Doctor of Musical Arts Dissertations

Contemporary piano works by three Azerbaijani composers

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

Department

Contemporary Music

First Advisor

Robert Satterlee (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Karen Benjamin Guzzo (Other)

Third Advisor

Laura Melton (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Megan Rancier (Committee Member)

Abstract

Azerbaijani traditional music has multifaceted oral traditions. The following were developed without the use of notation: folk dances, ashuq tunes, ceremonial songs, mugham and meykhana genre. These multifaceted genres have played an important role in the development of Azerbaijani written music culture. The westernization of the musical output of Azerbaijan is a relatively new stylistic phenomenon. This stylistic change began at the beginning of the twentieth century, when a wave of composers began to establish themselves, starting in Azerbaijan with Uzeyir Hajibeyli (1885–1942), who aimed to compose in the western meaning of the word but used the mugham style in his compositions. Composers of today follow Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s lead, combining Azerbaijani traditions with Western elements. With this research, I want to find out how three Azerbaijani composers integrate traditional music elements of Azerbaijani music with Western classical art tradition. In this paper, I analyze three pieces for solo piano by three Azerbaijani composers: Tahir Ibishov, Said Gani, Turkar Gasimzada. I have commissioned a piece by Said Gani specifically for this dissertation.

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