Tofig Ahmed-agha oglu Bakikhanov () is a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was awarded the title

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 ...

(1990).

Biography

Tofig Bakikhanov, a descendant of Baku khans, was born on 8 December 1930 in

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 ...

, in the family of Ahmed–agha Bakikhanov, People's Artist of Azerbaijan. He began his musical activity as a violinist. In 1953, Bakikhanov graduated from the Azerbaijan State Conservatory specializing in

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, where Fikret Amirov was his teacher. In 1957, he majored in music composing, where his teacher was another prominent Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev. In 1950–1953, Bakikhanov worked as a violinist in the trio of the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Society. In 1953, he was the teacher and head of the string department of the Zeynally Baku College of Music. In 1966, he managed the department of arts edition and from 1968, the department of note-music literature of the

Azernashr Azernashr () is a major publishing house in Azerbaijan. It is the official state publishing house, based in Baku. Azerneshr started its operations in 1923. Within the period of existence, the publishing house produced tens of thousands of books o ...

publishing house. From 1970, Bakikhanov began to work as the senior teacher of the department of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

and as the dean of the performing program of the Azerbaijan Conservatory.

Creativity

Bakikhanov is the author of concerts for violin,

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, dual concerts, musical comedies. Now the composer is the professor of Baku Academy of Music. Starting from 1969 till now, Bakikhanov performed recitals in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

and in other cities.

Authorship

*"Mammadali is going to resort" (with Mammadov, Baku, 1968) *"One of six" operetta (with Mammadov, Baku, 1964) *"The girl is in a hurry to a date" *"On remote shores" poem (1956) *"Welcoming overture" (1961) *Three symphonies for chamber orchestra (1960, 1962, 1963) In 1968, Bakikhanov's ''Caspian Ballade'' ballet was staged at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. "

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

ern poem" (1976), "Good and evil" (1990) compositions followed this ballet. 6 symphonies, 5

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

s for different instruments: 24

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s, 26 concerts with symphonic orchestra, vocal and instrumental compositions.

Awards

*Union of Azerbaijani Composers, member since 1958. *Honorary Art Worker of Azerbaijan, since 1973. *Professor since 1983. *

(1990) *Doctor of Arts of the Azerbaijan National Creative Academy since 1966. * Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov grant from 1994 to 2000. *Sign of Honour Order (2000) *

Order of Glory The Order of Glory () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union established by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on November 8, 1943. It was awarded to soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the Red Army as well as to aviation ...

. *Honorary diploma of the President of Azerbaijan Republic, on 24 December 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakikhanov, Tofig 1930 births Living people Azerbaijani composers Musicians from Baku People's Artistes of the Azerbaijan SSR Soviet composers Soviet male composers Soviet Azerbaijani people Azerbaijani nobility Baku Academy of Music alumni Recipients of the Order of Glory 20th-century male composers Bakikhanov family Honored Art Workers of the Azerbaijan SSR