| T. Ghafurbekov translated by
copyright 1995 |
|
| T. Ghafurbekov translated by
copyright 1995 |
Without a doubt, the end of the 20th century will be recognized as a historical era for European-style music. During this period, alongside the regularities, some irregularities happened as well. These irregularities were not confined to the United States and Europe but included other nations, including the recently-formed independent republics of the former Soviet Union. What is peculiar about this era is that it imposed the varied music of the West on the traditional music of the Eastern peoples. The outcome of this imposition was often disastrous.
During the 70 years of Soviet rule, an unrealistic and unwise policy was in place. This policy injected a heavy dose of communist ideology into the works of the Central Asian musicians. As a result of this imposed ideology all aspects of the creative process, including composition, were affected. The composer became the executor of orders from above; he composed only pieces that were needed by the regime and which were ordered by the Communist Party. It is sad to say that the musician, rather than as a free person, had become a lackey of the Party functionaries. Many musicians turned their back on our national/traditional musical culture, and, insolently, humiliated it and its supporters. The regime justified this kind of neglect of the heritage of the masters of instrumentation and voice by associating it with the actions of detested feudalist states-something alien to the progressive Soviet mind.
What was the civilization that the Soviets so forcefully suppressed? It was the result of the untiring efforts of great Central Asians like Borbad (6th and 7th centuries), Ibn-i Suraij (d. 743), Abu Abdullah Rudaki (858-941), Abu Nasr al-Farabi (873-950), and others. Is this not an astounding phenomenon in the history of world civilization? Besides, the contributions of these great men were not confined to a specific area. They participated in the formation of regions and nations by promoting instrumentation, voice, and lyricism.
A survey of the literature on music and the musicians of the past centuries yields the following points: 1
1 - The monody music has grown alongside the Islamic religion and, over centuries of development, has influenced the thoughts of millions of people.
2 - The essence and the various interpretations of musical compositions are unique and unrepeatable phenomena. These phenomena encompass fine but substantial points regarding the rhythmic and melodic qualities of the music.
3 - During the 70 years of Soviet domination, under the guise of "realist socialism," terms like compositor and melodik (musician), were imposed on the Central Asian artists. Today these appellations should be replaced by akin in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, ashiq in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan they should be referred to as bastakar.
4 - Furthermore, like in other progressive countries, the monody artists should be identified with their contributions and should be duly rewarded.
5 - The phenomena outlined above have the same special scientific and practical values as their creators. These distinctions, to a degree, had been included in the maqams and used as criteria for differentiating among the styles and modes of musical compositions.
Among the compositions at our disposal, there are certain songs the creators of which are unknown. What is the spiritual impact and the meaning of these monody pieces? The answer to this question can be equally easy and difficult. The difficulty lies in that the vocal aspects of these pieces are unknown; the establishment of their tonality and melody is also difficult. The artist performing the piece is not sure how to end what he has started. Finally, he finishes it by improvisation. In other words, the composer of this monody composition does not follow any particular set of rules. Let us illustrate the above statement with specific examples. The peculiarities of the creation of bayaz music appear in Tajiki, Turkish, and Arabic texts of the 9th to the 19th centuries. These texts explain not only the geographic domain and the compositional complexity of the piece, they also explain the time of the performance of the piece. More specifically, one of the famous melodies is called "chargah." Its composer is Pahlavan Muhammad who lived in the 15th century. The piece is based on Mawlana Tuti's and begins with the following bayts: O Saqi, yesterday is gone and tomorrow's nowhere to be seen
This extremely pleasant song is composed in honor of the Great Mir Tirmidhi. Every musician in Khurasan, especially in Samarqand and the Iraq of Ajam, had heard this piece. Indeed, it remains indelibly etched in the memories of the people.2 There is no doubt that the account presented above is sufficient for identifying the work and its author. If we pay closer attention to Alisher Nava'i's description (his teacher is Ustad Khwajah Yusif ), the impact of this music on, and its value for, the people of its society will become evident. The important thing is that Pahlavan's work covers a large geographical area. It is not difficult to identify the characteristics of Muhammad Pahlavan's work, using Nava'i. The work appears in different forms in other musical compositions and utilizes the required poetic and chahardah-zarbi principles. A comparison of the many texts of this form in present-day musical compositions proves this point. These texts include: chargah; one of the shu'bas of maqam, zagulah (12 maqams in all); the instrumental shu'ba of Mukhammas chargah; vocal shu'bas of talqin chargah; nasr-i chargah; ufar-i chargah; and, finally, the five types of savt-i chargah and maqam-i dugah in shashmaqam. It may even include, theoretically at least, talqin-i savt-i chargah, which is the initial part of the quintet mentioned above (see advar, etc.). Using the same method, we can identify another musical work attributed to Alisher Nava'i. This work, compared to Pahlavan Muhammad's work, is more exact. In Zain al-Din Vasifi's Badaye' al-Vaqaye' we encounter a famous ghazal by Amir Alisher which begins with: din afat-i har mughbacha-i mah liqa dur meykhara va bibak. The compositor of the melody is Khaja Abdulla Marvarid (d. 1516). Our investigation began with the ghazal of Nava'i (the incomplete text).3 This is a fine work with percussion and melodic values. Furthermore, during this historical phase (i.e., until the 19th century, even the beginning of the 20th century) the work has remained intact. During the Soviet era, a considerable portion of Uzbek musical works were either damaged or forgotten. The old songs that persisted were subject to the whim of contemporary poets. This included the organization of the Bukhari, Khwarazmi, and Ferghani maqams. Among the works that have survived, we can mention: mustazad (name of a poetic meter) and in shashmaqam (the buzruk maqam), mustazad ruk, qashqarcha-i ruk, saqinama-i ruk, ufar-i ruk, and Siyavosh-i ruk. There is also the nava maqam, including mustazad-i nava. Saqinama-i mustazad-i nava, and ufar-i mustazad-i nava. These are presented in instrumental or vocal form for the surnai. 4 As a result of the comparison of a number of maqam compositions and related mustazad forms we come to the conclusion that poetry of the contemporary Khwarazmian poet, Chakiri (Muhammad Yusif Kharrat [1889-1952]), fits Nava'i's compositions best. This should have been stated a long time ago that Chakiri knew the poetry of Nava'i well and that he based many of his lyrics on the traditional music or performed the traditional compositions according to his own personal style. He has composed many works using Nava'i's work. The proof of this, of course, more than anywhere, is in the heroes of Chakiri-they resemble the heroes of Nava'i very closely. Herewith, therefore, we state that the composer of the chargah melody is Khaja Abdullah Marvarid. Our statement is supported by other composers, including Muhammad Ali Fattah Khan, Jurabek Nabi, young singers Irkin Ruzimat, and Mashrab Iramat. Research in the various facets of music, especially in the processes whereby unknown pieces are composed, is of great value. We must use the knowledge stored in our manuscript collections, compare the data therein with current usage, and identify some of the unknown and less known musical compositions.
Let us enjoy ourselves today, whoever saw yesterday?
Selected Bibliography
From the Hymns of Zarathustra to the Songs of Borbad