Outstanding Azerbaijani music theorists
Safiaddin Urmavi (1216-1294) - was born in the city of Urmia, the ancient cultural center of Azerbaijan. He received his primary music education in his homeland and learned to play the beautifully oud here. Urmavi, continued his education in Baghdad, became famous as a music connoisseur, composer and calligrapher. Prominent musicologists of the East and the West praised his works "Kitab al-Adwar" ("Book of Circles") and "Risala al-Sharafiyya", calling these works, as well as his "School of Systematics" a new era in the development of music theory and science. S.Urmavi gave the sound layers of 12 mugham circles and 6 voices of Eastern music within the framework of diatonic gamma. Urmavi, the inventor of musical instruments such as the mugni and the nuzha, was able to bring the most ancient melodies to the present day with the "note of Abjad" (representation of numbers in Arabic letters). Abdulgadir Maraghi, Mirmohsun Navvab and Uzeyir Hajibeyli are among dozens of followers of his theory.
Abdulgadir Maraghi (1353-1435) - was born in Maragha, the center of science and culture of Azerbaijan. He received his first music education here and further improved it in Tabriz. Maraghi mastered the theory of oriental music and became famous as a beautiful singer, composer, artist, calligrapher and poet. He lived in the palace of the Jalairi in Tabriz and wrote most of his works here. Maraghi, a successor of Safiaddin Urmavi, left a deep mark on the history of Azerbaijani music with his works “Jame al-Alhan” (“Compendium of melodies”) and “Sharh-i Adwar” (“Explanations on cycles”) dedicated to music theory, classified mughams for the first time, and created 24 subdivisions from 12 main mughams. Maraghi, who during the attacks of the Timurids taken to Samarkand, spent the last years of his life in Herat, Shahrukh's palace, wrote both the music and the lyrics of many songs, and was the author of 20 new rhythms.
Uzeyir Hajibeyli (1885-1948) - was born in the XIX-XX centuries in the village of Agjabedi near the city of Shusha, called the "Conservatory of the Caucasus." He received his primary education in Shusha, later continued his studies at the Gori Teachers' Seminary in Georgia. He was the founder of modern Azerbaijani music culture and laid the foundation of the national school of composition. He was the creator of the Azerbaijani national opera, including the first opera in the East, as well as a musicologist, scientist, publicist, playwright and public figure. U.Hajibeyli's opera "Leyli and Majnun" staged in 1908, the author of seven operas and three operettas, made him famous as the author of the first opera in the Muslim East. He documented more than 300 folk songs by notation, composed anthems, romances, songs and other musical works, and was the author of Azerbaijan's national and Soviet anthems. U.Hajibeyli as a music theorist was able to explain the issues raised and resolved in his book "Basis of Azerbaijani folk music", in particular, the provisions of S.Urmavi's "Kitab al-Advar", including mugham, at the level of modern music science. The work of U.Hajibeyli, the teacher of many Azerbaijani composers was highly appreciated by American music historian Matthew O'Brien: "Composer Hajibeyli is comparable to Glinka, his influence as a teacher is comparable to the contribution of Rim-Korsakov or Taneev, and as the founder of Azerbaijani music education Hajibeyli can be compared to the Rubinstein brothers."
September 18, U.Hajibeyli's birthday is celebrated as Music Day in Azerbaijan.