Magomayev, (Abdul) Muslim
Magomayev, (Abdul) Muslim
Magomayev, (Abdul) Muslim, Azerbaijani conductor and composer; b. Shusha, Sept. 18, 1885; d. Baku, July 28, 1937. He studied at the Gori teachers’ seminary (1899–1904), and learned to play violin and clarinet. He taught at Lenkoran Coll. (1905–11), then settled in Baku as an orch. player, conductor, and teacher at the Azerbaijani Theater. Later he was associated with the National Commissariat of Enlightenment, becoming artistic director and conductor of the musical theater (1924); was music director of the Azerbaijani Radio (from 1929). The first version of his opera Shah Ismail (1916; Baku, 1919) was mainly made up of improvised songs and dialogue; he later revised it with notated improvisatory sections and added recitatives (1920–23; 1930–32). His second opera, Nergiz (1934; Baku, Jan. 1, 1936), was fully notated. He also wrote orch. pieces, incidental music, film scores, and numerous arrangements of folk songs and dances.
Bibliography
G. Ismailova,M. M. (Baku, 1975).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire