AMIROV Fikret

Bio

Fikret Amirov (1922-1984) was a prominent composer of the Soviet period who was raised in the city of Baku within an atmosphere of Azerbaijani folk music. His father, Mashadi Jamil Amirov, was a famous singer of the style known as "Mugam" who performed the tar and composed an Azerbaijani opera titled "Seyfal Mulk." To those unfamiliar with Azerbaijani music, Fikret Amirov's music sounds essentially Romantic is style, often colorfully scored and incorporates Azerbaijani rhythms, melodies and influences. His orchestral suites, based on the style of Azerbaijan Mugams often contain appealing exotic melodies reminiscent of Rimsky-Korsakov, Khachaturian and Turkish music. One of his early champions outside the USSR was Leopold Stokowski, who conducted and recorded Amirov's suite titled Kyurd Ovsharï, identified on the album simply as "Azerbaijan Mugam".