September 18 is a pivotal moment in the cultural agenda of Azerbaijan. It is also the birthday of Üzeyir Hacıbəyli (Uzeyir Hajibeyli; 1885-1948) the founder of modern professional Azerbaijani music, and is celebrated throughout the country as National Music Day (Milli Musiqi Günü).
In Azerbaijani culture he is always referred as the creator of the professional art of music in Azerbaijan, the composer of first opera in the East, musicologist-scientist, publicist, playwright, pedagogue and public figure.
He wrote his ground-breaking work Leyli and Majnun (Leyli-Magnun) based on the Azerbaijani poet Məhəmməd Füzuli’s poem. The work was performed for the first time in Baku at the Hacı Zeynalabdin Tağıyev Theatre on 12 (25) January 1908. Abdurrahim bəy Haqverdiyev was the first conductor, Hüseyn Ərəblinski the director, Hüseynqulu Sarabski was the role of Məcnun, and Abdurrahim Farajov was the Leyli. Leyli and Majnun is considered as the first opera in Azerbaijan and in the whole East and the first opera in the operatic tradition of the region.
Encouraged by this success, Hacıbəyli wrote other national operas such as Şeyx Sənan (1909), Rüstəm və Söhrab (1910), Şah Abbas və Xurşidbanu, Əsli və Kərəm (1912) and Harun və Leyla (1915). He was also the first to write musical comedy in Azerbaijan. Outside the stage, he transcribed over 300 popular songs and wrote cantatas, fantasias, songs, romances, chamber and choral works. He is the author of the anthems of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Soviet Azerbaijan and the modern Republic of Azerbaijan, among other things.
He is always presented as the founder of the national composers’ school and the person who brought Azerbaijani music to the world and expressed the soul of the people through musical language, by Azerbaijani cultural figures.
Hacıbəyli’s birthday was made a traditional cultural holiday by National Leader Heydər Əliyev. On 18th September, 1995, just before the composer’s 110th birthday, a decree was issued making 18th September National Music Day. Following this year, the day has been marked in various parts of the country with various events.
This day is also the scheduled opening day of the Üzeyir Hacıbəyli International Music Festival hosted by Heydər Əliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture. Since its inception in 2009, the festival has been a platform for concerts, performance, exhibitions, master classes in Baku, several cities and regions and foreign countries.
There are frequent ceremonies which start with visiting the tomb of Hacıbəyli in the First Alley of Honor (Fəxri Xiyaban) in Baku. Senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, leading artists and public personalities attend, making wreaths and giving speeches that highlight the composer’s long-lasting legacy.
Events take place around the country (at Azerbaijan National Conservatory, regional cultural centres, libraries and concert halls), and internationally. President İlham Əliyev has released special decrees regarding national and international programmes of high level in anniversary years, including the 140th, which will be in 2025. Hacıbəyli’s operas and operettas, such as Leyli and Majnun, Koroğlu and Arşın mal alan (The Cloth Peddler) are performed in concerts.
The festival and other programmes are still continuing to raise Azerbaijani music not only at home but also on the international stage, thereby continuing the tradition laid out by Hacıbəyli.
September 18 is a national cultural observance, since 1995 through the decree and an on-going programme of festivals, concerts and commemorations organised under the auspices of Heydər Əliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, Azerbaijan annually reaffirms the basic contribution of the Azerbaijani composer Üzeyir Hacıbəyli to its professional musical culture and to the musical heritage of the East in general. I have written this article today, this day is the living legacy of the national music tradition that Üzeyir Hacıbəy introduced over a hundred years ago.
Owner of “The Europe Today” and Patron-In-Chief/Owner of “The Gulf Observer”, Chairman “The Gulf Observer Research Forum”, Foreign Affairs Expert, Analyst, International Award Winning Author and Poet.
