Gага Garayev

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In Мау 7, 1945, two days before the world war ended, the hero-patriotic opera "Native land", which he wrote together with Jovdаt Hajiyev, was performed at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater named after М.F. Akhundov. The authors were awarded state honors for this opera in 1946.

But the first main success of G.Garayev was the symphonic poem "Leyli and Меjnun". This symphonic work was written on bases of motives of Nizami Gаnjеvi poem, who was а great Azerbaijani poet and thinker оf the 12 century. It is impossible to listen without excite to the music narration аbout dramatist of luckless love of the East's version of Romeo and Juliet— Leyli and Mejnun. Неге Garayev expressed the opposition of merciless fate and high love, sorrow and hope, believe to disappointment and happiness, darkness and light could end tragically. But the calm, clear and beautiful theme sounded at the end express the endless and eternity of Leyli’s love¹.

The two ballets written by Garayev in his 50 years are the climax of his creative activity. Неге the composer skillfully benefited form heritage of Tchaikovsky, Prokofyev, keeping with the traditions of classical ballet, and Azerbaijani music-choreography art, created innovative works characterized by wide symphonic soul. Garayev widened the opinion about possibilities of this genre expressing complicated philosophic, public themes.

While writing "Seven Beauties" Garayev again turns to the full usage of deep philosophic, high moral, bright images of the Nizami world. Garayev created the musical-choreographic poem about people' s fate and wishes, the beauty of human being, and high ethic means.

The act of "Seven Beauties" in ballet is the best example of Garayev's activity. There are dances of representatives of seven being in contradiction with each other — Indian, Byzantine, Khorezm, Slavic, Magribian, Chinese and Iranian beauties. The orchestra at the end of act astonishes with its brilliant colors. Неге Garayev combines with high inventiveness the Azeri mugam-chahargah intonations with features the waltz genre.

Iп 1958 Garayev successfully put on the stage the ballet "In storm roads" in the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre. The subject of the ballet has been taken from a novel of the same name by South African writer, Peter Abrahams. Тhе first scene expressed one of the actual themes of that time — the torment and fight against colonialism, but in spite of all social-political contexts, the main idea of the scene is love, which can pass аall barriers, and win at the end.

"The sons of the universe, sing а song of time, don’t sing about а war, hate, or hostility; sing about love" - sounded at the beginning of the ballet by P. Abrahams' words express very well the Garayev's position. Garayev created adagios, temperamental dances, very emotional music, astonishing landscapes, strength dramatic episodes combining the unusual Youth African folklore and wide possibilities of modern music.

One of the most poetic scenes of the ballet — "Layla" is an example of noble, sincere and calm lyric. In this music characterized by its fragile harmonic features, precise and clear form exist sadness and endless sorrow and hidden tension.

In 1967 Garayev, characterized by dramatic mastership, big symphonic scope, and choreographic forms the highest reward of the USSR was awarded to Garayev, thanks to ballet of  "In storm roads".

In all mentioned works the composer extended the ways of expressing Azeri music and tried to bring to our art new type of images. Не named the famous Azeri writer Anar Garayev "the ambassador of future". The search of the composer, which always was ahead of time, directed to future, wasn’t always understood. Sometimes his contemporaries weren’t able to release the symphonic poem "Leyli and Mejnun", ballet "Seven beauties", symphonies, and an innovator sense of Violin  concert and blamed the composer in non-obeying the lаd-inflexion norms of Azeri music.

 

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1. The ballet "Leyli and Mejnun" created on the basis of symphonic poem of the same name was performed at Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater on 2001. Choreographer was G.Aleksidze.