THE BARDS ON "BAKU HOLIDAYS"

The 11^th International Festival of Author songs tentatively called "Baku holidays" held in the capital was remarkable for the fact that it gathered the performers from seven different countries - Lithuania, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Israel, Czech Republic, and France. This year it had a special contingent, as the bards came to the festival moved by love for the performing arts, Baku, Bakuvians and the Baku Club of Author songs.

Historical background

The first association of bards into a club in Baku dates back to 1974. In 2014, the club celebrated its 40 years. But it received the official status "club" only in 1983. Formed as a creative association, the Club of Author songs (CAS) has quickly taken a leading position among the clubs founded in other Soviet republics after performing at the Grushinskiy Festival of Author songs, which has been held in Russia since 1968. Jacob Kogan, a songwriter from Baku, has become famous performer not only in Baku but also among the participants of the Grushinskiy Festival. After the collapse of the Union, the Baku CAS has made a break for some time. In 2004, the Baku bards celebrated the 30^th anniversary of the club in Moscow. It was during those celebrations when the Club had a daring idea to revive the Baku CAS. The club regained its popularity among the capital’s intelligentsia, and within a short period was able to drop a mark in the history of the urban culture - the art of urban romance or simpler – the bard songs.

A genre of author songs

This, of course, means urban romance, which origins can be traced back in the Russian romance. As a separate genre, it has been known since the first half of the 19^th century although this can be attributed to an earlier historical period - the period of troubadours. For many it’s part of an urban folklore, which in more recent times (the end of the 19^th century) was influenced by the gypsy and the so-called cruel romance. Musicologists consider it as a sub-genre of Russian folk songs. Experts say that the author or bard song, as a kind of urban culture, originated in different countries in the middle of the 20^th century. A distinctive feature of the genre is that the one who writes the lyrics and the music of the song and then performs it is all the same person. Author song was one of the most popular forms of expression in the sixties in different countries of the world. This genre remain popular even today, having acquired new terminological definition - urban chanson. The founders of the Baku Club of Author Song are Jakov Kogan Alexander Markman, Alexander Baryudin, David Novogorudsky, Vladimir Rahimov, Olga Rogacheva and others.

Our days

The 21^st century. The Baku CAS is a truly unique phenomenon since no matter where the founding fathers of the Club, scattered around the world, perform their songs, they still act as the songwriters representing Azerbaijan. Every member of the Club adheres to this unwritten law. The Baku CAS continues to march around the world, confirming the unique tradition of Baku’s song culture. This is a real testimony of international tolerance and multiculturalism. The members of the Club are permanent performers at the Grushinskiy Festival. The reputation of the Club is so great that this year the guests received an invitation to the festival, happily arrived to Baku, despite the limited budget of the festival.

This year the festival was held for four days and its program includes the works of participating guests, as well as the bards and female lyric writers of Baku. The book authored by Alexander Gorodnitski and titled "My Baku notebook" culminated the creative result of all these years. A distinctive feature of this festival was the fact of the return of good ol’ traditions of the well forgotten tradition - reading verses on stage. This year, the women's poetry well-known once by the lyrics of Olga Rogacheva (currently resides in Israel) continued triumphantly with the names of six Baku poets: Alina Talibova, Nigar Hasanzadeh, Solmaz Suleymanli, Saida Subhi, Leyla Bigim, Ulviyya Akhundova. The audience crowding the hall of the Theatre of Songs during these four days welcomed the lyrics warmly. It was this 11^th Festival that has clearly demonstrated that the Baku school of bard songs not only regained former international position but also advanced much further by declaring its professional maturity and the traditional cooperation between the two great cultures - Russian and Azerbaijani. The festival was organized by the Club with the assistance of the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Azerbaijan, General Directorate of Culture and Tourism of Baku, and the literary project "Word".

Prospects

In the following year, 2017, the Club will celebrate two remarkable dates – the Club Revival Day and the Festival Revival Day. The question is whether the festival will indeed be held in the coming year. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm, dedication, and creative obsession are not enough to maintain "Baku Holidays" as an international tradition reinforcing impressions about Baku as a city of tolerance and multiculturalism. I want to believe that, despite the global crisis, there are still people who care, who will be able to provide financial support to this unique cultural phenomenon of urban romance titled the Festival of Author Songs.