Said Rustamov (), born Mir-Jabbar Ali oglu Seyid-Rustamzadeh (12 May 1907,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

– 10 June 1983,

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

), was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i composer, conductor and pedagogue.

Life and contributions

Said Rustamov was born in

where he spent his early years and went to primary school. He was the youngest of the family's four children. After his father's death and his mother's second marriage, he was taken in and brought up by his older brother, who had been married by that time. In 1918, as a result of ethnic tensions in Yerevan, his brother was murdered.Said Rustamov: Bitter Sharbat
by N.Badalov. ''EL Jurnali''. May 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008 Rustamov's sister-in-law fled with the rest of her family, including himself, to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In 1919, they moved to

Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

, then Agdash and finally settled in

, where young Rustamov got admitted to a teachers seminary. As a teenager, he developed an interest in

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. His musical talent was noticed by one of his teachers, who introduced him to composer

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the Az� ...

. Hajibeyov arranged for the boy's enrolment in a

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black b ...

class at a music academy. At the same time, Rustamov further pursued his career in teaching and graduated from the Azerbaijani State Pedagogical Institute in 1932.Said Rustamov
. ''Adam.az'' Around 1930, he married Bika, a nurse whom he had met while living in Agdash. Together, they had four children (two sons and two daughters), all of whom would have been trained in professional music later in their lives. Rustamov published textbooks on

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

acquisition and the instruction of tar. His monographs include ''Azerbaijani Folk Dances'', ''Azerbaijani Folk Songs'' and ''Azerbaijani Ashig Songs''.Song Remains with Man
by Galina Mikeladze. "Азербайджанский Конгресс", №5(43), May 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2008 He also wrote children's poems, many of which became part of Azerbaijani school curricula. In 1935, he became the director and conductor of the newly established and unique folk instrument ensemble, and remained one for the next 40 years. In 1945, he was appointed director of the Fioletov Club Song and Dance Ensemble and, in 1951, of the Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble. In 1948–1953, he was Chairman of the Composers Union of Azerbaijan. In 1951, he received the Stalin Prize, the highest-ranking award in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1957, he became

People's Artiste of the Azerbaijan SSR The People's Artiste of the Azerbaijan SSR () was an honorary title awarded from 1931 to 1991 (and active from 1928 to 1991), it was granted to artistes of the Azerbaijan SSR for their contributions to the development of Azerbaijani culture in th ...

. During his career in music, Rustamov composed hundreds of musical pieces, including

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

for popular

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

s and accompaniment for many theatrical plays, as well as suites,

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s, etc.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rustamov, Said 1907 births 1983 deaths Musicians from Yerevan Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Honored Art Workers of the Azerbaijan SSR People's Artistes of the Azerbaijan SSR Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Stalin Prize Azerbaijani conductors (music) Azerbaijani male composers Azerbaijani music educators Soviet Azerbaijani people Soviet conductors (music) Soviet male composers Soviet music educators Burials at Alley of Honor

Life and contributions

See also

References