KING OF MUSIC CONNOISSEURS

Music has played a special role in the life of the Azerbaijani people since ancient times.  It was Azerbaijan that  gave birth in the Middle Ages to luminaries of Eastern musical theory like Safiaddin Urmavi and Abdulqadir Maragai, whose names are closely connected with the development of the theory of music in the countries of the Near and Middle East in the 13-15th centuries.

In the 14th century, after the dissolution of the empire of Hulagu Khan, who made South Azerbaijan the centre of his vast lands, the state of the Shirvanshahs regained its independence in the northern parts of Azerbaijan.  The Turkic Jalayir dynasty established itself on the rest of the country's territory.  Crafts and trade began to develop in that period.  The city of Maraga became one of the cultural centres of Azerbaijan, together with cities like Ganca, Samaxi, Varda, Tabriz and Ardabil.  Maraga was the home of the prominent musician, poet and calligrapher Abdulqadir bin Geybi Maragai, born in 1353.  He was a very talented musician and singer, playing many musical instruments.  Maragai's works greatly influenced the development of the theory of music.  Orientalists call him the last classical practitioner of the medieval science of music.

Maragai spent the first half of his life in his native Azerbaijan, performing and composing music.  Recognising the outstanding talent and virtuoso performing skills of his son, Maragai's father Mavlana Geybi did his best to give him a proper education.  This is what Abdulqadir writes in his book "Maqasid al-Alkhan":  "My father Geybi was a great expert in many sciences, including music."  Already by the age of 4, Abdulqadir knew the Koran by heart.  At 10, he had extensive knowledge of grammar, oratory and stylistics.  Together with his father, he was invited to assemblies of scholars and theologians, where his pure, velvety voice and skill in performing complex musical pieces captivated audiences.  Maragai also wrote poems, gaining fame as a great calligrapher.  He had great talent as a musician, calligrapher, artist and poet.  Maragai wrote poems in Azerbaijani, Persian and Arabic l, masterfully employing in his Azerbaijani poems such complex forms of Turkic-language prosody as tuyug (which involves rhyming words with similar sounds but different meanings).  He recommended the use of such verses in Segax, Ussaq, Nava mugams.

Very soon, Abdulqadir's fame as a great master of music was widespread.  He was invited to assemblies of the famous musicians and poets of the period which were held at the sultan's palace in Tabriz and in which Sultan Uwais Jalari, himself a universally recognized artist, participated.  In an edict issued in honour of the young performer, the sultan even called him a "peerless musician of the epoch."

In the work "Alkhani Siqana" ("Thirteen songs") written in 1377, Maragai narrates a story which took place during an assembly at the sultan's palace:  Uwais Jalari's son, Hussein, who succeeded to the throne after his father's  death, asked Maragai to write 30 musical pieces and dedicate them to each day of the holy month of Ramazan.  He agreed.  However, the famous Azerbaijani musician Rizvanshah Tabrizi said that he could not believe that this request could be fulfilled and promised to pay the young musician 100,000 pieces of gold if he succeeded.  Other participants in the assembly - musicians, poets, court nobility - also argued the impossibility of composing 30 nuba (literally, a sequence, a queue; a nuba is a vocal and instrumental composition in Arab music.  In the 9th century, musical pieces performed in the presence of the caliph to special order were so called) for performance during Ramazan.  Thanks to his unusual musical talent, Maragai proved that because the core of every nuba is made up of a musical cadence (magma) and rhythm (usulat), it was quite possible to write the required number of pieces in this genre.  The lyrics for nuba were written in Persian and Arabic by prominent poets of the period who took part in those assemblies, including Sultan Hussein himself, who had asked him to compose music for his poem.  Maragai wrote 30 nuba in a very short period of time and received from the famous and respected Haji Rizvanshah ibn Zaki at-Tabrizi remuneration of 100,000 gold dinars.  In addition, Maragai married his daughter.

Abdulqadir Maragai made it his life's work to describe accurately the essence of the art of music by thorough research of the development and laws of musical composition.  He studied tirelessly, profoundly and thoroughly works on the theory of music by the prominent scholars of the East - Farabi, ibn Sina, Safiaddin Urmavi, Hutbaddin Shirazi, abu Ali and other.  Thanks to this work, Maragai composed pieces which employed hitherto unknown rhythmic cycles, which were called "usul."  7 of the 20 usul were still popular several centuries later.

Under Abbasid rule, nuba was the main genre of Islamic music.  Even now it remains the leading genre in the western part of the Arab world (in Algeria, Libya, Tunis, Morocco).  In all, Arabs have 9-15 types of nuba, every one of which consists of 5-8 parts.

Maragai was the author of many new musical pieces and treatises on music.  In his treatise "Kandz al-Alkhan" ("Treasury of Melodies"), music is written using Urmavi's  alphanumeric system.  The letters indicate pitch and the digits duration; the name of the magam and its size, indicate the pace of the melody and harmony of tones.  Analyzing the treatise, British researcher G. Farmer wrote that some of the melodies composed by Margai are still popular among Turkic peoples and are called "Giyar".

After completing the theoretical treatise "Jame al-Alkhan" ("Totality of melodies" 1405-1413), Maragai wrote the treatises "Maqasid Al-Alkhan ("Purpose of melody"), Lahiiye ("Music"), "Favand-I ashara" ("Ten benefits").  In his works on the theory of music he summarized his extensive experience of music theoreticians and researchers.  Continuing the traditions of his predecessors, Farabi and Urmavi, in the field of the theory of music, Maragai enriched the science.  His musical theory gives the first comprehensive definition of the term "mugam."  This increasingly sophisticated musical art was enriched in the early 14th century by mugam innovations - 24 sections developed from 12 mugams, which Abdulqadir Maragai studied thoroughly.

Maragai's treatises merit attention also for the geographical scope of the material researched.  He studied the original qualities of the musical art of different peoples.  The factual material in his treatises makes it possible to create an accurate picture of the Azerbaijani music of the period.

Maragai's scholarly works provide valuable information about the history of the art of the ashug, who represented the Turkic-language culture of ozan and bakshi.  This issue is discussed using examples of musical instruments and genres.  Maragai describes the main instrument of the ashugs, calling it the "Roman gopuz," "Ozan gopuz" or "Sidirgi."  Thus the hypothesis that the present-day saz is the same instrument as the gopuz mentioned in the epic Kitabi Dada Qorqud is proven scientifically in the works of Maragai.

Maragai draws attention to the 9 main musical magam (harmonic sequences) which are performed by Turkic singers.  The first of them is called the "big magam."  Most probably, this was the Rast magam.  Arabs call the Rast magam "umm-al-magam," that is, "mother of all magams."  In addition to the specifically Turkic magams, Maragai mentions also the Ushshag, Nava, Busalik, Bayati Novruz and a number of others.  Overall, Maragai's works focus on the theory of mugam and all the forms and genres of professional music.

He ends most of his treatises on music with his own poems in Azerbaijani and Persian.

In a poem in Azerbaijani, he describes an episode from his own life:  he fell seriously ill and the best doctors of the period were unable to cure him.  So he began to sing to the accompaniment of the musical instrument called the ud:  "O doctors, you cannot cure me.  Be not surprised, only my ud can cure me.  My best medicine is music."  At the time, the ud was considered the most important string instrument.

In the 14th-15th centuries, there were a great many musical instruments in the eastern part of the Muslim World.  Musicologist Abdulqadir Maragai provided detailed descriptions.  The descriptions of musical instruments left by Turkish musician and explorer Ovliya Calabi are also of great value.  The bellicose Ottoman Turks preferred to perform dancing tunes and marches.  In the military bands of Young Turks, called Janissaries in Europe, besides the karanay wind instrument and drums, another wind instrument, the zurna, was widely used.  The Turks helped to spread new musical rhythms and instruments to the Europeans.  The large Turkish drums, which were played using special sticks (cubuk), gave rise to the appearance of kettledrums in European orchestras.

In their treatises, Abdulqadir Maragai and Ovliya Calabi also mention instruments such as the four-string cahar, tar, six-string sastar, three-string setar.  Perhaps these instruments were predecessors of the present-day tar.  Maragai's works also mention other stringed (kamancha, ney-tanbur, rubab, rudkhani and others) and wind (ag ney, qara ney, ney balaban, zurna, burgu and others) musical instruments.

The medieval researchers of the Near and Middle East looked into many sciences.  However, Abdulqadir Maragai devoted his entire talent and all of his efforts to music.  He found it necessary to rewrite his scholarly works with incomparable calligraphic accuracy.  Maragai wrote poems for his musical compositions.  His works on the art of music, to which he dedicated his entire life, constitute the highest achievement of the science of music in the East.  And his poem, "Bizi Unutma" ("Do not forget us") is one of the first examples of literary Azerbaijani.

As is known, Abduqadir Maragai lived and worked under the rule of two dynasties - the Jalayirs and Temurids.  He performed music in his native Azerbaijan.

Having started his performing career as a very young man in Tabriz, he drew the attention of Sultan Uwais of the Jalayir dynasty and earned his tremendous respect, and under the successor, Sultan Hussein, Maragai lived and worked at the palace.  Historical sources testify that yet another representative of the Jalayir dynasty, Sultan Ahmed, respected Maragai, and when he moved from Tabriz to Baghdad he took Abdulqadir with him.  It is also known that Sultan Ahmed dedicated one of his works to Maragai, out of respect for him.

The status of court musician was not permanent.  He depended on rulers and their whims.  Abdulqadir Maragai was no stranger to sharp turns of fortune.  The devastating wars of Amir Tamerlane inflicted huge grief on nations.  In 1392, Timur seized Baghdad and sent all captive scholars and artists to Samarkand, including Abdulqadir Maragai.  The Azerbaijani musician was famed in Ma Wara'un Nahr (Transoxania, the area between the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers) or, to be more precise, in Timur's favourite city, Samarkand.  In an edict of 1397, the Amir declared Maragai the "King of all music connoisseurs."

But the grand master was nostalgic.  He finally managed to return to Azerbaijan, which was ruled by Timur's son, Miranshah.  In 1397, Miranshah fell from his horse during a hunt and injured his head, developing strange personality changes after that.  He started to persecute his court poets for no reason.  Timur, however, attributed the changes in his son's character to courtiers' intrigues and ordered their execution when he arrived in Tabriz.  Sensing the imminent risk, Abdulqadir Maragai chose to travel to Baghdad, where Sultan Ahmed ruled.  However, he did not find peace there.  After seizing the city of Sham (Damascus) in 1400, Timur started to move towards Baghdad.  After seizing the city, he ordered Maragai's arrest and execution, because he thought him responsible for his son's poor health.

His recital of a sura from the Koran in the presence of the enraged Amir saved Abdulqadir Maragai.  His voice fascinated a conqueror who is remembered to this day for his cruelty.  Amir Timur paid tribute to the great art of Abdulqadir Maragai, pardoned him and allowed him to remain at court.  Maragai was sent to Samarkand where he lived in the palace of Timur's grandson, Sultan Halil.  Later he went to Herat, where he was court musician to local ruler Shahruh until his death.  The great musician and singer Abdulqadir Maragai, who was called the "King of all music connoisseurs" by Amir Timur, died in 1434 of cholera, in Herat.

The scholarly works on medieval classical Eastern music by Abdulqadir Maragai remain important to this day.  A grateful Azerbaijani nation honours the memory of the peerless master of musical art, Abdulqadir Maragai, and is proud of its eminent son.