Fikret Mashadi Jamil oghlu Amirov (November 22, 1922, Ganja - February 20, 1984, Baku) was a prominent Azerbaijani composer of the Soviet period. Fikret Amirov grew up in an atmosphere of Azerbaijani folk music. His father, Mashadi Jamil Amirov, was a famous mugam singer from Shusha, who played tar and composed, including the 1915 opera Seyfal mulk. During his childhood and early adolescence, Fikret began composing pieces for the piano. Upon his graduation from the Ganja Music College, Amirov entered the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire, now known as the Baku Music Academy, where he was a student of Boris Zeidman and Uzeyir Hajibeyov. In 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, Amirov, 19 at the time, was drafted to the Soviet army. He was wounded near Voronezh, hospitalized and demobilized from the military service, returning to Baku to continue his studies at the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. Amirovs music was strongly influenced by Azeri folk melodies. He created a new genre called symphonic mugam. Amirovs symphonic mugams were based on classical folk pieces and were performed by many renowned symphony orchestras throughout the world, such as the Houston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Amirov was a prolific composer. His most famous pieces include symphonic works such as Shur (1946), Kurd Ovshari (1949), Azerbaijan Capriccio (1961), Gulustan Bayati-Shiraz (1968), The Legend of Nasimi (1977), To the Memory of the Heroes of the Great National War (1944), Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra (1948) etc. His ballets include Nizami (1947) and 1,001 Nights, (sometimes referred to as The Arabian Nights) which premiered in 1979. Amirov wrote the opera Sevil in 1953. He also wrote a number of pieces for the piano including Ballad, Ashugs Song, Nocturne, Humoreska, Lyrical Dance, Waltz, Lullaby and Toccata. He also wrote numerous film scores. Michelle Kwan, World Champion Ice Skater from the U.S. used Fikret Amirovs symphonic piece Gulustan Bayati-Shiraz in her skating program Taj Mahal in 1997.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 16:28:24 +0000
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