If the first major branch of the Azerbaijan folk music is mugham , the following is definitely ashug creativity. The word " ashug" translates as " fell under the yoke of love." Officially, according to the pages of history , the phrase " ashug creativity " occurs from the 14th century. Antiquity of ashugs is undeniable. In antiquity ashugs were called "Ozan", which means the bard, or "grandfather." The dastan (epos) "Dede Gorgud" is the oldest ashug product preserved in writing and is at the beginning of our era. 1300 years ago Gorgud with his lute sang and wrote epics about the life of the Oguz people and the struggle between good and evil.
Ashug creativity is found in all the Turkic peoples of the world . In the Caucasus, there are several differing ashug directions - Ganja, Borchali, Shirvan, Salyan, Gazakh and many other manners of performance, specific, differing schools of ashugs are encountered today. Ashug creativity is one of the nation's wealth in Azerbaijan and is beloved by the people.
At the end of the last century, at the beginning of the 90s, at the invitation of the Paris-Arabic language institute Azerbaijani ashugs of the Shirvan group went to Paris. Personally taking part in this project, the world famous singer Alim Gasimov went to the Shirvan region and visited Ashug Hanysh living in the village Nabyr. On the same day the group, which would go to France, was defined. Besides, there was another significant event. Not waiting for guests on that day, the 60-years-old ashug without preparation sang a few songs of his own to the sounds of the saz in his yard. We can say that this day decided the fate of these songs. The song that we want to talk about today is one of those random songs that the ashug sang in his yard that day. Thus, the song that is familiar to us as fruit of folk art, but is the product of our contemporary ashug Hanysh, composed on the basis Bayati - Shiraz, playful, dancing, merry and lovely ashug song Power of Love is the subject of our story.
Ashiq Hanysh was born in the village Nabyr of the Shemakha city in 1932. From a young age occupying responsible positions in the Maraza district, the ashug in 1959 alone stood on regional actions and became recognizable thanks to the talented saz performance and the skill to compose songs. He inherited this talent from his ancestors. All members of his clan were known in Shirvan for their voices and talent of poetry. Poems by Ashug Hanysh were printed in the national press in the late 1950s and brought fame to the author. Today in the village Nabyr in his own home among friends and relatives, the ashug "exchanged" his 8th decade, giving us the legacy of school with numerous works of art and followers.
In the same period, Alim Gasimov added to his repertoire a few works that have become popularly known. Thus, Alim Gasimov was the first who sang Power of Love before a large audience. The largest at the time concert hall of the city - the Heydar Aliyev Palace hosted a grand concert by Alim Gasimov. And this song was part of the concert program. The singer song Power of Love accompanied by the tar and the kaman. And the song created a furor. At this time the magazine Azerbaijan Gadyny published an article devoted to this concert. The article called the song Power of Love I'm Burning with Love, Mother. This paper is the proof that the most memorable part of the concert was this particular song.
Following Alim Gasimov, the song Power of Love was performed by another representative of the Shirvan school of Mugam, Zabit Nabizade. The singer recorded the song and included it in his drive, which he called Power of Love. We can say that for the song Power of Love it was the next phase. Performance by Zabit Nabizade played an exceptional role in the fate of this song.
The subsequent history of this song is rich with bright events. From 1999 a piece by the Pantomime Theater has been broadcast continuously. The actors did a funny parody with folk music. And the song Power of Love, of course, made this piece original and memorable.
Despite the fact that the lyrics restricts women artists, Basti Sevdieva was the first woman to perform the song Power of Love. Basti Sevdieva changed the lyrics and presented her version of the performance to the audience.
Several years later, the song Power of Love was sung by another representative of the Mugam school, Teyyub Aslan. His performance of the song for the first time was subjected to arrangement, and was filmed.
2003 was an important year in the life of the song, as there was another memorable and controversial event. The song was used in the comedy film Mahalle (Yard). The song was presented as a favorite song of one of the main characters in the film Gudrat. Since the release of the film on the screen interest in the song has increased. The song did not descend from the mouth of the audience of this film. So the song Power of Love is popularly called Gudrat's song. The song sounded in the first series from Gudrat was presented in full in the second episode in the performance of Abbas Bagirov arranged by Anver Sadigov. Thus, it became the soundtrack of the second episode of Mahalle. Performance by Abbas caused mixed reactions. However, this song sung by Abbas turned into a hit.
Relatively recently an ambitious project has been completed, making a revolution in the history of the song Power of Love. The idea of this project belongs to Siyavush Karimi. In October of 2002, in the Heydar Aliyev Palace Latin American musicians performed on stage with Azerbaijani musicians. The song by Ashug Hanysh Power of Love sung since the 1990s was performed in the synthesis of fragments with Peruvian songs Fina Estampa, and such a representation of the song caused the listeners' interest. The song was performed by Zabit Nabizade. After this sensational concert Siyavush Karimi worked on his project for a few years. And in 2007, in Norway together with the group Altilplano, which included musicians from Ecuador and Chile, representatives of Azerbaijani folk music released a CD Transatlantic Non-Stop - Altiplano & Siyavush Karimi. Thus, with the voice of Zabit Nabizade the song Power of Love was conveyed to the Western ear.
They say that to realize the psychology of the people, you should be familiar with its folklore. Nothing will carry tradition, family relationships, attitude to life, to love, joys and sorrows of the people more than it is made by music. The song Power of Love is one of those songs that could collect in itself all these nuances. This song in its spirit, rhythm and text is a true Azerbaijani song. That's why we never get tired of listening to it.
Aliya Hagverdi
When preparing the article, materials from Azerbaijan Public Television ITV were used
ANN.Az
