MUSIC OF SPIRITUAL PERFECTION

Fifteen young mugham singers from Azerbaijan, India, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey participated in the final of the 2nd International Children's Mugham Festival. The final concert of the contest, which took place with the organizational support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Kainat youth centre, was held at the Azerbaijani State Young Spectators' Theatre on 8 October.

The contest, which has been held for 16 years, was attended by talented young singers below 16. The Grand Prix went to the 15-year-old Baku schoolgirl Sama Sultanova for her virtuoso performance of Sahnaz Mugham. The 13-year-old Dilsad Gucum from Turkey took first place, while Sumitra Ringa Chiriar from India and Tabriz Hasanzada from Azerbaijan both took second place. The jury gave third place to schoolchildren from Uzbekistan, Nadir Rusiyev and Davlat Saidov, as well as to the Turkmen performer Dovran Annamammadov. The young talents who won the final of the contest were given letters of commendation and gifts. The composition of the jury was also international and included representatives from all the countries participating in the festival.

Incidentally, at the final concert, only the titles of songs were announced on the stage of the Young Spectators' Theatre. The jury learnt the participants' names and the country they represented only after the vote. In this way, the organizers tried to ensure impartiality and fairness at the contest.

According to People's Artist Agasalim Abdullayev, a representative of the jury, it was very difficult to choose between these children. After all, they are all incredibly talented, which is why the jury had to make the right choice. It must be noted that the foreign guests performed their mugham songs in their own national style. After all, mugham is not just traditional music. First and foremost, it is a national and international way of thinking. All the doors of music arts are open to someone who learns the art of mugham.

The 1st International Children's Mugham Festival was held last year when Baku was declared the capital of Islamic culture. But at that time, the festival had international status only thanks to the participation of young singers from Uzbekistan. This year, the geography of the project has expanded considerably, and along with Uzbekistan, the contest was also attended by talents from Turkmenistan, Turkey and India.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the goodwill ambassador of UNESCO and ICESCO, MP Mehriban Aliyeva, have both contributed greatly to the promotion and preservation of the art of mugham. It was on her initiative that the International Mugham Centre was founded in Baku. It was built two years ago and has already hosted a mugham contest and a scientific symposium. All this laid a great foundation for the promotion of mugham on new international horizons. In one of her speeches, Mrs Aliyeva pointed out that "only mugham can foster in our children an attachment to their roots, national dignity, emotional richness, inclination to compassion and the moral perfection and completeness of details that mugham itself has". According to the first lady, "mugham is some kind of a genetic code". You cannot immerse yourself in mugham and continue to live as you do: you either accept or reject its philosophical concept achieved by many generations through much suffering. Mugham leads our spirit and highest astral strata and elevates us to the mortal world, clearing, enlightening and ennobling us.

According to the art critic and a department head at the Folklore Institute of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, Professor Rafiq Imrani, the music language of mugham is international and accessible to all mankind. The art of mugham, which has put down roots in the lifestyle and consciousness of various peoples, is a common cultural heritage for more than one billion people worldwide. In this sense, this elevated art is of great importance to mankind. The art of mugham has a great influence on the aesthetic development and psychology of mankind. Sometimes it is entertaining and sometimes serious, making one think about the essence of matter and being. The melodic language of mugham is an ancient music language of our ancestors honed by centuries and closely linked with a certain tune. A tune is, first and foremost, the thinking and mood of the area where a listener of mugham lives. Even an unprepared listener who knows nothing about this music is influenced to the innermost of his heart as soon as he touches it.

Incidentally, the word mugham is derived from "mug-mag" (fire), which means a mag priest. It is known from history that mags were proficient masters of psalms dedicated to the deity Ahura-Mazda. After the emergence of Islam, this role was played by Sufis. They played an important role in the development of the medieval art of mugham. Mugham (maqam) means a moment or a place in Arabic. It also implies a degree of spiritual perfection which allows someone who has gone into ecstasies to comprehend the greatness of the deity. The Sufis and mugham singers have a common term Khal (Inspiration). When mugham singers go into Khal, they create divine music images under the influence of which man clears and improves himself spiritually. In this condition, the Sufis spend a moment in ecstasies under the charming sounds of mugham rhythm, and their soul is cleared of earthly bustle and is capable of accepting heavenly gifts. Unlike other genres of art, the 12 classical mugham dastgahs and the 460 mughams (shoba and gusha) convey a whole range of human feelings. The influence of mughams is tantamount to a synthesis of man, music and space.