The dynamics of Azerbaijanian <italic>mugam</italic> in the twentieth century.

The Azerbaijanian art form mugam developed in a region that evolved under Persian, Greek, Turkish and Russian/Soviet rule. Azerbaijanian identity is split between Turkish and Persian roots and is influenced by the doctrines and aesthetics of Islam. Mugam weds classical written poetry with orally transmitted music. As a musical system, mugam comprises distinctive modes, melodies, motifs, formal patterns, genres and ornamentation. A mugam composition, or dastgah, is a sequence of improvisations interspersed with tasnif(s) (song-like pieces) and rang(s) (dances). It may last from fifteen minutes to two hours and is performed by trio of musicians including a khanande (singer) playing a tambourine-like gaval and two instrumentalists accompanying on tar (lute) and kamancha (fiddle). Traditionally passed from father to son and from master to a disciple, mugam revealed the hierarchical structure of Azerbaijanian society. Under twentieth century Soviet cultural institutions, musical kinship produced a new socialistic aristocracy. Descendants of the most famous khanande (s) became leading composers, performers of western classical music and musical administrators. Women, who had previously sung only in private, segregated settings, gradually entered the formerly male musical province. The performing venue of mugam has changed from weddings and religious celebrations, to the concert stage, operatic theater and radio and television broadcast. While there were many musical genres in Azerbaijan, mugam became a symbol of national consolidation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Mugam served as the basis for the composing school, founded by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the composer and modern theorist who created the first Azerbaijanian mugam-opera (1908). An analysis of seven renditions of a single mugam Bayati Shiraz, ranging from traditional vocal and instrumental performances (by the Alim Gasimov trio and by Arif Asadulaev) to an operatic version (Leili and Majnun by Hajibeyov) and symphonic fantasy (Gulistan Bayati Shiraz by Fikret Amirov) reveals the interplay of canon and improvisation. Beneath the flexible musical material and melodic idioms, the emotional content of Bayati Shiraz remains constant, embedded in love lyrics embodying romantic and patriotic passion. The inherent-code, known to natives, inspires a dialogue between performer/composer and audience.PhDCommunication and the ArtsCultural anthropologyLanguage, Literature and LinguisticsMiddle Eastern historyMiddle Eastern literatureMusicSocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/132509/2/9963978.pd