Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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As part of the 7th World of Mugham International Music Festival, the ancient heart of Baku, Icherisheher has been transformed into a resonant labyrinth of sound during an extraordinary interactive performance titled "Muğam Saatı" (Mugham Hour), Azernews reports.

The event was supported by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Directed by Konstantin Soldatov (Russia), with music composed and directed by Azer Hajiasgarli and sound design by renowned sound artist Farhad Farzaliyev, "Mugham Hour" was far more than a performance, it was a living, breathing installation.

For one mesmerizing hour, more than 90 participants, each carrying portable Bluetooth speakers, slowly meandered through the storied streets of Icherisheher.

As they moved, ten distinct channels of mugham art, known as Azerbaijan's ancient and emotionally rich musical tradition, resonated throughout the city, weaving a multidimensional sonic tapestry.

The result was a hauntingly beautiful soundscape that brought the old city to life, echoing its past while re-imagining its present.

Inspired by the legendary "Mugham Hour" radio program aired on Azerbaijan State Radio during the 1950s and 60s, this performance sought to resurrect the elusive, omnipresent sound that once poured from every home, cafe, and street corner, a musical spirit that was both intimate and communal.

"Mugham Hour" defies categorization. It is neither a concert nor a conventional performance.

Instead, it is a choral breath of space, a symphony conducted by chance, with Icherisheher itself as the stage.

Through sound, movement, and spatial interaction, it invites participants and passersby alike to reconnect with Baku's cultural soul in a profoundly sensory way.

Being one of the oldest musical styles in the East, mugham music never ceases to amaze music enthusiasts around the globe, serving as a major element in uniting people.

The mugham contains seven main modes - Rast, Shur, Segah (are especially common), Shushtar, Bayaty-Shiraz, Chahargah, Humayun, and three collateral kinds - Shahnaz, Sarendj, and Chaargah in some other form.

UNESCO proclaimed Azerbaijani Mugham a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" (2008). The Mugham art entered the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008.

Azerbaijan's prominent composers used mugham in their music pieces. Fikrat Amirov pioneered the symphonic mugham genre with three symphonic mugams - "Shur", "Kurd-Ovshary" in 1948, and "Gulustan Bayati-Shiraz" in 1971. Uzeyir Hajibayli composed the opera "Leyli and Majnun" based on mugham.