Azerbaijan is marking National Music Day on 18 September, commemorating the birthday of renowned composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli, a pioneering figure in the country’s modern professional music.
Hajibeyli was born on September 18, 1885. His birthday has been celebrated in Azerbaijan as National Music Day, while an international music festival dedicated to the composer has been held annually since 2009.
The origins of Azerbaijan’s national opera are closely associated with Hajibeyli’s Leyli and Majnun, which premiered in Baku in 1908. Based on the famous poem of the same name by Azerbaijani poet Muhammad Fuzuli, the work is regarded as the first opera not only in Azerbaijan but also in the broader East.
The premiere was held on January 12, 1908, at the theatre of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev was the conductor, while Huseyn Arablinski directed the production. Huseyngulu Sarabski performed the role of Majnun, while Abdurrahim Farajov, who worked as an assistant cook, played Leyli.
The success of Leyli and Majnun was followed by a series of Azerbaijani operas, including Sheikh Sanan (1909), Rustam and Sohrab (1910), Shah Abbas and Khurshidbanu, Asli and Kerem (1912), and Harun and Leyla (1915).
Hajibeyli also played a pioneering role in the development of musical comedy in Azerbaijan and the East. His three-act Husband and Wife, first staged in 1910, is considered the first Azerbaijani musical comedy. H. Sarabski and A. Aghdamski were among the performers in the production.
Hajibeyli left a rich and diverse musical legacy. He transcribed more than 300 popular songs into musical notation and composed cantatas, fantasies, songs and romances, as well as chamber and choral works.
His musical heritage also includes the anthems of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Soviet Azerbaijan, as well as the national anthem adopted by independent Azerbaijan following its restoration.
Uzeyir Hajibeyli remains one of the defining figures in Azerbaijan’s musical and cultural history, and National Music Day continues to commemorate his contribution to the country’s artistic heritage.
