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Laman Ismayilova

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Every September 18, music takes on a special meaning in Azerbaijan. Concert halls fill, orchestras take the stage, opera houses return to familiar works and musicians across the country mark a date that has become inseparable from the history of Azerbaijani music.

September 18 is celebrated as National Music Day in Azerbaijan in honour of Uzeyir Hajibayli, whose work laid the foundations of the country's professional musical tradition.

Uzeyir Hajibayli was born on September 18, 1885, in Shusha. This year marks the 141st anniversary of his birth. Since 1995, September 18 has been celebrated as National Music Day in Azerbaijan on the initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

The choice of date says much about Hajibayli's place in the country's cultural history. His name is tied to Azerbaijan's first opera, its early musical comedy tradition, the development of national composition and the study of folk music. The composer's work brought together two musical worlds that had long existed side by side: the oral traditions of mugham and folk song, and the formal language of European classical music.

The story of Azerbaijani professional musical theatre is closely connected with one evening in Baku in 1908.

On January 12 (25), 1908, Hajibayli's "Leyli and Majnun" was staged at Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev's theatre. Based on the famous poem by Muhammad Fuzuli, the opera became the first opera not only in Azerbaijan but in the Muslim East. It also laid the foundation for the mugham-opera genre.

After "Leyli and Majnun", Hajibeyli continued to write operas including "Sheikh Sanan", "Rustam and Sohrab", "Shah Abbas and Khurshidbanu", "Asli and Karam" and "Harun and Leyla".

His musical comedies reached an even wider audience. "Husband and Wife", "If Not That One, Then This One" and "The Cloth Peddler" became enduring works of Azerbaijani theatre. "The Cloth Peddler", first staged in 1913, later travelled far beyond Azerbaijan and was translated into numerous languages.

Then came "Koroghlu", widely regarded as the peak of Uzeyir Hajibayli's compositional career. The opera combined the traditions he had spent years developing with the scale and dramatic force of classical opera.

The composer's contribution did not stop at the theatre. He collected and notated more than 300 Azerbaijani folk songs and wrote works in a wide range of forms, including songs, romances, cantatas, fantasies, chamber and choral compositions.

Uzeyir Hajibayli was also a music scholar, writer, journalist, teacher and public figure. His 1945 study "The Foundations of Azerbaijani Folk Music" remains an important part of the country's musicological heritage.

His influence can also be heard in one of the most recognisable pieces of music in Azerbaijan: the national anthem. The music of the Azerbaijani anthem was written by Uzeyir Hajibayli, with lyrics by poet Ahmad Javad.

This is one reason September 18 feels different from an ordinary anniversary. The composer being remembered is present in the country's public life not only through concert programmes and archives, but through music heard at official ceremonies and national occasions.

Hajibayli's story is also inseparable from Shusha, a city whose musical traditions produced generations of singers, instrumentalists and composers. Today, National Music Day events extend well beyond Baku, reaching cities and regions across the country.

The 18th Uzeyir Hajibayli International Music Festival, organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, will run from September 18 to 30 this year. Its 2026 programme includes concerts, theatre performances, exhibitions and other cultural events in Baku, Agjabadi, Ganja, Shusha, Lachin, Aghdam and Lankaran.

In Shusha, a concert will be held in front of Hajibayli's house museum. Musicians from Karabakh University, the Cadenza Orchestra, a student choir and soloists will perform works including excerpts from "Koroghlu", "Leyli and Majnun" and "Arshin Mal Alan", alongside works by other Azerbaijani composers.

The festival will open at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall with a performance by the Uzeyir Hajibayli Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra under conductor Fuad Ibrahimov. Violinist Sandor Laszlo from Hungary, as well as Azerbaijani musicians Nijat Salmanov and Alim Sadikhov, will appear as soloists.

The programme will also extend beyond Azerbaijan. Concerts and other events are scheduled in Turkiye, Uzbekistan and Germany, while Ankara will host a concert dedicated to Hajibayli's memory featuring Azerbaijani and Turkish opera performers.

The 2026 festival will also mark the first Congress of Composers of the Turkic World. The September 19 programme will include the founding meeting of the Turkic Union of Composers, a chamber music concert and other events.

Other festival highlights include the "Royals' Presentation" concert in Lachin, a performance of "Koroghlu" at the Heydar Aliyev Palace, "The Cloth Peddler" at the Lankaran State Drama Theatre and an "Orient Express - From Vienna to Baku" concert featuring the Estrada-Symphony Orchestra under Austrian conductor Markus Geiselhart.

The festival will close on September 30 at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall with a concert by the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra conducted by People's Artist Yalchin Adigozalov. Georgian violinist Elisso Gogibedaschwill will perform as soloist.