Belgium pays tribute to outstanding mugham singer of Azerbaijan

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Khan Shushinsky (1901-1979) has significantly enriched Azerbaijan's musical culture. He left after himself a strong school of talented composers and musicians.

A memory of the exceptional musician has been honored in Brussels' Bozar Center for Fine Arts, Azernews reports citing Trend Life.

The concert held within the Year of Shusha also marked the 270th anniversary of Panahali Khan Javanshir (1693-1763), the founder of the Karabakh khanate.

In their remarks, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Belgium Vagif Sadihov, the head of the Khan Shushinsky Foundation, Beyimkhanum Verdiyeva-Javanshirova, the head of the Khan Shushinsky International Association, Nazrin Afandiyeva, provided insight into Shusha's history and culture as well as Karabakh mugham school, in which a prominent place belongs to Khan Shushinsky, a direct descendant of Panahali Khan Javanshir.

At 16, Isfandiyar Javanshirov (real name was Khan Shushinsky) started to be called khan for his brilliant performance of "Kurd-Shahnaz" mugham.

With a beautiful and strong voice, he skillfully sang mughams, folk songs, and tasnifs and composed many music pieces including the folk song "The mountains of Shusha are foggy" dedicated to Shusha.

The song compares the nature of Shusha with a beautiful girl. Just like the top of the Shusha mountains is covered with fog, so is a woman covered with a scarf. The fact that the middle part of the mountains is full of tulips indicates that the girl is wearing a red shirt, and the lower part of the mountain is compared to her green skirt.

The song was also included in the collection "Azerbaijani folk songs" (1967).

During the concert, the audience watched the performance of the Karabakh mugham ensemble accompanied by People's Artist Elchin Gashimov (tar), Honored Artist Elnur Akhmedov (kamancha), and Honored Artist Kamran Karimov.

The musicians performed Khan Shushinsky's compositions as well as works by prominent composers Fikrat Amirov and Uzeyir Hajibayli.

Among the guests were prominent public figures, representatives of culture and science, diplomatic missions, and members of the European Parliament, who greeted the musicians with a standing ovation.

As part of the evening, the guests were presented with an exposition of photographs "Shusha's cultural gems", which depicted architectural monuments, ancient clothes, carpets, portraits of famous personalities who made a great contribution to the history of Azerbaijan.

The gala event was co-organized by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium.