would be a bit of an exaggeration. But he
could always keep his integrity intact, saving his inner freedom
and right to artistic choice in any situation.