Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the mugham tradition is thriving in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku, finds Simon Broughton
Going down into an underpass to cross the busy boulevard that runs along the Caspian Sea in Baku, I hear a delicate-but-piercing twangy sound echoing in the passageway. It is a busker with his music case open for donations. It’s only in Azerbaijan that you’re likely to see a street musician playing a tar – a plucked lute with a distinctive figure-of-eight shaped body. One of the reasons he’s playing here is probably because this subway leads towards the International Mugham Center, the main venue for mughammusic in which the tar plays an important part.
Mugham is Azerbaijan’s home-grown ‘classical’ or ‘art’ music. In its traditional form it features a singer accompanied by a small ensemble, usually comprising the plucked tar and bowed kamāncha (spike-fiddle) plus a daf or gaval (frame drum), generally played by the singer. These core instruments are depicted on the Azeri one manat note. Sometimes, the ensemble is expanded with a reedy, oboe-like balaban, a clarinet, lute or qanun zither. Slower vocal sections alternate with faster instrumental ones. You can compare the genre’s textures with the interwoven threads of a handmade carpet – another artform in which the country excels.
Azerbaijan is where the Turkic and Persian worlds overlap. Most of its poems and songs are in Azeri, which is close to Turkish – they are often devoted to love, or are Islamic Sufi songs about love of the divine. The accompanying instruments mostly come from the Persian world and are used in neighbouring Iran, although the Azeris have taken tar playing to a high level and it is frequently heard as a solo instrument. There are 10 million Azeris in Azerbaijan, but up to a further 17 million living as the largest minority in Iran.
The word ‘mugham’ comes from the Arabic word maqam, meaning a musical mode or scale. The names of the various modes are shared in the Arabic, Turkic and Persian worlds, although the specific details often vary from country to country. In mugham there are rules and traditions to be followed, but plenty of room for personal expression and improvisation as well. It’s a fine balancing act requiring memorisation of repertoire and extemporisation in performance.
The most-famous mugham singer is Alim Qasimov, who has toured widely – several times in Britain – and these days generally performs with his daughter Fargana. There are many younger singers, too, including Gochag Askarov (who pe
