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Laman Ismayilova

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The Ganja State Philharmonic Hall has hosted the closing ceremony of the musical parade in honour of the great Azerbaijani composer, People's Artist of the USSR Gara Garayev.

The event was held within the project "Cultural Heritage of the Nation" (Xalqın mədəni sərvəti), initiated by the Honoured Artist Ramil Gasimov to promote Azerbaijan's classical music in the districts as well as to convey national and spiritual values and folk music to modern youth, Azernews reports.

In his speech, Honoured Artist Ramil Gasimov stressed the importance of the musical parade in the country's cultural life. He expressed his gratitude to the event organisers and the project participants.

Co-organized by the Ganja State Philharmonic Hall and the Ganja-Dashkesan District Department of Culture with the support of the Culture Ministry, the concert program united talented youth from children's music schools named after Ashiq Shamshir, Goygol's Khagani village, Samukh's Garayeri village, Sarkar's village of Samukh district,the city of Delimammadli, Gizilagajli, Safikur, Borsunlu, Duzgishlaq and Hangervend villages as well as the Goranboy Art Centre.

Moreover, an exhibition of children's music and art schools was organised in the Ganja State Philharmonic Hall's Urban Centre.

The event was followed by a gala concert that featured Gara Garayev's music pieces.

Having synthesised Eastern and Western musical traditions, Garayev's music covers essentially all genres. At the age of eight, Garayev first entered the junior music school at the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire.

Thanks to his exceptional musical talents, the composer studied simultaneously in two faculties at the conservatoire. His music teachers were Georgi Sharoyev, Leonid Rudolf, and the prominent Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayli.

In 1952, under the direction of the choreographer P. A. Gusev, Garayev's "Seven Beauties" ballet was staged at the Azerbaijani Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Based on Nizami Ganjavi's famous poem, "Seven Beauties", it became the first Azerbaijani ballet and opened a new chapter in the history of classical music in Azerbaijan.

His ballet, "Path of Thunder", staged in 1958, was dedicated to racial conflicts in South Africa. In the same year, he wrote the score for the documentary film" A Story About the Oil Workers of the Caspian Sea", directed by Roman Karmen and set at the Oil Rocks.

Through his life, Garayev wrote nearly 110 musical pieces, including ballets, operas, symphonic and chamber pieces, solos for piano, cantatas, songs, and marches, and rose to prominence not only in Azerbaijan but also worldwide. He brilliantly juxtaposed features of mugham with jazz, blues, African music, European counterpoint styles, and developments related to 20th-century Western music, such as the 12-tone technique. Gara Garayev's masterpieces are performed all over the world.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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