The Sacred World of Mugham – Azerbaijan

Arzu Alieva, voice

Elchan Mansurov, kamancheh (string instrument)

Malik Mansuro, tar (long-necked string instrument)

Shirzaa Fazaliev, balaban (double-reed wind instrument)

I was wounded by the arrows of his eyelashes drawn by the bow of his eyebrows.

Do not put your curls on my wound whose blood carries me

My heart rushes to the soul to embellish it.

 Mugham expresses the varied emotions of exaltation and is found in the great poetic traditions of the Caucasus and Iran.

This poetry sings of mountains and palaces, of the desire to be loved, the wretchedness of separation or the inconstancy of a lover, the beauty of the land and the splendour of God.

The mugham of Azerbaijan is one of the most brilliant aspects of classical music of the east. The result of many centuries of maturing in the transition of Turkish tradition and classical Persian music, Azeri music has also benefited from exchange with other cultures and has found its most perfect expression in the mugham, a vast vocal and instrumental oeuvre that depicts with great passion and refinement a whole range of expressions of love, as ethnomusicologist Pierre Bois tells us.