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Azerbaijan mugham music makes revival

14 February 2010 01:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Once threatened with extinction, Azerbaijan’s most ancient form of music is enjoying a renaissance. Mugham - a unique genre blending throaty song with a special trio of instruments - is being revived by the government through a series of festivals and school activities, APA reports citing BBC.

According to BBC’s Tom Esslemont, mugham is part of Azerbaijan’s rich culture. The country sits on the crossroads between Iran and the Caucasus mountains at the confluence of the Islamic world and Christendom.

The genre itself has roots in prayer and lullaby and is passed on from mother to baby in this way. But there are hundreds of varieties. Some songs sound more like war chant. Other mugham songs use the lyrics of famous Azeri literary figures like the 12th Century poet, Nizami Ganjavi.

"In the beginning mugham consisted of four voices - a singer and the three instruments. Now it has been expanded," explains expert Chabrayil Abasaliyev.
"Now orchestras even play it. Then there came jazz mugham. It went down very well."
Veteran performer Vagif Mustafazadeh, who died in 1979, is credited with fusing jazz with mugham. These days his daughter, Aziza, has kept the tradition alive through regular performances in Azerbaijan and in Europe.

Azeris are proud of the fact that a genre as enchanting as mugham is theirs - even if it has been associated with other similar genres in modern day Iran, for example.
They are equally proud that, since 2003, mugham has held a special Unesco status.
It is now an "intangible part of the world’s cultural heritage" - basically, the equivalent of a world heritage site.

Within the last year, much has been done to modernise mugham and to ensure it remains at the heart of Azeri culture. The government has released a DVD to schools to help keep mugham on the school curriculum. Children are encouraged to learn how to perform it.

Azerbaijan’s first lady, Mehriban Aliyeva, helped to source the finances for a new metal-and-glass building on the Caspian Sea waterfront, called Mugham House, which contains a concert hall. I say concert hall, but actually it is more than that. Constructed in the shape of a tar, its gleaming white marble corridors are lined with busts of renowned performers and musicians.

"Mugham has never been so prominent," Arif Babayev, a well known mugham singer tells me. "It is now taught in schools at every level. The more children learn mugham the more the musical genre will develop. It is wonderful."