Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The third International Mugham Festival featuring folk music that has ended in Azerbaijan will be embedded in people's memories as a one-of-a-kind music holiday.

The music extravaganza, titled "World of Mugham", had started with the grand opening in the capital Baku on March 9 and drew to a close on March 19.

The festival was organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Azerbaijan Composers Union. This traditional event takes place in March every two years.

Within the festival, concerts featuring Azerbaijani and foreign musicians were held in Baku and in the regions of the country. Moreover, an international mugham contest and The Space of Mugham international scientific symposium as well as master classes were held as part of the festival.

Ethno-jazz concerts by Azerbaijani performers presented a synthesis of Mugham and jazz at the Baku Jazz Center throughout the festival.

International and local musicians shared the stage during the festival.

Tunisian singer and composer, the winner of the Best Arab Singer Award, Lotfi Bouchnak, gave a concert called "Greetings from the Middle East", accompanied by a band of musicians playing national instruments.

Uzbek People's Artist, a symbol of Uzbekistan's musical art, Munojat Yulchieva, gave a concert called "Shashmakom", which astonished the public.

The mugham festival in Azerbaijan also included a mugham concert featuring the Beautiful Girls ensemble from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, as well as performances of musical ensemble Iragi Magama from Iraq and Azerbaijani mugham singers.

Performances of Moroccan Chabab Al Andalouss band, Iranian Homay and Mastan Ensemble, which performs traditional Persian music, and Indian musicians were emotionally intense and powerful.

Jeffrey Werbock, who gives lectures on Azerbaijani mugham at US universities, presented a program of instrumental solo improvisations based on traditional Azerbaijani mugham; Libyan group Turasu Libya Makam performed as well.

Azerbaijani mugham master Alim Gasimov and Egyptian Al Advar Ensemble gave a joint concert in the final days of the festival. Al Advar performed several Egyptian national songs, while Gasimov and his daughter Fargana performed Bayatı-Shiraz.

In addition to the concerts, "Thousand and one nights" and "Seven Beauties" ballets, "Leyli and Majnun" film-opera and "Asli and Karam" opera as well as a performance of world famous Spanish flamenco dancer Joaquin Cortes took place within the festival. Cortes presented a new grandiose dancing show, "Dicen de mi". In his dance he tried to combine flamenco and mugham.

Azerbaijani cities including Agjabedi, Lankaran, Gabala, Aghstafa, Ganja, Barda, Sumgayit, and the Gakh region hosted concerts as part of the festival.

The festival also featured performances of Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra, Folk Instruments Orchestra, State Chamber Orchestra, State Song and Dance Ensemble and State Choral Chapel.

The first such music festival was held in 2009 and the second one in 2011. The event is aimed at preserving and developing the art of mugham and discovering new talents.

Azerbaijani national folk music, mugham, presupposes vocal-instrumental varieties performed by a group of musicians consisting of a singer - khanende, playing percussion instrument gaval, and stringed musical instruments tar and kemancha.

Mugham began to enter world cultural heritage at the beginning of the last century.

UNESCO included "Azerbaijani music" record consisting of 50 albums into the collection "Anthology of the world's traditional music" in 1971. The records of Azerbaijan's mugham were released again by UNESCO in the series "Musical sources" in 1975.

In 2003, UNESCO recognized mugham as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.