Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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Baku Music Academy (BMA) has hosted an international scientific-practical conference themed "Dialogue of Eastern and Western Music Cultures" as part of the festival dedicated to Uzeyir Hajibayli's 140th anniversary, Azernews reports.

The conference was organised at a high level with the initiative of Narminə Guliyeva, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at Baku Music Academy, Honoured Teacher, PhD in Pedagogy, Professor, and Gulzar Mahmudova, Dean of the Department of History and Theory, Honoured Teacher, Doctor of Art Studies, Professor.

Scholars from Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Russia, the USA, Germany, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan participated in the conference.

The hybrid format of the conference allowed over 50 participants from various countries to join. Presentations were made in four languages: Azerbaijani, Turkish, Russian, and English.

The State Anthem was played at the opening of the conference.

The conference, moderated by Honoured Art Worker, PhD in Art Studies, Professor Zumrud Dadashzade, and Honoured Teacher, PhD in Art Studies, Professor Konul Nasirova, included presentations on various contemporary issues in music science.

BMA Rector, People's Artist of the USSR and Azerbaijan, State Prize laureate, Professor Farhad Badalbayli, congratulated the participants and highlighted Uzeyir Hajibayli's significant role in the development of Azerbaijan's music culture.

Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Professor Narmina Guliyeva, wished success to the conference participants.

The article collection titled "Uzeyir Hajibayli 140: A Lifetime in the Rhythm of War" and the "SABAH: Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow" journal, dedicated to the 140th anniversaries of Uzeyir Hajibayli and Muslim Magomayev, prepared by musicology students from Baku Music Academy's SABAH groups, were presented as part of the international conference.

Representatives from the Baku Music Academy, the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, the Kazakh Kurmangazy National Conservatory, the Uzbekistan State Conservatory, the M. Tursunzade Tajikistan State Institute of Culture and Art, the M. Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory, the S. Rakhmaninov Rostov State Conservatory, and the N. Zhiganov Kazan State Conservatory participated in the event and presented highly interesting and relevant topics.

At the end of the conference, all participants were awarded certificates.

Uzeyir Hajibayli significantly shaped national musical identity, achieving the distinction of composing the first opera in the Islamic world.

His opera "Leyli and Majnun" (1908) drew upon traditional folk music and dance, forms of expression transmitted orally.

Hajibayli's subsequent operas, including "Sheyh Sanan," "Rustam and Sohrab," "Asli and Karam," "Shah Abbas," "Khurshudbanu and Harun," and "Leyli," also prominently featured national folk music elements, particularly mugham.

Beyond opera, Hajibayli composed three comedies: "Husband and Wife" (1910), "If not this one, that one" (1911), and "Arshin Mal Alan" (1913).

"Arshin Mal Alan," or "The Cloth Peddler," stands out as one of his most beloved and enduring operettas.

This operetta has enjoyed widespread international success, with performances in numerous languages across over 60 countries, encompassing the U.S., Austria, France, China, Greece, India, Russia, and Turkiye.