Abdul Magomaev

Born Sept. 6 (18), 1885, in Groznyi; died July 28, 1937, in Nal’chik. Soviet composer and conductor. Musician and public figure. Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR (1935). One of the founders of Azerbaijani musical theater.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Magomaev held several positions connected with the arts; he served as head of the division of the arts of the People’s Commissariat of Education of Azerbaijan, director of the music staff of the Baku radio broadcasting station, and director and chief conductor of the M. F. Akhundov Theater of Opera and Ballet.

Magomaev was one of the first Azerbaijani composers to advocate the blending of European musical forms with the Azerbaijani folk song. His works, in various genres, include the mugam opera Shah Ismail (1919, Baku); the symphonic plays Dance of the Liberated Azerbaijani Woman, On the Fields of Azerbaijan, A March Dedicated to the Seventeenth Party Congress, and March R V-8; and songs and music for plays and films. His best work was the opera Nergiz (1935, Baku), about the struggle of the Azerbaijani peasants for Soviet power.