“Aman Agajikov created so many musical productions that they will be quite enough for several composers,” – his colleagues say. Maestro, who celebrated this year his 75th anniversary, is the author of over 750 songs and love songs. Besides, many symphonic productions, music to artistic and documentary films, choreographies, three operas, three musical comedies, poems, cantatas, oratorios and others belong to his pen.
- Aman Agajikovich, you’ve gained popularity early. Is it possible to consider the success of your degree work – “Sona” opera as a reference point of your creative biography?
- It is not exactly so. By that time, I wrote two suites and two variations for the piano. I was personally acquainted with the outstanding poets Gara Seyitliyev, Ata Atajanov, Annaberdi Agabayev, Kerim Gurbannepesov, Tashli Gurbanov, Gurbannazar Ezizow. I composed music to many verses of these poets and they became songs and love songs.
For the composer, the operatic genre is the peak of creativity. As the “Sona” opera was my first production, I being the student of the Moscow State Conservatoire named after P.I. Tchaikovsky was really happy of its success.
- Traditional question: how did you come to the world of music?
- Strange as it may seem, quite incredible case brought me to it. In childhood, I fell ill and became weaker from ailment. Being concerned about my life, one of our neighbors gave to my parents an advice to resort to the folk medicine – to treat with music of bakhshy. Seeing my sufferings, my father and mother used any possibility to cure me. The bakhshy invited to our home sang for a long time at the bedside and my sickness really abated. But, there was another miracle. I was crazy on music.
- Certainly the dutar was you first musical instrument, isn’t it?
- Absolutely. I picked out on it the melodies of famous folk songs and tried to compose my own one. But, I sensed the need in professional teacher. Everything becomes complicated because of no musician in my family I was born in and even among my relatives and friends. I came to the house of a farmer, where as I heard, he trained in music. There, I found the rehearsal of group of folk instruments managed by Gregory Markovich Arakelyan. In spite of my young age, I was welcomed quite cordially.
I first stepped over the threshold of the Children’s music school several years later, when Ashgabat partially healed its scars after destructive earthquake, and our school returned to the capital from Krasnovodsk (Turkmenbashi). By that time, I was 13 years old and on the background of other entering 6-7-year old boys and girls, I looked contrastingly. Having played the dutar, I felt that I could produce good impressions on members of the selection committee. I was admitted not in the class of dutar but in class of violoncello.
Nevertheless, having finally appeared in my element, I really “pounced” on learning ABC of musical skills and making up for lost time, I finished the seven-year training course within three years. Then, I entered the specialized music school. During my study, I offered teachers and classmates small production of my own composing. Maybe, owing to it, I was directed for study on composition class to the Moscow State Conservatoire named after P.I. Tchaikovsky.
- You studied with Nury Halmamedov. Who was your tutor?
- In the third year, Nury Halmamedov and I were happy to be trained by the teacher – Anatoliy Nikolayevich Alexandrov. Incidentally, professor Alexandrov was a pupil of famous composer Sergey Taneyev, who in turn, was a pupil of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It so happened (here, Aman Agajikovich smiled with artful screwing up) that we with Nury Halmamedov are the pupils of Tchaikovsky in the third generation!
Professor Alexandrov was quite aged man and therefore, he willingly gave lessons at home. He excellently knew how it is difficult for foreign students to live. So, he never missed an opportunity to invite us for dinner. His favorite phrase: “Hundreds of people can train in composer but few people become the composers”.
- What did you work at now?
- I work at the “Yusup and Zuleyha” opera to the tune of production of Andalib. In search of her promised, brave Zuleyha shows enviable resoluteness, resourcefulness and counter to all difficulties, she becomes the wife of Yusup. It is extremely interesting author's task for me to reproduce the image of uncommon eastern heroine in music and highlight her charm by music.
- Aman Agajikovich, you’ve gained popularity early. Is it possible to consider the success of your degree work – “Sona” opera as a reference point of your creative biography?
- It is not exactly so. By that time, I wrote two suites and two variations for the piano. I was personally acquainted with the outstanding poets Gara Seyitliyev, Ata Atajanov, Annaberdi Agabayev, Kerim Gurbannepesov, Tashli Gurbanov, Gurbannazar Ezizow. I composed music to many verses of these poets and they became songs and love songs.
For the composer, the operatic genre is the peak of creativity. As the “Sona” opera was my first production, I being the student of the Moscow State Conservatoire named after P.I. Tchaikovsky was really happy of its success.
- Traditional question: how did you come to the world of music?
- Strange as it may seem, quite incredible case brought me to it. In childhood, I fell ill and became weaker from ailment. Being concerned about my life, one of our neighbors gave to my parents an advice to resort to the folk medicine – to treat with music of bakhshy. Seeing my sufferings, my father and mother used any possibility to cure me. The bakhshy invited to our home sang for a long time at the bedside and my sickness really abated. But, there was another miracle. I was crazy on music.
- Certainly the dutar was you first musical instrument, isn’t it?
- Absolutely. I picked out on it the melodies of famous folk songs and tried to compose my own one. But, I sensed the need in professional teacher. Everything becomes complicated because of no musician in my family I was born in and even among my relatives and friends. I came to the house of a farmer, where as I heard, he trained in music. There, I found the rehearsal of group of folk instruments managed by Gregory Markovich Arakelyan. In spite of my young age, I was welcomed quite cordially.
I first stepped over the threshold of the Children’s music school several years later, when Ashgabat partially healed its scars after destructive earthquake, and our school returned to the capital from Krasnovodsk (Turkmenbashi). By that time, I was 13 years old and on the background of other entering 6-7-year old boys and girls, I looked contrastingly. Having played the dutar, I felt that I could produce good impressions on members of the selection committee. I was admitted not in the class of dutar but in class of violoncello.
Nevertheless, having finally appeared in my element, I really “pounced” on learning ABC of musical skills and making up for lost time, I finished the seven-year training course within three years. Then, I entered the specialized music school. During my study, I offered teachers and classmates small production of my own composing. Maybe, owing to it, I was directed for study on composition class to the Moscow State Conservatoire named after P.I. Tchaikovsky.
- You studied with Nury Halmamedov. Who was your tutor?
- In the third year, Nury Halmamedov and I were happy to be trained by the teacher – Anatoliy Nikolayevich Alexandrov. Incidentally, professor Alexandrov was a pupil of famous composer Sergey Taneyev, who in turn, was a pupil of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It so happened (here, Aman Agajikovich smiled with artful screwing up) that we with Nury Halmamedov are the pupils of Tchaikovsky in the third generation!
Professor Alexandrov was quite aged man and therefore, he willingly gave lessons at home. He excellently knew how it is difficult for foreign students to live. So, he never missed an opportunity to invite us for dinner. His favorite phrase: “Hundreds of people can train in composer but few people become the composers”.
- What did you work at now?
- I work at the “Yusup and Zuleyha” opera to the tune of production of Andalib. In search of her promised, brave Zuleyha shows enviable resoluteness, resourcefulness and counter to all difficulties, she becomes the wife of Yusup. It is extremely interesting author's task for me to reproduce the image of uncommon eastern heroine in music and highlight her charm by music.
