THE MAGIC OF LOVE FOR MUGHAM

The legendary natural wealth of Azerbaijan has made it famous around the world. This small country has all the beauties of the earth. The sons of our homeland, who have admired nature from time immemorial, have always expressed their feelings in music, sculpture and colour and have created music, performing it on primitive instruments made of cane and wood, while their children painted on rocks with bone hatchets. Of course, the main factor impelling people towards art was the need to provide their family with food. Having sated themselves, the primitive creatures tried to engrave what they saw in cave paintings. In order to make the paintings stand out, they greased them with animal fat. In the course of time, people surrounded by nature of outstanding beauty also took an interest in poetry and music and created the beginnings of culture. One of these treasures, one which has survived the centuries, was the Azerbaijani mugham.

The basis of all music

All the songs and dances of our homeland are created on the basis of mughams. Mugham is a magical music, for it has a uniquely strict structure. The people's artist and prominent mugham singer, Hacibaba Huseynov, would say that no-one has ever managed to plumb all the depths of mugham. It is a legendary messenger from a mythical world. Mugham is a pattern of people's musical activity. The date of birth and author of this divine music are unknown. Mugham is a centuries-old mystery. Mugham is the key to all music, for all the music of Azerbaijan is created on the basis of one mugham or another. For a number of historical reasons, it has a special system and is a fully-formed, independent art. Every mugham has its own meaning and colour.

As we know from the book "The Foundations of Azerbaijani Music" by Uzeyir Hacibayov, founder of Azerbaijan's professional opera, two Azerbaijani scientists - Safiaddin Abdulmomin Bin Yusif al-Urmavi (12th century) and Abd ul-Qadir Maragai (14th century) - played a significant role in the history of the theoretical and practical development of the music of the peoples of the Middle East. In his book "Visuh ul-Arqam" (interpretation of music terminology) based on the work of these two authors, the 19th century music expert and native of Susa, Navvab Mirmohsun Haci Said Ahmad oglu Qarabagi, speaks about the ancient music of the peoples of the Middle East. The musical culture of these peoples blossomed in the 14th century. This culture is based on a structure of 12 columns and six towers (i.e. dastgah). All four corners of the world can be clearly seen from above - from Andalusia to China and from North Africa to the Caucasus. The scholar and expert in the theory of ancient Greek music, Abu Nasr Farabi, and the genius known in Europe as Avicenna - Abu Ali ibn Sina, contributed to the building of the palace of music culture. The 12 columns on which the musical edifice rests embody the 12 main mughams and the six towers embody the six havacats. The main mughams were Ussaq, Nava, Buselik, Rast, Iraq, Isfahan, Zirafkand, Bozurg, Zangula, Rahavi, Huseyni and Hijaz. And the six havazats consisted of Sahnaz, Maye, Salmak, Novruz, Gardaniyya and Guvasta.

The cracks which appeared in this castle of music as a result of the socio-economic and political cataclysms of the late 19th century destroyed the columns and the towers. The peoples of the Middle East picked up valuable remains from among the ruins and built their own temples of music. Mughams based on oral traditions are called magma by Arabs and Turks, mugham by Azerbaijanis, nuba by Moroccans and Algerians, makom by Tajiks and Uzbeks, mukam by Uigurs, dastgah by Iranians, raga by Indians, gagaku by the Japanese, patet by Indonesians, kuy by Kazakhs and ku by the Kyrgyz. Apart from Iran, mugham is sung in chorus in all these countries. As we know, in Azerbaijan the mugham is sung by xanandas (singers). Their high and low voices lend unique shades to our mughams and arouse inexpressible emotions in listeners. The professional performance of mugham depends on the correct and successful choice of qazals (verses). A qazal that is not correctly chosen will only spoil a listener's mood.

The names of the 12 mughams, just like the mughams themselves, have undergone considerable changes over the years. The mughams that were regarded as independent became chapters of mugham among various peoples, while the chapters turned into proper mughams. The only mugham that did not succumb to the destructive influence of time and which preserved its own identity was Rast. It is so solid and logical that it totally justifies its name. Rast means "correct, accurate". Ancient music experts called Rast the mother of all mughams and it still preserves its name, sounds and pitch.

All the peoples of the Middle East have a similar structure and pitch for the Rast mugham. Arab, Iranian and European music experts confirm that, according to the ancient Greeks, each of the seven heavenly bodies corresponds to one tone, as discovered by Pythagoras. These tones are as follows. In Greek: 1. Mi - the Moon, 2. Fa - Mercury, 3. Sol - Venus, 4. La - the Sun, 5. Si - Mars, 6. Do - Jupiter and 7. Re - Saturn. In Arabic and Persian: 1. Nava, 2. Buselik, 3. Rast, 4. Iraq, 5. Ussaq, 6. Zirafkand and 7. Rahavi.

In the 19th century, there were more than 18 mughams: Karami, Omani-Garayi, Qaribi, Qara Kurd, Arazbari, Bayati, Osmanli, Ciqatai, Ovsari, Sikastayi-Sirvan, Sikastayi-Fars, Qarabaq Sikastasi, Kasma Sikasta, Siran, Kesis oglu, Heydari, Asiqi, Baglama and others. These mughams were sometimes performed for three or four hours. The great Uzeyir Hacibayov and his companions reduced their number to 12. The Mugham Dastgah includes the following: Rast (mughams included in the Rast family - the dastgah of Mahur Hindi, Orta Mahur and Bayati Qacar), Dugah; Sur; Segah; Zabul Segahi; Cahargah; Sustar; Bayati Siraz; and Humayun. The small mughams are Qatar, Rahab, Sahnaz, Bayati Kurd and Dasti. The rhythmic mughams are Heyrati, Arazbari, Mansuriyya, Samayi-Sams, Mani, Obsari, Heydari, Qarabag Sikastasi and Kasma Sikasta.

According to Uzeyir Hacibayov, mugham's role in creating major pieces is as follows: "the Segah mugham has a lyrical-amorous nature. All lyrical popular songs are based on this mugham. For this reason, I created the love scenes in my operas using Segah. In order to convey the sad fate of the people and the cruelty of oppressors, I turn to Cahargah. Moreover, there is Rast which characterizes courage, joy and struggle. I am sure that the system of mugham will bring a number of innovations and freshness into popular music culture. Experience shows that the opera 'Koroglu' has communicated fully to the broad mass of people. The reason is that, while creating it, I used the system of mugham as a basis for the musical text and creative fantasy."

The secret of eternity

The authoritative mugham expert Alibaba Mammadov says: "I have composed more than 100 songs on the basis of various mughams, but I failed to create any chapter of mugham. I am sure that mugham will preserve the secrets of its creation forever."

Mugham and Azerbaijan are inseparable ideas that supplement each other. The Azerbaijani music expert and native of Susa, Mirmohsun Navvab, who studied the works of Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, Al-Farabi, Avicenna and Safiaddin Urmavi, identified the four main elements (fire, air, water and earth) of mugham on the basis of pitch. Mugham experts identify the position of mugham chapters by the pitch of the sound. For example, the integral parts of Cahargah are Mayeye Cahargah, Bastanigar, Hasar, Muxalif and Mansuriyya. A singer of the Azerbaijani dastgah mugham should start from lower tones, gradually increase his voice, reach a climax and return to his original position. Thus, fire in the Azerbaijani mugham is the highest stage of development, which in turn corresponds to its physical quality. The link between the ideas of music-muska-mugham" proves that the term "mugham" existed before the Arabs came to Azerbaijan. This is also proved by the presence in mughams of such concepts as Novruz, Mani, Hurram and Kabri.

The literary-musical gatherings held in Azerbaijan from the 1820s to the early 20th century played an invaluable part in the promotion of mugham and in the development of singers of this art. Maclisi Faramusan in Susa, the society of musicians and Beyt us-Safa of Mahmud Aga in Samaxi, Macma us-Suara in Baku, Divani Hikmat in Ganca, Ancuman us-Suara in Ordubad and Fovcul Fusaha in Lankaran were very famous. They brought together prominent poets, writers, musicians, intellectuals, experts and connoisseurs of classical poetry and discussed refinements of mughams and qazals and nuances of interest to everyone. In a word, these gatherings were regarded as centres of mugham.

For the first time in the Muslim East, Azerbaijani musicians toured Europe and familiarized foreign audiences with the beauty of our mughams and recorded their songs on gramophone discs. The British joint-stock society Gramophone recorded Azerbaijani music for the first time in 1906, as performed by the prominent xananda Cabbar Qaryagdi oglu and other musicians. In 1906-1914, a number of European recording studios, including the French studio Patet Brothers, the German joint-stock company Sport Record, Russian companies Ekstrafon, Concert Record, Monarch Record, Gramophone Record and Premier Record released numerous discs of Azerbaijani mughams, tasnifs and rangs.

After the Soviet regime came to power in Azerbaijan, a negligent attitude towards mughams took hold. There even appeared people who claimed that mugham was a primitive kind of music left over from the past, and that it spoilt the taste of the people. The primordial Azerbaijani musical instrument - the tar - became "an enemy of the people". A verse by some poet, "Don't sing, tar" was widely promoted. They asked: do we need the tar if there is the European guitar? The "Iron Curtain" policy, pursued by the Soviet government, barred our music from the international arena. In the first decades of the 20th century, as the West's interest in our music grew, talented musicians from Azerbaijan were totally barred from Europe. Traditional Arab, Iranian and Turkish music was promoted on the arts markets of the West.

Despite the negligent attitude towards Azerbaijani music from the 1920s to the 1970s, the people's love for mugham did not diminish. From the 1970s, after a number of international symposiums and festivals of traditional music under the aegis of UNESCO, the attitude towards mugham began to change for the better. It was recognised as a model of highly professional art. In the 1990s, the art of Azerbaijani mugham gained a firm foothold among world audiences, specialists and managers. The success of phenomenal artists like Alim Qasimov and others is the pride of our people.

Mugham performed by an American

After Azerbaijan's first lady, Mehriban Aliyeva, began her public activity as president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, initiatives to promote a number of aspects of our arts, especially the pearl of popular oral art - mugham, were successfully continued: UNESCO has included mughams on the world list of non-material cultural heritage. Special departments were opened at music schools in order to train mugham experts among the younger generation. On hearing about this pearl of Azerbaijani music, foreign musicians took their first steps in this sphere. One of them is an American citizen, Jeffrey Werbock. He is a staunch propagandist of Azerbaijani mughams abroad, especially in the United States. Addressing a recent meeting with Jeffrey Werbock at the Rasid Beybudov Song Theatre, the US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Anne Derse, spoke about the development of relations between the two countries, stressing Werbock's role in promoting Azerbaijani mughams. Having an endless love for Azerbaijan, Werbock performed professionally; playing Bayati Siraz, Sur, Sustar and other mughams on the tar, kamanca and ud (musical instruments). The audience was delighted by the professionalism of the American. Werbock's correct Azerbaijani drew respect from everyone.

Mugham competitions are held in order to interest non-professionals in mugham and discover young talent. At these competitions, which are held with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation on the basis of the Fund's project "Friends of Azerbaijani Art", young singers from the different regions of the country - Samaxi, Saki, Ganca, Barda and Lankaran - demonstrate their wonderful performance skills. It is also notable that the last competition was not judged on the basis of SMS messages, since this method does not help to discover the skills of young talent and allows weak singers to "win" with the help of wealthy relatives. These competitions may be viewed as a school to uncover the secrets of performance, because the professional skills of the young performers clearly increased during the competition.

Another step towards the development of mugham, upon the initiative of Mehriban Aliyev, was the setting up of a Mugham Centre in Baku. The centre which is being built at the national park will create conditions for the promotion of mugham. In a word, mugham is on the rise today and is not lagging behind the country's overall development. The work that is being carried out to preserve national cultural values shows that Azerbaijanis who are leading in the promotion of oriental music intend to maintain their leadership.