CULTURE
Fikret Amirov - prominent Azerbaijani composer
Baku, February 21, AZERTAC
The prominent Azerbaijani composer Fikret Amirov was born in Ganja, in 1922.
Fikret Amirov grew up in an atmosphere of Azerbaijani folk music. Amirov`s father was a mugham singer and creator of folk songs, and the younger composer, in adapting the mugham for symphony orchestra, seems to have taken the adjectives “large” and “rhapsodic” to heart. Shur and Kyurdi Ovshari, especially, are lengthy works which leap from one contrasting idea to another for quite some time before ending rather arbitrarily.
Amirov`s music is hugely attractive, because many of the tunes are great, the dances are all energetic and brightly scored, and the parade of exotic sounds and colours never ceases. Amirov`s symphonic mughams were based on classical folk pieces and were performed by many renowned symphony orchestras throughout the world.
His most famous pieces also include symphonic works as "Azerbaijan Capriccio", "Gulustan Bayati-Shiraz", "The Legend of Nasimi". Fikret Amirov composed the world – famous ballets "Nizami" and “The Arabian Nights”.
The outstanding composer Fikret Amirov died in Baku in 1984.