National consciousness in preSoviet Azerbaijan and the development of mugham

Abstract

Nationalism and cultural enlightenment in preSoviet Azerbaijan

The seed that gave rise to the Azerbaijani intelligentsia in the nineteenth century was planted with the European and Russian education sought by the native elites (Cornell 2011: 12). Many members of Azerbaijan’s high society studied in Russian universities that were modelled on German institutions and included European works of philosophy and literature in their curricula. The ideologies they were exposed to, coupled with the religious modernization among Turkic neighbours and national awakenings in the Caucasus, all inluenced the Azerbaijani intelligentsia to enact change. First, the forging of the Azerbaijani national identity was sparked and quickly gained momentum. Second, prominent igures of Azerbaijan’s elite, such as Haji ZeinalAdibinTaghiyev, Musa Naghiyev, and ShamsiAsadullayev, began to invest into the arts, thereby fuelling a cultural enlightenment. The latter process, as Audrey Altstadt explains, is akin to Europe’s Enlightenment rather than the Renaissance (Altstadt 2016: 1). It was led by a number of educated men who “shared a vision that learning would elevate their Muslim Turkic community to the level of contemporary Europe which they identiied with enlightenment, reason, science and technology, social reform, political participation and constitutionalism” (Altstadt 2016: 1). While ideologies related to Azerbaijani nationalism and enlightenment were borrowed from external sources, they were implemented by the native elites who subsequently established and fostered them internally. Members of the elite had close ties to the leading performers of mugham. One of the most prominent representatives of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia, Uzeyir Hajibeyov, wrote about this link between mugham and the bourgeoisie of Azerbaijan: “Musical and aesthetic needs of prerevolutionary bourgeoisie circles were met by the art of sazandar – knowers of traditional music, skilful performers who were able to induce in listeners the state of nəşa [a kind of intoxication with music] which led to many of them weeping” (Hajibeyov 1966: 51). According to many sources (e.g. Hajibeyov 1966; Shushinsky 1979), mugham performers and the intelligentsia often mingled at the same events such as mugham gatherings and weddings, collaborating on developing art and music. Thus, ideologies of the elites described above were circulating among mugham igures and affecting their activity. The forging of a national identity in Azerbaijan inspired the cultivation of mugham. For example, both tar playing and xanəndə singing experienced breakthroughs at the end of the nineteenth century as a result of the innovations made by tarzən Mirza Sadig Asadoglu and xanəndə Jabbar Garyagdioglu, who were from the city of Shusha. The synchronicity of these two milestones was no coincidence. While Mirza Sadig Asadoglu, also known as Sadigjan, revolutionized the structure of the tar, making it distinctly Azerbaijani, Jabbar Garyagdioglu was the irst to introduce ghazal singing in Azerbaijani rather than Persian, as had been customary. Both of these changes were similar in nature because they were aimed at making mugham into a more uniquely Azerbaijani artistic form. In this presentation, I will discuss how the tar and mugham underwent changes in preSoviet Azerbaijan that relected the formation of national consciousness at this time.

Formation of the mugham trio.

One of the most prominent developments was the establishment of the Azerbaijani mugham trio. From the writings of prominent singers Jabbar Garyagdioglu (18611944) and Bulbul (18971961), it is evident that during the irst half of the nineteenth century xanəndə performed with tar, kamança and balaban (doublereed wind instrument), while during the second half of that century with tar, kamança and qoşanağara (paired drums with rounded backs) (Shushinsky1979: 22). The Azerbaijani mugham trio as it exists today was formed in the early twentieth century to become the standard national ensemble for mugham performance. Once it crystallized, this arrangement withstood even the most drastic upheavals of the Soviet regime and continues to be the popular medium of mugham. 

Creation of the Azerbaijani Tar: Shusha’s Sadigjan.

The mountainous westernmost region of Azerbaijan called Karabakh is home to the nation’s historically most important musical centre – Shusha. Countless acclaimed mugham instrumentalists and vocalists were born in and around this city, including Sadigjan, Gurban Primov, Jabbar Garyagdioglu, Khan Shushinsky, Seyyid Shushinsky, and many others. Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, Shusha acquired a pivotal role in Azerbaijan’s political, economic, and cultural spheres (Shushinsky 1968: 54). There was a lot of trade centred on Shusha and the city’s international links directly impacted its cultural achievements. In this milieu, activity related to the native culture, including mugham, lourished. Furthermore, the religiosity of the city – manifested in the opulence of mosques and effervescent observance of rituals within the Islamic calendar (Shushinsky 1979: 54) – helped to cultivate mugham.

The formation of a single “Azerbaijani” national tar by Sadigjan took place at the end of the nineteenth century in Shusha. After this groundbreaking achievement, his version of the tar was popularized in all the main urban centres of Azerbaijan. Before this, there was much variation in the instruments played across Azerbaijan’s geographical regions, and it seems that in many areas the instrument was missing. For example, historical accounts of travellers disclose that the tar was not as prominent in the Absheron and Shirvan areas, suggesting that it was introduced later at the turn of the twentieth century. For example, one tar master with whom I studied conirmed that in the Absheron region there were no instruments such as the tar and kamança before late nineteenth century. Instead, saz was the main instrument used in performances along with tutek and zurna (Elkhan Mansurov, interview, 27 July 2016). Likewise, the tar is missing in reports about the Shirvan area, where a wealthy landowner Mahmud Aga held his musical məclisesin the nineteenth century. A vivid description of a musical soirée has been preserved in Alexandre Dumas’s travel journals, offering a glimpse into the musical scene in Shemakhi at the time (Shushinsky 1979: 16). Unlike in the Absheron and Shirvan regions, biographical data about mugham musicians shows that the tar was prevalent in Karabakh from the early nineteenth century. However, before the birth of the distinct national Azerbaijani tar by Sadigjan, this instrument in the Caucasus was very similar to the tar found across the border in Iran and was locally referred to as the “Caucasus tar.” Only after the transformation of the tar by Sadigjan was a uniquely Azerbaijani tar called “Karabakh tar”developed: Before, there used to be the “Caucasus tar” which was made in Tbilisi. After the innovations of Sadigjan, the new tars were made and called “Karabakh” tars and from here everything began to evolve. Presently the tar we (in Azerbaijan) play has the sound of an entire orchestra. This is the tar tied to Sadigjan. God bless him (Mansurov, “Memories about father Meshedi Suleyman”, 650.1.36: 3). Both secondary sources and current masters who know well the history of mugham assert that it was Ali Shirazi who brought the ivestring tar to Azerbaijan (Mansurov and Dadashov 2005: 89; Shushinsky 1982). At the time the tar had ive strings, 28 frets along its neck, a small belly, and was played on the knees. One knowledgeable musician reported: “Sadigjan learned from Ali Shirazi, Kharrat Gulu, and Kor Khalif. They all came from Iran, but these were Azerbaijanis. They knew mugham and religion well. And they came to Azerbaijan to perform in religious rituals” (Valeh Rahimov, interview, 11 December 2015). Admittedly, throughout his life, Sadigjan maintained prominent ties with Iran and the tar performance tradition there. Shushinsky recounts that once, when travelling to Iran, Sadigjan cut the frets (pərdə) on his tar, and intimidated Iranian tar players who, as a result, refused to compete with him. He also performed very well for Naser alDin Shah Qajar (1831 96) who then awarded him medals and gold. The Shah asked him to stay at court, but Sadigjan said that he could not live without Karabakh. However, the master did live intermittently in Iran and from 187578 he engaged in extensive study of the Iranian tar which led to his revolutionary adjustments made to the instrument. The seventeenfret system that characterizes Azerbaijani tar was Sadigjan’s primary creation (Dzhanizade 1998: 67). Abdulgassimov underscores that the Azerbaijani fret system devised by Sadigjan is similar to other modal systems of “Eastern peoples” in terms of the quantity (17 tones), yet different in its interior structure (Abdulgassimov 1990: 33). As is evident, Sadigjan’s goal was to make the fret system match the unique modal palette of Azerbaijani music. Shushinsky states that he got rid of many pərdə and left only 17 in one octave. As he omitted certain frets, he also added others. For instance, the irst pərdə that measures a semitone from the open string is an insertion of Sadigjan. This pərdə is called zabuland according to primary sources in Azerbaijan’s archives, it was added so that mugham zabul could be sung correctly in a lower register (Mansurov, “Bahram Mansurov’s written notes”, 650.1.32: 3). Another document states that in no other Eastern country are maqam modes played on the irst zabul pərdə (Mansurov, “Rules about mugham şöbə”, 650.1.25: 37). As mentioned above, prior to Sadigjan’s adaptations, the tar usually had ive strings. The two pairs of ringing zəng strings and the bas string were other important additions of the masterperformer. According to Abdulgassimov, there is great advantage in these strings as they are used in “the harmonic way” (Abdugassimov 1990: 26). They are often played at the end of musical sentences (cümlə, guşə, and şöbə), or between avaz segments, functioning as punctuation marks that signal short pauses. These can also be used in the middle of fragments to add more colour to a mugham and maintain a steady background sound of one of the fundamental tones. Moreover, the bas and four zəng strings provide symmetry in the main tuning, thereby achieving balance and stability in the overall tuning system. As a result, the tar does not go out of tune frequently. Lastly, various techniques and virtuosic patterns are played with these strings, giving Azerbaijani mugham its uniqueness and brilliance. Among musicians, the following expression is notable: “A tar without the sympathetic strings is like pilaf without butter” (Cingənəsiz tar yağsız aş kimidir) (Chelebiyev 2009: 50). Importantly, Abdulgassimov writes, “having increased the number of the strings of the tar Mirza Sadig gained the wide use of the tar as a solo instrument and especially it created the solo instrumental opportunity of mugham” (Abdulgassimov 1990: 32). In other words, attaching the extra strings was the decisive step towards making the instrument into a solo one. Another one of Sadigjan’s inventions was the new position of playing on the tar: the instrument was raised to chest level instead of being rested on the knees while performing. According to musicians, Sadigjan made changes to the big and small bellies of the instrument in order to facilitate playing on the chest: these parts were hollowed deeper for a broader diameter and a more oval shape. However, Jean During counters the claim that this position for performing was an invention of Sadigjan because the school of AliAkbar Farahani in mid nineteenth century in Iran was already employing it (During 1988: 57). In addition, Sadigjan added a connecting sound post inside the bellies for support, and at the same time allowed for increased intensity of sound. This created the vibration called xun (sorrow) that is commonly used during a performance when the tar is shaken for an echo effect. Abdulgassimov again underscores the particularity of the Azerbaijani tar due to these features: “We would like to mention that there had not been such qualities in the musical instruments of the Eastern world” (Abdulgassimov 1990: 23). An interesting conclusion is drawn byDzhanizade who writes that the change in playing posture made this instrument into a Turkic one because the Azerbaijani saz – linked to its Turkic heritage – is held at the same height on the chest and could have served as a model for Sadigjan (Dzhanizade 1998: 66). Besides innovations related to the instrument’s structure, Sadigjan expanded the repertoire and the playing technique. For example, he added (a) a şöbə section manəndə müxalif to mirzahüseynsegah, (b) şöbəhasarmuhalıf to zabul, and (c) many different parts to mahur, thus greatly enriching these mughams. Moreover, the ancient dances and rəngs such as turacı, ceyranı, uzundərə, tərəkəmə, vağzalı that are still played today, were all composed by Sadigjan(Mansurov, “Memories about father Meshedi Suleyman”, 650.1.36: 3). In this way, he not only deined the speciicity of the Azerbaijani mugham system but also contributed to the nationalization of Azerbaijani music. The level of tar virtuosity was advanced considerably by the master due to the numerous new techniques and tricks he created. There are many accounts about Sadigjan’s remarkable skills, such as these below by Meshedi Suleyman Mansurov (18721955), a tar player from Baku whose lineage forebears were close to Sadigjan: Father used to say that he [Sadigjan] played with one hand. His ingers were covered with burnt candle remains and then placed into a wool scarf. The callus that formed as a result, made his playing sound as if the right hand’s plectrum was involved when it wasn’t (Mansurov, “Memories about father Meshedi Suleyman”, 650.1.32: 3). Once Sadigjan and Lazar [famous tar player from Sadigjan’s time] were present in one məclis. After playing for a bit, Sadigjan suddenly took a knife and cut off the frets on his tar. He began to play without them. The audience was mesmerized (Mansurov and Dadashov 2005: 106). Shusha’s signiicance for the evolution of the tar is highlighted by another crucial circumstance: performers of mugham showcased their art at public concerts for the irst time in 1897. Subsequently, similar events were introduced in other cities such as Baku. Hence, another context for mugham was created and musicians began to perform for various organized charity events (Ismailzade 2006: 46). Prior to this, traditional music could only be heard at weddings, religious rituals, and məclisgatherings, all of which were exclusive to a certain degree. The new venue for performing mugham publicly also contributed to the development and enhancement of the Azerbaijani tar. The tar was not only brought on the stage but also made into a solo instrument, superseding its former role as an accompaniment instrument. Bagirova explains that the tar was transformed in the nineteenth century, establishing the tradition of solo instrumental performance of mugham (Bagirova 2007: 144). Sadigjan maintained a very strong link to the Absheron musicians. He irst came to Baku in 1878 when he was invited by Meshedi Melik Mansurov (1845 1909), the head of the main Absheron “Mansurov” tar lineage. Afterwards, he always came to participate at the mugham məclis gatherings held by Meshedi Melik Mansurov. Mahmud Aga, a wealthy patron of traditional music in the Shirvan region, also heard about Sadigjan and sent a golden carriage with Arabian horses to fetch him. Thus, Sadigjan cultivated connections to the main mugham regions in Azerbaijan at that time, and this certainly promoted his new instrument which soon spread all over the nation and became the standard version. As Chelebiyev notes: The new Azerbaijani tar [Sadigjan’s version] spread in North [Caucasus] and South [Iranian] Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and later in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Dagestan, and Turkey. In all the named places, up until this day, musicians play precisely on the new Azerbaijani tar, meaning on the tar of Sadigjan. From the time of Sadigjan to current days, Azerbaijan is the country of the tar, similar to the opera tradition of Italy. The old tar is only used by Persian musicians (Chelebiyev 2009: 13). While Chelebiyev stresses the geographical dissemination and popularity of the tar, he also refers to this as an instrument representative of Azerbaijan. As highlighted before, all the advancements of Sadigjan were aimed at creating a uniquely Azerbaijani tar in line with the nationalization that dominated this era. Certainly, many comments presented above by today’s musicians and scholars accentuate the fact that Sadigjan’s changes made the instrument more “Turkic” and separated it from the Iranian version that had been predominant in Azerbaijan before. Baku tar lineages: Absheron məclis tradition and the development of mugham Similar to Shusha, there were public concerts, xanəndə schools, and məclis esin Baku and the Absheron suburban towns. Out of these three, it seems that the musical məclises were especially conspicuous and pivotal in this region. Here, musicians, poets, dervishes, writers, and members of the intelligentsia worked together to transform mugham, with particular focus on developing the consonance between music and words. Young musicians and poets participated in these gatherings and learned by performing and receiving criticism from the connoisseurs. Hence, the məclises were also known as “schools” (Imrani 2000: 3). Shushinsky describes these məclises as meetings for highclass people in which xanəndə sang full dəstgahs and no dancing was allowed (Shushinsky 1979: 20). Indeed, this is where the most elaborate and complex forms of mugham were performed. These “musical məclis” as Shushinsky (1979) calls themwere different from religious or wedding gatherings that also featured mugham. The former did not seem to have a speciic function except for aesthetic enjoyment and development of the music’s structure. Moreover, discovering the virtuosic potential of performance was highly encouraged in this context, aligned with ideologies of identity formation and nationalism characteristic of the times. The irst tar player in the Mansurov legacy was Meshedi Melik Mansurov. His father, Aga Salah (180048),was the igure in charge of the irst underground musical gatherings in Baku prior to his son. These well off landowners owned a very spacious house in the Old City of Baku near the Juma Mosque where the meetings took place. The məclisesof Meshedi Melik Mansurov, unlike those that were being held before, were focused on mugham. Furthermore, they strengthened the networks among musicians from different regions in Azerbaijan and beyond. As a result, with these məclis that began in the 1880s, the mugham system was developed in an unprecedented manner. In order to build up his məclis enterprise, Meshedi Melik Mansurov began to befriend all visiting musicians and host them at his house. He even made arrangements for his servants to guard main roads that led into and out of Absheron and watch for any people with instruments. Soon Meshedi Melik Mansurov developed an extensive network of musicians and began to gather them for performances of mugham. As the news about his məclis esspread throughout Azerbaijan, leading musicians and poets from Karabakh and Shirvan started to join these musical happenings on a regular basis. In the beginning, the məclises featured only performances of mugham. With time, the sessions evolved to incorporate discussions about mugham and collaborative effort towards expansion and organization of the system. One of the few people who could equal Meshedi Melik Mansurov’s musicianship and knowledge at that time was Sadigjan and the two were very close friends who always consulted with each other on matters regarding mugham (Mansurov, “Bahram Mansurov’s written notes”, 650.1.32: 5). Another contemporary of MeshediMelikMansurov, MirzaFaraj (1847 1927) was also from the Old City of Baku. Like Sadigjan, he made signiicant changes related to the tar, but his innovations were mainly techniques appropriate to the new version of the instrument (Chelebiyev 2009: 13). He was a virtuoso and a knower. His granddaughter described him as such: “Grandfather was a lover of ghazal poetry. He recited ghazalsin Azerbaijani and in Persian with great inspiration” (RzayevaBaghirova 1986: 23). It is probable that this insight into the poetical aspect of mugham fuelled his creativity in terms of tar technique. There are recollections about him being unable to inish one dəstgah in three hours because of the imaginative engagement he demonstrated with mugham through technique (Rzayeva Baghirova 1986: 29). Meshedi Melik Mansurov had two sons who continued the Mansurov musical legacy: Meshedi Suleyman Mansurov and Mirza Mansur (1887 1967). Just like their father, the Mansurov brothers both helped to develop the məclises. Imrani explains: If in the məclisesof MeshediMelik (from 1863 to1909) the focus was on the rules and regularities of the whole dəstgahform and the link between music and poetry, the meetings of MeshediSuleyman (from 1909 to 1920) continued to evolve the foundations of instrumental playing established in the school of MeshediMelik, systematizing them. MeshediSuleyman’sməclises also stressed the musical interludes – təsnif, rəng, diringə. Mirza Mansur, continuing the tradition of məclis(from 1920 to1964),centred his activity on problems associated with the techniques of playing on traditional instruments. Advancing the methods of modulation, he developed the improvisational aspect of mughamperformance. He had a great role in creation of methods for teaching tar playing (Imrani 2000: 32). Meshedi Suleyman Mansurov had very close ties to all the mugham performers of those days and therefore was pivotal in the musical scene: “Meshedi Suleyman remained in history as one mugham’s distinguished knowers. There was no artist, no musician at this time, who had not been a guest at his house” (Mansurov and Dadashov 2005: 9). Meshedi Suleyman Mansurov’s tar was exemplary of the late nineteenth century since it had 11 strings, 17 tones in an octave, and 22 frets along the neck (Abdullayeva 2000: 96). This was Sadigjan’s new version of the tar that by this time became the popular model in Azerbaijan. Indeed, Meshedi Suleyman Mansurov was a devoted friend of Sadigjan, just like his father. There are memoirs of Meshedi Suleyman Mansurov, written by his son Bahram Mansurov (191185): For the wedding of Shamsi Asadullayev’s son Mirza, Sadigjan and his trio were invited from Tbilisi to Baku. 500 gold units were offered. I [Suleyman Mansurov] was the best man at this wedding. They began to play hümayun. I was looking at the players and listening. I saw that everyone is playing but all the performers are in such unison that it all sounds like one. The xanəndə was also singing. Only when they were playing the cadence, it became clear that all three were performing. I could not stand it and began to cry. Shamsi Asadullayev approached and asked “Suleyman, why are you crying? This is a wedding!” I said “Uncle, you do not understand the way they are performing” And what did I do? I announced to everyone “one diamond ring, now.” I told the groom to bring his ring and give it to Sadigjan – there was never a player like this, and there never will be! (Mansurov, “Memories about father Meshedi Suleyman”, 650.1.36: 2-3).  Conclusions The Azerbaijani elites joined forces striving to improve the status quo of the community they represented within the Russian empire. The gradual growth of local nationalism spilled into the activities and ambitions of native mugham musicians. For example, at the Karabakh and Absheron məclises, poets and singers worked together with master instrumentalists to develop the mugham system. This collaboration unfolded within musicians’ broad networks between major cities in Azerbaijan and musical centres in the vicinity, such as Tehran and Tbilisi. One central achievement that characterized the preSoviet context in Azerbaijan was the creation of a unique Azerbaijani mugham trio. Another milestone was the creation of the Azerbaijani tar by Sadigjan. This new version of the tar was soon popularized in all the regions of Azerbaijan and beyond, becoming an important symbol of the emerging national identity.