2024-02-16 10:44:24
“Most of my songs have a happy fate – they were performed by Shovket Alekperova, Sara Gadimova, Sakina Ismailova, Zeinab Khanlarova. Of the romances, the cycle written on lines from Samed Vurgun’s poem “Aygun” is especially dear to me. I suspect that the poet reflected exactly mine in the poem life, the fate of the heroine has something in common with mine,” said the outstanding composer, the first female composer in the East to write an opera, holder of the Shohrat Order, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Shafiga Akhundova, whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year.
As Day.Az reports with reference to Trend, Shafiga Akhundova was born on January 21, 1924 in the city of Sheki. Her father Gulam was a statesman and the first secretary of the Sheki district district committee, carried out extensive educational activities, opened schools and educational institutions for the poor, organized a theater, and was the creator and first editor-in-chief of the Nukha Fekhlesi newspaper. Her mother, Zuleikha Khanim, was very musical; she taught herself to play the accordion and, in her free moments from homework, often played Azerbaijani folk melodies.
Shafiga Akhundova: “I apparently fell into it. As soon as the melody started playing, I couldn’t sit still, I danced and jumped. “My daughter is like a “chali gushu” (singing bird) Her legs are always dancing, and her hands are playing!” – Mom said.” My older sister Zumrud was married to the famous writer Mammad Araz Dadashzade. Singers, poets, writers with their wives gathered in their house, and among them Samed Vurgun, Rasul Rza, Mirza Ibragimov. Men usually sat in Mamed Araz’s office, and women – in the room where the piano stood. And, as a rule, after talking a lot, they asked their sister: “Let Shafiga play something.”
Shafiga constantly played something on the piano and hummed, which often angered her father. He saw in his children future scientists, serious and educated people, and for Shafighi he predicted a future as a doctor. But time had its own way. When the family moved to Baku, her older sister Zumrud, by then a candidate of philological sciences, decided to take Shafiga to the great composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli for an audition. That day she performed her song “Beşik başında”, and she played and sang herself, which amazed Uzeyir Hajibeyli. The composer noted that Shafiga could become not only a composer, but also a wonderful vocalist. This day became a turning point in her life.
In 1943, she began studying at the Baku Music School named after Asaf Zeynalli, first in the tar class with Agabaji Rzayeva, in theory with Mamed Nasirbekov, and then took lessons from Uzeir Hajibeyli. The great composer highly valued the vocal abilities of his student and really wanted her to perform the part of Nigar in his opera “Koroglu” and Gulchohra in the operetta “Arshin Mal Alan”. But, unfortunately, it was not possible to realize these ideas, since his father did not allow Shafiga to go on stage.
Shafiga Akhundova recalled not only the skill of her mentor, but also his high human qualities: “Once I came to a lesson, and Uzeir-bey, looking at me, said: “Somehow I don’t like you today, Shafiga. Why are your eyes red? Did you cry?” I had to admit that I had lost all the coupons for bread. And this was during the war years, when bread in stores was issued only by cards. And then, without hesitation, he gave me his coupons and asked me to promise that I I will never lose my bread cards.”
Uzeyir Hajibeyli called her “gochag gyz” (brave girl), because she could afford to say or do things that not every guy would dare to do. The very fact of entering a music school against the will of my father was already a brave act. In the first days, he didn’t even want to let her home, and the girl had to spend the night with neighbors. And then he finally gave in – Zuleikha Khanim managed to reconcile her husband and daughter through persuasion.
Her composing career began during the war years. Even then, the press noted that “Shafiga Akhundova is one of the first young Azerbaijani girl composers who serves the Motherland with her wonderful songs and wonderful music.” One of the memorable pages of that period was her participation in the creation of the National Anthem of the Azerbaijan SSR. This was in 1944. Uzeyir Hajibeyli involved his students Ashraf Abbasov, Suleyman Alesgarov and Shafiga Akhundova in creating the anthem. And its first performer at the Philharmonic audition was Shafiga Khanim herself.
In 1951, she continued her education as a composer at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli.
In 1972, having written the opera “Gəlin qalası” (Bride’s Rock), she became the first female composer in the East. The work was written to a libretto by Iskender Joshgun based on the story of the same name by Suleiman Rahimov. Initially, Shafiga Akhundova wrote music for a radio play, but the author of the story, Suleiman Rahimov, invited her to write an opera. Having learned about this, some asked with irony in their voices: “Shafiga and opera”? And when she came to the Azerbaijan Composers Union and presented the work to Tofig Guliyev, to say that the master was surprised is to say nothing. Opera is considered one of the most difficult forms of musical work, but nothing could scare Shafiga! Moreover, on the day of the premiere it was such a full house that firefighters arrived and forbade letting even more people into the hall, otherwise the amphitheater could collapse. The work was staged on the stage of the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater, and after the operas of Uzeyir Hajibeyli and Muslim Magomayev, the opera “Gəlin qalası” became the first opera rich in the traditions of mugham operas. In 1974, a new production of the opera took place with a libretto by Agakishi Kazimov.
The almost 70-year activity of Shafiga Akhundova, a master with a wide creative range, includes about 600 works – songs and romances, operas and operettas, symphonic suites and plays, musical scores for performances in drama theaters. She took great responsibility for the choice of texts that she was going to express in musical images. The composer always worked only on those topics that touched her heart and expressed the highest human feelings. That’s why her music remains the best for many performers to this day. Each composition she wrote based on the verses of Nizami, Fuzuli, as well as outstanding contemporary poets, was performed at one time by the best Azerbaijani singers, who perceived these works as a gift and fell in love with them immediately and forever.
Her son, the talented pianist Taleh Gadzhiev, was called a man-orchestra, so masterfully did he perform music. Mother and son were very strongly attached to each other. Taleh participated most actively in the preparation of Shafiga Akhundova’s works. He was very talented, but, unfortunately, sickly. Taleh died in 2008, at the age of 49…
This loss greatly affected the mother’s health. Shafiga Akhundova died on July 26, 2013 in Baku. Before her death, she bequeathed to bury her to her favorite song. The whole country said goodbye to Shafiga Akhundova, and the wind carried her farewell testament in the song “Həyat, sən nə şirinsən” over the Alley of Honorary Burial, over Baku. (Life, how sweet you are)…
“For me, a song is a small human novel. A song should be democratic – but not ostentatious, but actually accessible. There is an old, perhaps sentimental concept: to love people. If a song is not written in defense of various human values, it has no meaning create. You can create a song when you are sure that you can create what the majority of people feel and think,” said Shafiga Akhundova…
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