Back
THE BOOK "NATIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF TURKIC-SPEAKING COUNTRIES," PUBLISHED BY THE TURKIC CULTURE AND HERITAGE FOUNDATION IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BAKU MUSIC ACADEMY WAS PRESENTED AT THE NIZAMI GANJAVI MUSEUM OF AZERBAIJANI LITERATURE
3/5/2025
11:14 AM
On March 5, a presentation ceremony for the book "National Musical Instruments of Turkic-speaking Countries," published by the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation in collaboration with the Baku Music Academy, was held at the Nizami Ganjavi Museum of Azerbaijani Literature.
Rafael Huseynov, the director of the Nizami Ganjavi Museum of Azerbaijani Literature, began his speech by welcoming the participants. He noted that the book "National Musical Instruments of Turkic-speaking Countries" provides substantial information about the musical traditions of six countries and also features the unique instruments of these peoples. The book is the result of the collaborative efforts of musicians, musicologists, and folklorists from the mentioned countries. He expressed hope that in the future, the scope of the book would not be limited to just six countries but would be expanded to include musical instruments from other potential Turkic states like Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Tuva, and Yakutia.
Before sharing her thoughts on the book, Aktoty Raimkulova, the president of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, highlighted the main points of the work accomplished under her leadership and noted that this is just a very small part of their work. She added, "Our goal is to study, preserve, and ensure the transmission of the rich cultural heritage of the Turkic world to future generations. In this sense, we have implemented a number of large-scale projects, and the presented book 'National Musical Instruments of Turkic-speaking Countries' is one of them. The preparation of this book, which began back in 2023, was published last year with the support of the Foundation. The research by scholars from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan contributed to the creation of the book."
Gunay Afandiyeva, a member of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Deputy Chair of the Parliament's Culture Committee, stated that ancient Turkic musical instruments are relics of the deep past of the Turkic peoples. She emphasized that the main purpose of this project is to contribute to the preservation, transmission to future generations, and dissemination of rich Turkic music to various audiences.
Farhad Badalbeyli, the rector of the Baku Music Academy named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli, People's Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the author of the book's "Foreword," stated in his speech that this project will make a significant contribution to strengthening Turkic unity, researching, preserving, and promoting the rich traditional musical heritage of Turkic-speaking peoples worldwide. He noted that the main factor uniting us, above all, should be "Turkism" and that the existence of organizations like the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation plays an invaluable role in the development of such brotherly ties. Expressing a sense of satisfaction and honor for the work done by the Foundation, Farhad Badalbeyli thanked everyone who contributed to the creation of the project.
Video messages from experts from Central Asia who participated in the book's preparation were also played at the event: Saule Utegalieva, Honored Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Shoista Ganikhanova, Doctor of Arts and Professor at the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan; Roza Amanova, People's Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic; and Bahargul Yagubova, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of "Music History" at the Maya Kuliyeva Turkmen National Conservatory.
Following this, Meyser Kaya, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Arts at Osmaniye Korkut Ata University in Turkey and Doctor of Philosophy in Art History, and Gulnaz Abdullazade, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Creative Affairs at the Baku Music Academy named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli, Honored Art Worker, Doctor of Philosophy, and Professor, spoke about the importance of the project, highlighting its contributions to the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of Turkic peoples.
The artistic part of the event featured performances of pearls of the Turkic musical world. Musical pieces presented by the "Azerbaijani Ancient Musical Instruments Ensemble" led by Munis Sharifov, Uzeyir Hajibeyli's romance "Sensiz" performed by the renowned opera singer and Honored Artist Ramil Gasimov, and Fikrat Amirov's song "Azərbaycan elləri" performed by the laureate of international competitions Nigar Jafarova were met with long applause.
The presentation ceremony concluded with a performance of the composition "Aday" - about a warlike Kazakh tribe - by Azerbaijani and Kazakh musicians on the dombra, shankobyz, and zhetygen instruments.