10.1.Readers' Forum - Hajibeyov To The World

Spring 2002 (10.1)
Page 11

Readers' Forum
Hajibeyov To The World

Congratulations! I would like to tell you how grateful I am for the creation of the HAJIBEYOV.com website. I think I can honestly say that this is the finest site dedicated to a single composer that I've ever seen.

Prior to the release of the set of 7 Hajibeyov CDs and this website, it used to be extremely difficult to learn more about this extraordinary man and his music. You have created what is, perhaps, the single most important resource for people outside of Azerbaijan to research the life and works of Uzeyir Hajibeyov. In particular, I'm so pleased to have access to the English translations of Hajibeyov's own writings and his librettos including "Arshin Mal Alan", "Mashadi Ibad", "Koroghlu", and "Leyli and Majnun".

Although your site answered many questions, there are so many more things I am curious about.

(1) Are there plans to release any more CDs of Hajibeyov's music? (2) Will there be English translations of the librettos of "Harun and Leyla" and "Husband and Wife"? (3) Will there be more articles discussing some of Hajibeyov's lesser-known works, for instance, his cantatas? (4) Do you think there is a moral message behind the intriguing story of "Shah Abbas and Khurshid Banu"? (5) Please tell us more about the pre-Revolutionary period 1915-1922 before the Bolsheviks took over Baku so that we could understand Hajibeyov's activities in the broader context of the important political events of the time.

(6) While your articles leave no doubt as to how highly Hajibeyov was esteemed in Azerbaijan, how was he viewed as a composer in the Soviet Union? Was he considered one of the finest Soviet composers or just one of the more talented "minority" composers? (7) More translations, please, of Hajibeyov's own satires and quotes. I'm particularly interested in knowing in which context and what date the quote "Be Foxy" was originally printed.

I have recently been asked to contribute a chapter on Hajibeyov to a proposed collection of essays on Soviet music. Before your website existed, such an undertaking would have been immensely difficult. Now there's an opportunity to spread the word to help give this great composer more exposure and recognition in the West.
Matthew O'Brien
UK

Editor: HAJIBEYOV.com was created to celebrate the legacy of the great Azerbaijani composer, Uzeyir Hajibeyov (1985-1948) who is credited with being the "Founder of Composed Music in Azerbaijan" and who did so much to ensure the unique "East / West" sound that is evident in much of Azerbaijani music even today.

To provide a wider audience for this great composer, Azerbaijan International magazine launched this Web site [our fourth] in November 2001 as an obvious extension of the Uzeyir Hajibeyov Classical Music [set of 7 CDs] that was produced in September 2001 by Azerbaijan International and sponsored by Statoil of Norway. [See AZER.com, click on AI STORE].

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