Autumn 1998 (6.3)
Remembering
Gara Garayev
A Legend
in His Own Time - 80th Jubilee
by Azad Sharifov
The musical legacy of Gara
Garayev (pronounced ga-RAH ga-RAH-yev) (Russian: Kara Karayev)
is immense. He left us with nearly 110 pieces, including ballets,
operas, symphonic and chamber pieces, piano solos, cantatas,
songs and marches. His imprint on Azerbaijan's music is profound.
Azad Sharifov knew Garayev personally and offers a glimpse into
the life and personality of this prominent Azerbaijani composer
on this occasion of his 80th Jubilee.
The date was 1952.
Composer Gara Garayev had been chosen to write the film score
for the documentary, "A Story About the Oil-Workers of the
Caspian Sea." The setting was Oil Rocks, an oil workers'
small settlement of workshops and dormitories built up on trestles
and piers out over the Caspian. It was at Oil Rocks that for
the first time in the history of oil technology, Azerbaijan dared
to drill offshore. They succeeded. That was back in 1949 - nearly
50 years ago.
Art: Portrait of Gara Garayev by Tahir Salayev
To hear music samples click here.
Roman Karmen, producer of the
documentary, took Garayev by boat out to the Oil Rocks settlement
to check out the location where the movie was to be filmed. They
were walking together along the piers, and Garayev was listening
carefully to the rhythmic swishing of the gray Caspian waves
and the steady pounding of the oil rigs. Suddenly he told Karmen
that he wanted to write the film score right there on location.
"That's when I became convinced once again of Garayev's
intense passion. He was so convinced of his idea that he didn't
want to go back to the city to write the music," observed
Karmen some years later.
"So the decision was made
to transport Garayev's piano out to the Oil island. As it was
too large to fit into one of the regular boats, they had to lift
it onto one of the ships with the help of ropes. After settling
in on the man-made island, a violent storm arose at sea, Garayev
sat down at the piano and a miracle emerged right in front of
our eyes - that was the moment the film's music was born,"
Karmen reflected.
This dramatic image of Gara
Garayev on the Oil Rocks in the throes of inspiration meshes
with my own vivid memories of him. He was a man who was truly
ahead of his time. We, his contemporaries, did not always understand
his vision. Nor were we able to fully appreciate his talent.
I'm convinced that the worth of Garayev's contribution to world
music has still to be realized.
Left: Garayev (standing) with mentor and
teacher, Dmitri Shostakovich.
Right: Garayev with his son Faraj and daughter
Zulfiya (1960s).
Parents' Influence
Garayev inherited his love of music from his parents. His father
was a famous pediatrician in Baku known for his kindness and
generosity. When patients were too poor to pay for treatment,
he often left money under the prescription that he had written
out for them. He knew Azeri folk music very well and loved to
sing. Garayev's mother, Sona Khanim, was among the first graduates
of the Music School, the Baku branch of the Russian Music Society.
Garayev's father wanted him
to become a doctor. It wasn't until 1952 that he realized that
his son had found his own calling. When announcements of the
premiere of the ballet "Seven Beauties" were hung everywhere
in the city, Garayev's father finally admitted to his wife: "Let's
leave him alone. It seems like he's found his mission in ife."
Garayev was 33 at the time. It was his brother, Mursal, that
took after their father and became a talented surgeon. Unfortunately,
Mursal died at an early age.
The Early Years
Garayev was allowed to enroll in two faculties simultaneously
at Baku's Music Conservatory (1933-1938). He studied Piano with
Professor Georgi Sharoyev (Anton Rubinstein's grandson) and Composition
Theory with Professor Leonid Rudolf. Garayev then went to Moscow
State Conservatory until 1946 where he spent much of his time
with Dmitri Shostakovich.
Photo: Garayev in a documentary about his
life directed by Ogtay Mirgazimov (1970s).
According to Garayev, Shostakovich was an exacting teacher: "Shostakovich
could not stand superficiality and irresponsibility. He refused
to look at unfinished 'sketches.' Above all, the great Maestro
did his best to teach his students to respect their professions."
Garayev would eventually pass these same values on to his own
students.
In 1938, the "Decade of
Azerbaijan Art" was celebrated at the Bolshoi Theater in
Moscow, an event that occurred once every ten years and included
the culmination of the best music that had been created during
that period. Stalin himself attended the event. The festival
program concluded with Garayev's cantata, "The Song of the
Heart," the text of which had been written by Azerbaijan's
poet Rasul Reza. This was the first public performance of this
young, shy composer named Gara Garayev, who conducted the piece
himself. He was only 20 years old at the time.
Also seated in the audience
was Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the father of classical music in Azerbaijan.
Rasul Reza was there, too, and he later recalled Hajibeyov's
reaction to Garayev. "After listening to the piece, Uzeyir
Hajibeyov, fingering his mustache as was his usual custom, said
in the calm, slow manner that was so characteristic of him: 'This
boy will turn out to be a great success!'"
This was only the beginning
of Garayev's achievements. While studying at the Moscow State
Conservatory, he and Jovdat Hajiyev (a contemporary who is still
alive today) won the Stalin prize for their opera "Vatan"
(Motherland) in 1945. At the age of 30, Garayev again won the
prestigious Stalin prize - this time for his symphonic poem "Leyli
and Majnun," which is based on the work of Nizami, a 12th
century Azeri poet.
Decades of Teaching
Throughout his years as a professor at the Baku Conservatory
(now known as the Music Academy), Gara Garayev taught many students,
70 of which have become composers, many of them famous in their
own right. His own son, Faraj Garayev (1943- ) was among them.
Faraj went on to compose famous one-act ballets such as "Shadows
of Gobustan" and "Kaleidoscope" and later led
the musical avant-garde movement in Azerbaijan.
Gara Garayev used the piano
as the basis for his compositions.
One of Garayev's students, composer
Hayam Mirzazade, recalled the intensity of Garayev's classes:
"As a rule, Garayev would turn his lessons into a discussion
of problems in contemporary music - analysis of techniques, language
and styles of music. Garayev hated thoughtless attitudes toward
folk music. He made his students learn the inner workings of
folk music."
Garayev was known for his erudition
and deep knowledge of numerous spheres in life. His intellectual
level was acknowledged by all who knew him. One of his close
friends, Imran Gasimov, wrote: "It seems like all civilization
is in Garayev's hands, not as simple encyclopedic data but in
a profound way. He was an indisputable authority in music circles
in the USSR."
"He was very strict with
his students," remembered Azeri composer Arif Malikov, who
graduated from Garayev's class in 1958. "He had an encyclopedic
knowledge about almost everything related to problems of life
as well as problems of art regardless of whether it was in the
field of science, music or literature. He was acquainted with
so many intelligent people. You gain so much confidence through
belief in your teacher when he is a great Master.
"We never dared to think
of skipping class or of not coming prepared. Our classes were
one-on-one with him, but we didn't leave when they were over.
We would stay on and listen to what went on with the next student.
That's why there were always so many people in Garayev's classes
all the time despite how hard it was to enroll with him."
Ismayil
Hajibeyov, another student of Garayev
in the 1970s, recalled how their teacher used to say, "I
don't want pygmies, I need giants!" and thus inspired many
of his students to excel so that they could go on and establish
their reputations in music.
After Uzeyir Hajibeyov died
(1948), Garayev was elected chairman of the Composers' Union
and shortly afterwards became the Rector of the Conservatory
(1949). Of course, at the time, there were those who gossiped
behind his back, complaining that he was not the most qualified
professional and that everything that Uzeyir Hajibeyov had worked
for would be disregarded. Some were concerned that
Hajibeyov's emphasis on Azeri folk music and traditional instruments
would be lost.
But Garayev, from his early
student days, had been involved with studying the origins of
Azerbaijani folk music and had participated in expeditions to
mountain regions of the country where they recorded folk music.
He, along with Zakir Bagirov and Jovdat Hajiyev, used to go out
with a very old recording device known by the promising name
of "Edison" and gather rich, valuable material upon
which he and others later based some of their own work.
But it's wrong to think that
Gara Garayev was obsessed with music, even if his range was so
diverse and included genres as different as jazz and symphonic
music. Garayev had a number of hobbies. He was a passionate soccer
fan. He was excellent at analyzing the game and could delve deeply
into the techniques of playing. But most of all, he was proud
of his success in photography, especially with a secret camera
that he had which he was convinced enabled him to photograph
people more naturally. He also had an interesting collection
of stamps and match boxes.
As Rector of the Conservatory,
in addition to insisting on music excellence, Garayev branched
out from music and organized sports activities, holiday events
and entertaining "kapustniks" (Russian for evenings
of humor and jokes). The Conservatory's basketball team acquired
quite a name for itself in those days.
Garayev used his position to
educate others about modern music. He organized evening performances
of symphonic works of modern jazz and mugam music where he invited
some of the most talented musicians to perform. I was lucky enough
to attend some of these concerts and can testify that they were
extremely interesting and valuable, not only for professionals,
but also for ordinary music fans.
Scene from Garayev's
ballet, Path of Thunder, composed in 1957.
Los Angeles Music Festival
In June 1961, Garayev was one of two composers that the Soviet
Union sent to the International Los Angeles Music Festival that
was held on UCLA's campus at Royce Hall. The other Soviet representative
was Tikhon Khrennikov, who was then president of the Soviet Composers'
Union. Fifteen composers from seven nations presented their works,
including Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky. Keep in mind
that this was the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet
Union and the United States. Khrushchev had just appeared at
the United Nations shortly before and banged his shoe on a table,
declaring: "We will bury you!" according to the translation
(which later proved to be a wrong interpretation, but the damage
had already been done). The Gary Powers' U.S. U-2 spy plane that
the Soviets shot down further complicated relations.
On June 11, Franz
Waxman conducted the Festival Symphony Orchestra with a suite
from Garayev's ballet "Path of Thunder." During the
Soviet period, Azerbaijanis and all other national artists were
introduced only as "Soviet" composers. Garayev was
a name unfamiliar to the American audiences, according to the
newspaper description. He was 43 at the time.
Albert Goldberg, who reviewed
the concert in the June 13, 1961 Entertainment Section of the
Los Angeles Times, was not impressed with either of the composers
who were featured that evening, dubbed as "Soviet Night."
Garayev's own handwritten
score, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, dedicated to Russian
Violinist Leonid Kogan (1967).
He wrote: "All this [music]
was a far cry from the contemporary music of the Western world
which had made most of the previous festival programs a stimulating
and worthwhile experience. The music of both Soviet composers
is ultra-conservative and popular in the Soviet sense of the
term. Neither author employs devices or idioms later than Tschaikovsky
or Rimsky-Korsakov. By these standards Prokofiev is extremely
advanced. Since it was apparently officially selected for export,
this must be the musical face that the Soviet Union chooses to
present to the world.
"None of it was unpleasant
but very little of it was noteworthy. According to Lukas Foss,
the orator of the evening, Garayev is Shostakovich's favorite
pupil, a favoritism that must be personal rather than musical.
The 'Path of Thunder' in the repertoire of the Bolshoi troupe
concerns African racial conflicts and which, according to a reliable
reporter who has seen it, is heavily loaded with propaganda.
"There is naturally no
propaganda in the music, but neither is there much of anything
else to merit a concert performance. It is the most tepid kind
of ballet music, alternately cloyingly sweet and thunderously
noisy, lacking the slightest originality. It is the kind of commercial
music dished up in this country for Las Vegas, extravaganza and
Hollywood B movies - pseudo Spanish, pseudo-jazz and pseudo everything
else."
We don't know whether Garayev
ever read this review of his work or not. But one thing is certain.
Garayev's visit to the U.S. turned out to be one of the turning
points in his life. He became heavily influenced by Schoenberg's
new 12-tone dissonant scale. Garayev's future works had less
tendency of being as "sweet" as his earlier ballets
- "Seven Beauties" and "Path of Thunder."
And this would put him in trouble back home.
60-Year Jubilee
February 1978 was a memorable month. That was when all of the
Soviet Union was celebrating Gara Garayev's 60th Jubilee. Garayev
was due to receive the highest recognition of the Soviet government
- the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Unfortunately, Garayev was not
feeling well at the time. As head of the Central Committee's
Culture Department in Azerbaijan, I was in charge of organizing
this event even though it took place in Moscow. When we left
Baku for Moscow for the Jubilee evening, we decided to ask a
doctor to accompany us on the flight. It was the right decision.
Garayev started feeling ill when we landed in Moscow. The doctor
provided first aid while we called an ambulance to come directly
to the airport and take Garayev to the Kremlin hospital. His
heart was giving him problems and eventually would lead to his
death five years later.
So Garayev celebrated his Jubilee
in the hospital. It had snowed heavily that day, and we were
worried that no one would show up for the concert. We contacted
student clubs promising students free admission. But everything
turned out exactly opposite of what we had expected. Long before
the concert began, the hall was filled to capacity.
Heydar Aliyev, now Azerbaijan's
President, but at that time, First Secretary of the Communist
Party in Azerbaijan, arrived half an hour before the concert
and asked with concern, "How is the situation with the audience?
Did anyone come?" I didn't answer, but showed him the packed
concert hall.
Garayev's music, of course,
was featured at the concert: his symphonic poem "Leyli and
Majnun," parts of the famous Third Symphony and beautiful
romances based on the words of Pushkin's "Tsarskoselskaya
statuya" (The Statue in the Village of Tsar Times). There
was also the song, "I Loved You," set to Pushkin's
verses that Garayev had dedicated to his wife Tatyana Nikolayevna.
Of course, there was a great element of sadness to the proceedings,
since the creator of those great musical pieces, Garayev himself,
was not in the concert hall.
Festival in Tbilisi
Another memory that stands out vividly in my mind relates to
the Transcaucasus Spring Music Festival that was organized in
Tbilisi, Georgia in 1980. The Georgian government invited all
three giants of Azerbaijani music - Gara Garayev, composer Fikrat
Amirov and conductor Niyazi. However, at the time, these three
musical greats were not on friendly terms with one another. In
fact, they rarely spoke to each other at all. The probability
that they would be willing to travel together to Tbilisi was
slim, despite my efforts to persuade them and the good relationships
I had with each of them as head of the Central Committee's Culture
Department.
That's when I asked for help
from Aliyev. I knew that there was mutual respect between each
of them and Aliyev. He agreed to help. We decided to organize
an unofficial meeting, so they could drop by for a friendly,
casual "cup of tea." The reason for the meeting was
not so much to discuss the visit to Georgia as to find out why
these musicians weren't on speaking terms with each other.
As the meeting began, there
were some awkward moments, in spite of the friendly atmosphere
that we tried to create and Aliyev's informal manner. Garayev,
Amirov and Niyazi were not very open because they didn't want
to involve Aliyev with their personal troubled relationships.
However, being a master of diplomatic skills, he was able to
get them to begin to speak openly. He reminded them that their
works all belonged to mankind's great cultural treasury. He spoke
softly, with patience and empathy for each of them, taking pains
not to injure their egos or self-esteem.
Part of their conflict, it seems,
had arisen from arguments about modern music and how Azerbaijan's
rich musical folklore should be interpreted. For example, Gara
Garayev was against what he called a "citation" of
folklore. But Niyazi thought that the experiments and new techniques
Garayev had used in his Third Symphony and in his violin concert
were too avant-garde and discordant for younger composers to
imitate. There was a lot of discussion about how others were
using the situation to pit one musician against the other and
to build up suspicion and distrust between them.
The session continued for five
hours. Sandwiches were brought in. The conversation was coming
to an end when the telephone rang - it was a call from Moscow.
During this pause, all three leaned together and whispered something.
Aliyev noticed and cracked a joke: "Thank God, I can see
that you're getting along now - you seem to be ganging up on
someone else!"
"How can you say that?"
Garayev objected. "How is that possible? We have wasted
so much of your time, but it is good that you organized such
a session. We needed that." They all agreed. "We're
ready to go to Tbilisi to maintain the prestige of our republic."
Garayev's familiar, kind smile
could be seen from behind his glasses. We could tell, though,
that he wasn't feeling well; we insisted that maybe he shouldn't
go this time.
The train to Tbilisi was supposed
to leave at 11:00 p.m. a few days later. We gathered at the station.
Fikrat Amirov had arrived 15 minutes earlier, but the maestro
[Niyazi] still was nowhere to be seen. We called his home only
to be told by his wife that he had already left for the station.
Our worries were eased when a railway worker said that Niyazi
had came to the station long before and was sitting up in the
engineer's cab trying to learn how to drive the train.
Once the train pulled away,
we gathered for supper. For the first time in many years, Niyazi
and Amirov regretted that Garayev wasn't with them. They raised
their glasses and toasted the health of Garayev. An air of sadness
pervaded the evening.
Absent From Baku
It's still a mystery to me why Garayev left Baku and moved to
Moscow. Didn't he love his summer cottage out on the Absheron
peninsula? Did he stop enjoying grapes and figs from Pirshagi?
Of course, his life and work
were not just about fame, medals, recognition and reputation.
There were many difficulties, sufferings and unfair judgments
against him, and that, of course, left deep scars on the composer's
soul. Moscow was cold nearly half the year and there weren't
as many friends there as in Baku. When I would see him in Moscow,
he would always ask for news about Baku. He would insist that
I tell him all of the details, and his eyes would long for home.
Garayev had traveled to so many
places in the world - so many beautiful cities. He had admired
the architecture, history, traditions and practices of so many
places. But he reserved his deepest feelings for Baku, imagining
it to be like a huge symphony with many voices.
He wrote about the city so tenderly
and lovingly: "To me, Baku is the most beautiful city in
the world. Every morning, when the city wakes whether it be to
the sun or the rain and fog, every morning my city sings. Baku
is meant for art. It gives me so much pleasure to write about
this city no matter if you write music, verse or paint images."
But through it all, I don't
think we fully comprehended that we were contemporaries of a
truly great man, and that we, indeed, were living in what can
be called the "Era of Garayev."
What Others Said About
Gara Garayev
Niyazi, Azerbaijani conductor
"I've been one who has been privileged in being able to
reveal the private and mysterious ideas of Gara Garayev to the
audience. So I know the excitement the audience feels while listening
to Garayev's music. It can't be characterized as either entertainment
or relaxation. Rather, it exposes all the fire in one's heart
and compels one to act. I'm grateful that I've had the chance
to be in touch with his music and to be the first one to interpret
most of his works."
Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani
painter
"I must say that I indeed have been fortunate, not only
because I had the chance to meet such a talented musical personality
but because I got to know him through his music. This is the
only way to get deep inside an artist-through music. Everything
trivial and insignificant - the things one pays attention to
during mundane, everyday meetings - disappears. Only the essence
of a man is left."
Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian
composer
"Garayev has that rare ability to stay true to himself and
not to imitate anyone. He maintains his own individuality even
while changing with the times, regardless of genre."
Rodion Shedrin, Russian composer
"There was almost no limit to Garayev's scope of knowledge
in all genres of music. In 1963, we traveled together to America.
It amazed me how Garayev knew so many things about so many different
genres of music. For example, I'd have to admit to being a bit
elitist when it comes to jazz. But I couldn't hide my admiration
when he demonstrated competency in this field as well. He mentioned
several names, compared one tendency in jazz to another and talked
about things I had never heard of."
Fikrat Amirov, Azerbaijani
composer
"Garayev's music is one of the greatest columns in the museum
of Azerbaijani music. His role in making Azerbaijan's music known
worldwide is immense."
Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian
composer as well as Garayev's instructor and mentor, Moscow
"Garayev has a great and brilliant talent which is highly
developed. He is extremely knowledgeable about instrumentation,
polyphony and the other components that make up music. He surely
has a great future."
Azad Sharifov is head of
the Journalism Department of the Higher Diplomacy College of
Azerbaijan
To hear samples of Gara Garayev's music, Visit Azerbaijan International's
Web site at <http://azer.com> and click on "Music."
Gara Garayev - A Chronology
1918 Born December 5, Baku.
1933-1938 Music studies, Azerbaijan State Conservatory.
1937 Joins Composers' Union.
1938 Composition studies, Moscow State Conservatory.
Cantata, Song of the Heart, performed in Moscow and Stalin attends.
1941 Return to Baku. Teaches at Azerbaijan State Philharmonic
Society.
1942 Film score, A Story About the Oil Workers of the
Caspian Sea.
1943 Opera, Vatan, with Jovdat Hajiyev, premieres
in Baku (1945).
1944-1946 Return to Moscow State Conservatory.
Composition studies with Dmitri Shostakovich.
1946 Graduates, Moscow State Conservatory. Begins
teaching composition, Azerbaijan State Conservatory. Stalin prize
awarded for Vatan.
1947 Symphonic poem, Leyli and Majnun. Edits Muslim
Magomayev's opera, Shah Ismayil.
1948 Delegate to the First National USSR Congress
of Soviet Composers. Stalin prize awarded for Leyli and Majnun.
Garayev heads music section, Azerbaijan Architecture and Art
Institute.
1949 After Uzeyir Hajibeyov's death, Garayev directs
Azerbaijan State Conservatory. Seven Beauties, a suite for symphonic
orchestra.
1950 Six Children's Pieces for Piano.
1951 Seven Beauties and Leyli and Majnun are performed
at the Prague Spring Festival conducted by Niyazi. 24 Preludes
for Piano-First Notebook.
1952 Albania Suite, Two Children's Pieces for Piano,
24 Preludes-Second Notebook, Six Children's Pieces for Piano.
Seven Beauties premieres in Baku.
1954-82 Member of the USSR committee for Lenin and State
Prizes.
1956-73 Chairman of the Composers' Union.
1957 Ballet, Path of Thunder.
1958 Laureate, USSR Festival of Soviet Films, for
On Distant Shores. Path of Thunder premieres at the Bolshoi.
Film score Her Great Heart. Three Nocturnes for Jazz Orchestra.
1959 Path of Thunder premieres at the Bolshoi. Named
People's Artist of the USSR.
1960 Symphony, Don Quixote.
1961 First International Festival of Modern Music,
Los Angeles.
1962 Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Visits
the U.S., Ethiopia and Lebanon.
1964 Third Symphony for Chamber Orchestra premieres
in Moscow (1965).
1967 Violin Concerto. Lenin prize awarded for Path
of Thunder.
1969 Seven Beauties featured in Paris at the World
Dance Festival.
1972 Visits Poland for the USSR Congress of Composers'
Unions.
1978 His 60th Jubilee. Named Hero of Socialist Labor.
1980 Fourth Symphony, Goya, written with son Faraj
premieres in 1983.
1982 Dies May 13 in Moscow. Buried in Baku, Cemetery
for the Honored Ones (Fakhri Hiyabani).
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| Left: Garayev (standing) with mentor and
teacher, Dmitri Shostakovich. Right: Garayev with his son Faraj and daughter Zulfiya (1960s). |
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Parents' Influence
Garayev inherited his love of music from his parents. His father
was a famous pediatrician in Baku known for his kindness and
generosity. When patients were too poor to pay for treatment,
he often left money under the prescription that he had written
out for them. He knew Azeri folk music very well and loved to
sing. Garayev's mother, Sona Khanim, was among the first graduates
of the Music School, the Baku branch of the Russian Music Society.
Garayev's father wanted him to become a doctor. It wasn't until 1952 that he realized that his son had found his own calling. When announcements of the premiere of the ballet "Seven Beauties" were hung everywhere in the city, Garayev's father finally admitted to his wife: "Let's leave him alone. It seems like he's found his mission in ife." Garayev was 33 at the time. It was his brother, Mursal, that took after their father and became a talented surgeon. Unfortunately, Mursal died at an early age.
The Early Years
Garayev was allowed to enroll in two faculties simultaneously
at Baku's Music Conservatory (1933-1938). He studied Piano with
Professor Georgi Sharoyev (Anton Rubinstein's grandson) and Composition
Theory with Professor Leonid Rudolf. Garayev then went to Moscow
State Conservatory until 1946 where he spent much of his time
with Dmitri Shostakovich.
Photo: Garayev in a documentary about his life directed by Ogtay Mirgazimov (1970s).
According to Garayev, Shostakovich was an exacting teacher: "Shostakovich
could not stand superficiality and irresponsibility. He refused
to look at unfinished 'sketches.' Above all, the great Maestro
did his best to teach his students to respect their professions."
Garayev would eventually pass these same values on to his own
students.
In 1938, the "Decade of Azerbaijan Art" was celebrated at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, an event that occurred once every ten years and included the culmination of the best music that had been created during that period. Stalin himself attended the event. The festival program concluded with Garayev's cantata, "The Song of the Heart," the text of which had been written by Azerbaijan's poet Rasul Reza. This was the first public performance of this young, shy composer named Gara Garayev, who conducted the piece himself. He was only 20 years old at the time.
Also seated in the audience was Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the father of classical music in Azerbaijan. Rasul Reza was there, too, and he later recalled Hajibeyov's reaction to Garayev. "After listening to the piece, Uzeyir Hajibeyov, fingering his mustache as was his usual custom, said in the calm, slow manner that was so characteristic of him: 'This boy will turn out to be a great success!'"
This was only the beginning of Garayev's achievements. While studying at the Moscow State Conservatory, he and Jovdat Hajiyev (a contemporary who is still alive today) won the Stalin prize for their opera "Vatan" (Motherland) in 1945. At the age of 30, Garayev again won the prestigious Stalin prize - this time for his symphonic poem "Leyli and Majnun," which is based on the work of Nizami, a 12th century Azeri poet.
Decades of Teaching
Throughout his years as a professor at the Baku Conservatory
(now known as the Music Academy), Gara Garayev taught many students,
70 of which have become composers, many of them famous in their
own right. His own son, Faraj Garayev (1943- ) was among them.
Faraj went on to compose famous one-act ballets such as "Shadows
of Gobustan" and "Kaleidoscope" and later led
the musical avant-garde movement in Azerbaijan.
Gara Garayev used the piano as the basis for his compositions.
One of Garayev's students, composer Hayam Mirzazade, recalled the intensity of Garayev's classes: "As a rule, Garayev would turn his lessons into a discussion of problems in contemporary music - analysis of techniques, language and styles of music. Garayev hated thoughtless attitudes toward folk music. He made his students learn the inner workings of folk music."
Garayev was known for his erudition and deep knowledge of numerous spheres in life. His intellectual level was acknowledged by all who knew him. One of his close friends, Imran Gasimov, wrote: "It seems like all civilization is in Garayev's hands, not as simple encyclopedic data but in a profound way. He was an indisputable authority in music circles in the USSR."
"He was very strict with his students," remembered Azeri composer Arif Malikov, who graduated from Garayev's class in 1958. "He had an encyclopedic knowledge about almost everything related to problems of life as well as problems of art regardless of whether it was in the field of science, music or literature. He was acquainted with so many intelligent people. You gain so much confidence through belief in your teacher when he is a great Master.
"We never dared to think of skipping class or of not coming prepared. Our classes were one-on-one with him, but we didn't leave when they were over. We would stay on and listen to what went on with the next student. That's why there were always so many people in Garayev's classes all the time despite how hard it was to enroll with him."
Ismayil
Hajibeyov, another student of Garayev
in the 1970s, recalled how their teacher used to say, "I
don't want pygmies, I need giants!" and thus inspired many
of his students to excel so that they could go on and establish
their reputations in music.
After Uzeyir Hajibeyov died
(1948), Garayev was elected chairman of the Composers' Union
and shortly afterwards became the Rector of the Conservatory
(1949). Of course, at the time, there were those who gossiped
behind his back, complaining that he was not the most qualified
professional and that everything that Uzeyir Hajibeyov had worked
for would be disregarded. Some were concerned that
Hajibeyov's emphasis on Azeri folk music and traditional instruments
would be lost.
But Garayev, from his early student days, had been involved with studying the origins of Azerbaijani folk music and had participated in expeditions to mountain regions of the country where they recorded folk music. He, along with Zakir Bagirov and Jovdat Hajiyev, used to go out with a very old recording device known by the promising name of "Edison" and gather rich, valuable material upon which he and others later based some of their own work.
But it's wrong to think that Gara Garayev was obsessed with music, even if his range was so diverse and included genres as different as jazz and symphonic music. Garayev had a number of hobbies. He was a passionate soccer fan. He was excellent at analyzing the game and could delve deeply into the techniques of playing. But most of all, he was proud of his success in photography, especially with a secret camera that he had which he was convinced enabled him to photograph people more naturally. He also had an interesting collection of stamps and match boxes.
As Rector of the Conservatory, in addition to insisting on music excellence, Garayev branched out from music and organized sports activities, holiday events and entertaining "kapustniks" (Russian for evenings of humor and jokes). The Conservatory's basketball team acquired quite a name for itself in those days.
Garayev used his position to educate others about modern music. He organized evening performances of symphonic works of modern jazz and mugam music where he invited some of the most talented musicians to perform. I was lucky enough to attend some of these concerts and can testify that they were extremely interesting and valuable, not only for professionals, but also for ordinary music fans.
Los Angeles Music Festival
In June 1961, Garayev was one of two composers that the Soviet
Union sent to the International Los Angeles Music Festival that
was held on UCLA's campus at Royce Hall. The other Soviet representative
was Tikhon Khrennikov, who was then president of the Soviet Composers'
Union. Fifteen composers from seven nations presented their works,
including Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky. Keep in mind
that this was the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet
Union and the United States. Khrushchev had just appeared at
the United Nations shortly before and banged his shoe on a table,
declaring: "We will bury you!" according to the translation
(which later proved to be a wrong interpretation, but the damage
had already been done). The Gary Powers' U.S. U-2 spy plane that
the Soviets shot down further complicated relations.
On June 11, Franz
Waxman conducted the Festival Symphony Orchestra with a suite
from Garayev's ballet "Path of Thunder." During the
Soviet period, Azerbaijanis and all other national artists were
introduced only as "Soviet" composers. Garayev was
a name unfamiliar to the American audiences, according to the
newspaper description. He was 43 at the time.
Albert Goldberg, who reviewed the concert in the June 13, 1961 Entertainment Section of the Los Angeles Times, was not impressed with either of the composers who were featured that evening, dubbed as "Soviet Night."
Garayev's own handwritten score, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, dedicated to Russian Violinist Leonid Kogan (1967).
He wrote: "All this [music] was a far cry from the contemporary music of the Western world which had made most of the previous festival programs a stimulating and worthwhile experience. The music of both Soviet composers is ultra-conservative and popular in the Soviet sense of the term. Neither author employs devices or idioms later than Tschaikovsky or Rimsky-Korsakov. By these standards Prokofiev is extremely advanced. Since it was apparently officially selected for export, this must be the musical face that the Soviet Union chooses to present to the world.
"None of it was unpleasant but very little of it was noteworthy. According to Lukas Foss, the orator of the evening, Garayev is Shostakovich's favorite pupil, a favoritism that must be personal rather than musical. The 'Path of Thunder' in the repertoire of the Bolshoi troupe concerns African racial conflicts and which, according to a reliable reporter who has seen it, is heavily loaded with propaganda.
"There is naturally no propaganda in the music, but neither is there much of anything else to merit a concert performance. It is the most tepid kind of ballet music, alternately cloyingly sweet and thunderously noisy, lacking the slightest originality. It is the kind of commercial music dished up in this country for Las Vegas, extravaganza and Hollywood B movies - pseudo Spanish, pseudo-jazz and pseudo everything else."
We don't know whether Garayev ever read this review of his work or not. But one thing is certain. Garayev's visit to the U.S. turned out to be one of the turning points in his life. He became heavily influenced by Schoenberg's new 12-tone dissonant scale. Garayev's future works had less tendency of being as "sweet" as his earlier ballets - "Seven Beauties" and "Path of Thunder." And this would put him in trouble back home.
60-Year Jubilee
February 1978 was a memorable month. That was when all of the
Soviet Union was celebrating Gara Garayev's 60th Jubilee. Garayev
was due to receive the highest recognition of the Soviet government
- the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Unfortunately, Garayev was not feeling well at the time. As head of the Central Committee's Culture Department in Azerbaijan, I was in charge of organizing this event even though it took place in Moscow. When we left Baku for Moscow for the Jubilee evening, we decided to ask a doctor to accompany us on the flight. It was the right decision. Garayev started feeling ill when we landed in Moscow. The doctor provided first aid while we called an ambulance to come directly to the airport and take Garayev to the Kremlin hospital. His heart was giving him problems and eventually would lead to his death five years later.
So Garayev celebrated his Jubilee in the hospital. It had snowed heavily that day, and we were worried that no one would show up for the concert. We contacted student clubs promising students free admission. But everything turned out exactly opposite of what we had expected. Long before the concert began, the hall was filled to capacity.
Heydar Aliyev, now Azerbaijan's President, but at that time, First Secretary of the Communist Party in Azerbaijan, arrived half an hour before the concert and asked with concern, "How is the situation with the audience? Did anyone come?" I didn't answer, but showed him the packed concert hall.
Garayev's music, of course, was featured at the concert: his symphonic poem "Leyli and Majnun," parts of the famous Third Symphony and beautiful romances based on the words of Pushkin's "Tsarskoselskaya statuya" (The Statue in the Village of Tsar Times). There was also the song, "I Loved You," set to Pushkin's verses that Garayev had dedicated to his wife Tatyana Nikolayevna. Of course, there was a great element of sadness to the proceedings, since the creator of those great musical pieces, Garayev himself, was not in the concert hall.
Festival in Tbilisi
Another memory that stands out vividly in my mind relates to
the Transcaucasus Spring Music Festival that was organized in
Tbilisi, Georgia in 1980. The Georgian government invited all
three giants of Azerbaijani music - Gara Garayev, composer Fikrat
Amirov and conductor Niyazi. However, at the time, these three
musical greats were not on friendly terms with one another. In
fact, they rarely spoke to each other at all. The probability
that they would be willing to travel together to Tbilisi was
slim, despite my efforts to persuade them and the good relationships
I had with each of them as head of the Central Committee's Culture
Department.
That's when I asked for help from Aliyev. I knew that there was mutual respect between each of them and Aliyev. He agreed to help. We decided to organize an unofficial meeting, so they could drop by for a friendly, casual "cup of tea." The reason for the meeting was not so much to discuss the visit to Georgia as to find out why these musicians weren't on speaking terms with each other.
As the meeting began, there were some awkward moments, in spite of the friendly atmosphere that we tried to create and Aliyev's informal manner. Garayev, Amirov and Niyazi were not very open because they didn't want to involve Aliyev with their personal troubled relationships. However, being a master of diplomatic skills, he was able to get them to begin to speak openly. He reminded them that their works all belonged to mankind's great cultural treasury. He spoke softly, with patience and empathy for each of them, taking pains not to injure their egos or self-esteem.
Part of their conflict, it seems, had arisen from arguments about modern music and how Azerbaijan's rich musical folklore should be interpreted. For example, Gara Garayev was against what he called a "citation" of folklore. But Niyazi thought that the experiments and new techniques Garayev had used in his Third Symphony and in his violin concert were too avant-garde and discordant for younger composers to imitate. There was a lot of discussion about how others were using the situation to pit one musician against the other and to build up suspicion and distrust between them.
The session continued for five hours. Sandwiches were brought in. The conversation was coming to an end when the telephone rang - it was a call from Moscow. During this pause, all three leaned together and whispered something. Aliyev noticed and cracked a joke: "Thank God, I can see that you're getting along now - you seem to be ganging up on someone else!"
"How can you say that?" Garayev objected. "How is that possible? We have wasted so much of your time, but it is good that you organized such a session. We needed that." They all agreed. "We're ready to go to Tbilisi to maintain the prestige of our republic."
Garayev's familiar, kind smile could be seen from behind his glasses. We could tell, though, that he wasn't feeling well; we insisted that maybe he shouldn't go this time.
The train to Tbilisi was supposed to leave at 11:00 p.m. a few days later. We gathered at the station. Fikrat Amirov had arrived 15 minutes earlier, but the maestro [Niyazi] still was nowhere to be seen. We called his home only to be told by his wife that he had already left for the station. Our worries were eased when a railway worker said that Niyazi had came to the station long before and was sitting up in the engineer's cab trying to learn how to drive the train.
Once the train pulled away, we gathered for supper. For the first time in many years, Niyazi and Amirov regretted that Garayev wasn't with them. They raised their glasses and toasted the health of Garayev. An air of sadness pervaded the evening.
Absent From Baku
It's still a mystery to me why Garayev left Baku and moved to
Moscow. Didn't he love his summer cottage out on the Absheron
peninsula? Did he stop enjoying grapes and figs from Pirshagi?
Of course, his life and work were not just about fame, medals, recognition and reputation. There were many difficulties, sufferings and unfair judgments against him, and that, of course, left deep scars on the composer's soul. Moscow was cold nearly half the year and there weren't as many friends there as in Baku. When I would see him in Moscow, he would always ask for news about Baku. He would insist that I tell him all of the details, and his eyes would long for home.
Garayev had traveled to so many places in the world - so many beautiful cities. He had admired the architecture, history, traditions and practices of so many places. But he reserved his deepest feelings for Baku, imagining it to be like a huge symphony with many voices.
He wrote about the city so tenderly and lovingly: "To me, Baku is the most beautiful city in the world. Every morning, when the city wakes whether it be to the sun or the rain and fog, every morning my city sings. Baku is meant for art. It gives me so much pleasure to write about this city no matter if you write music, verse or paint images."
But through it all, I don't
think we fully comprehended that we were contemporaries of a
truly great man, and that we, indeed, were living in what can
be called the "Era of Garayev."
What Others Said About Gara Garayev
Niyazi, Azerbaijani conductor
"I've been one who has been privileged in being able to
reveal the private and mysterious ideas of Gara Garayev to the
audience. So I know the excitement the audience feels while listening
to Garayev's music. It can't be characterized as either entertainment
or relaxation. Rather, it exposes all the fire in one's heart
and compels one to act. I'm grateful that I've had the chance
to be in touch with his music and to be the first one to interpret
most of his works."
Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani
painter
"I must say that I indeed have been fortunate, not only
because I had the chance to meet such a talented musical personality
but because I got to know him through his music. This is the
only way to get deep inside an artist-through music. Everything
trivial and insignificant - the things one pays attention to
during mundane, everyday meetings - disappears. Only the essence
of a man is left."
Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian
composer
"Garayev has that rare ability to stay true to himself and
not to imitate anyone. He maintains his own individuality even
while changing with the times, regardless of genre."
Rodion Shedrin, Russian composer
"There was almost no limit to Garayev's scope of knowledge
in all genres of music. In 1963, we traveled together to America.
It amazed me how Garayev knew so many things about so many different
genres of music. For example, I'd have to admit to being a bit
elitist when it comes to jazz. But I couldn't hide my admiration
when he demonstrated competency in this field as well. He mentioned
several names, compared one tendency in jazz to another and talked
about things I had never heard of."
Fikrat Amirov, Azerbaijani
composer
"Garayev's music is one of the greatest columns in the museum
of Azerbaijani music. His role in making Azerbaijan's music known
worldwide is immense."
Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian
composer as well as Garayev's instructor and mentor, Moscow
"Garayev has a great and brilliant talent which is highly
developed. He is extremely knowledgeable about instrumentation,
polyphony and the other components that make up music. He surely
has a great future."
Azad Sharifov is head of
the Journalism Department of the Higher Diplomacy College of
Azerbaijan
To hear samples of Gara Garayev's music, Visit Azerbaijan International's
Web site at <http://azer.com> and click on "Music."
Gara Garayev - A Chronology
1918 Born December 5, Baku.
1933-1938 Music studies, Azerbaijan State Conservatory.
1937 Joins Composers' Union.
1938 Composition studies, Moscow State Conservatory. Cantata, Song of the Heart, performed in Moscow and Stalin attends.
1941 Return to Baku. Teaches at Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society.
1942 Film score, A Story About the Oil Workers of the Caspian Sea.
1943 Opera, Vatan, with Jovdat Hajiyev, premieres in Baku (1945).
1944-1946 Return to Moscow State Conservatory. Composition studies with Dmitri Shostakovich.
1946 Graduates, Moscow State Conservatory. Begins teaching composition, Azerbaijan State Conservatory. Stalin prize awarded for Vatan.
1947 Symphonic poem, Leyli and Majnun. Edits Muslim Magomayev's opera, Shah Ismayil.
1948 Delegate to the First National USSR Congress of Soviet Composers. Stalin prize awarded for Leyli and Majnun. Garayev heads music section, Azerbaijan Architecture and Art Institute.
1949 After Uzeyir Hajibeyov's death, Garayev directs Azerbaijan State Conservatory. Seven Beauties, a suite for symphonic orchestra.
1950 Six Children's Pieces for Piano.
1951 Seven Beauties and Leyli and Majnun are performed at the Prague Spring Festival conducted by Niyazi. 24 Preludes for Piano-First Notebook.
1952 Albania Suite, Two Children's Pieces for Piano, 24 Preludes-Second Notebook, Six Children's Pieces for Piano. Seven Beauties premieres in Baku.
1954-82 Member of the USSR committee for Lenin and State Prizes.
1956-73 Chairman of the Composers' Union.
1957 Ballet, Path of Thunder.
1958 Laureate, USSR Festival of Soviet Films, for On Distant Shores. Path of Thunder premieres at the Bolshoi. Film score Her Great Heart. Three Nocturnes for Jazz Orchestra.
1959 Path of Thunder premieres at the Bolshoi. Named People's Artist of the USSR.
1960 Symphony, Don Quixote.
1961 First International Festival of Modern Music, Los Angeles.
1962 Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Visits the U.S., Ethiopia and Lebanon.
1964 Third Symphony for Chamber Orchestra premieres in Moscow (1965).
1967 Violin Concerto. Lenin prize awarded for Path of Thunder.
1969 Seven Beauties featured in Paris at the World Dance Festival.
1972 Visits Poland for the USSR Congress of Composers' Unions.
1978 His 60th Jubilee. Named Hero of Socialist Labor.
1980 Fourth Symphony, Goya, written with son Faraj premieres in 1983.
1982 Dies May 13 in Moscow. Buried in Baku, Cemetery
for the Honored Ones (Fakhri Hiyabani).
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