Music · Azerbaijan

Music of the Turkic world: famous works, national instruments, genres from mugham to küy, composers and performers.

Composers and performers

PersonUzeyir HajibeyliFounder of Azerbaijani professional music (1885–1948), composer of the first opera of the Muslim East and of Azerbaijan's national anthem.
PersonGara GarayevComposer (1918–1982) of the ballets The Seven Beauties and The Path of Thunder, one of the masters of Azerbaijani symphonic music.
PersonFikrat AmirovComposer (1922–1984) who created the symphonic mugham, author of Shur, Kurd Ovshari and the ballet One Thousand and One Nights.
PersonBulbulSinger and founder of the Azerbaijani vocal school (1897–1961), the first to sing the title role in Koroghlu.
PersonRashid BehbudovSinger and actor (1915–1989) who won world fame as Asgar in the film Arshin Mal Alan and founded the Azerbaijan State Song Theatre.
PersonMuslim MagomayevBaritone, pop and opera singer (1942–2008), one of the best-loved voices of the former Soviet Union.
PersonVagif MustafazadePianist and composer (1940–1979), creator of jazz mugham.
PersonKhan ShushinskiOne of the greatest mugham singers of the 20th century (1901–1979), a master of the Karabakh school.
PersonAlim QasimovThe most celebrated mugham singer of our time (born 1957), winner of the UNESCO International Music Prize in 1999.