| Azerbaijani Ashiq music | |
|---|---|
 Azerbaijani ashiqs in Baku | |
| Stylistic origins | World music |
| Cultural origins | ca. 15th – 16th century |
| Typical instruments | Saz |
| Subgenres | |
| Qoshma, Muhammas, Ustadname, Gifilband, Dastan, Gerayli, Divani, Tajnis | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Ozan music | |
| Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq | |
|---|---|
| Country | Azerbaijan |
| Reference | 00253 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2008 (4th session) |
| List | Representative |
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| Music of Azerbaijan | ||||||
| General topics | ||||||
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| Genres | ||||||
| Specific forms | ||||||
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| Media and performance | ||||||
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| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | ||||||
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Theart of AzerbaijaniAshiqs combines poetry, storytelling, dance, and vocal and instrumental music into traditional performance art. This art is one of the symbols ofAzerbaijani culture and considered an emblem of national identity inAzerbaijan.
Characterized by the accompaniment of thekopuz, a stringed musical instrument, the classical repertoire of Azerbaijani Ashiqs includes 200 songs, 150 literary-musical compositions known asdastans, nearly 2,000 poems, and numerous stories.
Since 2009 the art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs has been inscribed on theRepresentative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In today's encyclopedic dictionaries the wordAshiq, which means "one who is in love", is derived from theArabic andPersian. Some encyclopedias define Ashiq as a folk singer-poet ofCaucasus and neighboring nations. In addition to songs of his own, in repertory, Ashiq includes epic tales and folk songs.[1]
The earliest traces of Turkic-speaking ashiqs in general can be found in the 14th century book namedBook of Dede Korkut, which contains the most famous epic stories of theOghuz Turks.[2][3]
From the 16th century onward, Azerbaijani-speaking ashiqs appeared and they have been the bearers and guardians of the languages they spoke, and the music performed inweddings, parties andfolk festivals.[4][5]
During the 20th century, ashiq performances on concert stages, the radio and television became common.
Beginning in the 1930s, the Art of Azerbaijani ashiqs, like all folk music culture of the peoples of theUSSR fell under the strictest control of the state government.[6][7] AsSoviet Union highly appreciated the art, during the Cultural Revolution the ashiq art, along with themugham art of Azerbaijan has been developed whilemeykhana faced with certain restrictions. In 1938, the first congress of Azerbaijani ashiqs have been held and the large collection of ashiq poetry has been published. Monuments have been made for the ashiqs, their works added to school books and their anniversaries have been celebrated not only inAzerbaijan SSR but also in neighboringGeorgian SSR andArmenian SSR, where Ashig Alasgar was born.
In modernAzerbaijan, professional Ashiqs were divided into two categories: Ashiq-performers and Ashiq-poets. Ashiq-performers, despite being professional storytellers, are not engaged in poetry. Due to their individual abilities and a keen understanding of the specifics of the native folklore, they make different kinds of variations and changes in their epics and legends, especially in their prose.[8]
Ashiq-poets, on the contrary, along with storytelling activities, engaged also in poetry. In Azerbaijan, such Ashiqs were calledUstad, which translates fromPersian as a "master". Ashiq-poets have their own schools, where they teach their students the basics of ashiq creativity. Famous Ashiq-poets include such gifted poets asGurbani, ashiq Abbas from Tufargan,Xəstə Qasım (Hasta Gasym), ashiq Valeh,Ashig Alasgar and many others. They had a tremendous impact not only on ashig poetry but also greatly influenced the writtenliterature of Azerbaijan.[9]
The popular ashigs of modern Azerbaijan include ashiq Zulfiyya, ashiq Nemet Qasimli, ashiq Ahliman, ashiq Adalat, ashiq Kamandar, Ali Tovuzly and ashiq Khanlar.[8] The late Zalimkhan Yagub, member ofParliament of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Union of Ashiqs through 2015, was also very popular.
After Azerbaijan's independence from theUSSR, Art of Azerbaijani ashiqs engaged in the worldwide promotion campaign ofCulture of Azerbaijan. The art also received heavy state support, which organized tours for ashiqs around the world.
As of 2009, the total number of Azerbaijani Ashiqs in the world reached 3000 people, which included inUNESCO'sIntangible Cultural Heritage list.[4][10]
In Azerbaijan, ashigs' style of performance differ in the specific characteristics of local creativity. For example, each ashig representing the regions ofGanja,Kalbajar,Gazakh,Tovuz andBorchali markedly differ in their individual skill and cherish traditional ashig art.[11] Often performances of ashigs are accompanied by abalaban performer and an ensemble of wind instruments, but the main musical instrument of ashigs is considered to be asaz.[12] The creative abilities of ashigs differ in the following ways:
The main genres of Azerbaijani Ashiq poetry include thedastan, ustadnameh and their poetic forms. In this case the divan, the gerayli and the tajnis.[9]
Goshma is the most common form of Ashiq folk poetry. The number of syllables in goshma can reach eleven. Goshma itself are also divided into several subgenres such as Gozallama — a form which describes the natural beauty and praises the remarkable properties of human speech,Kochaklama — the form in which the glorification of heroic deeds or the heroes occurs,Tashlama — a genre which criticizes social or human vices, andAgyt — the memorial chant.[13]
Dastan (Persian:داستان "story"[14][15]) is a genre, known not only in Eastern poetry, but also in Western poetry (including traditional folk poetry). In dastans, ashiqs narrates heroic deeds, love stories or important historical events. Stylistic and syllabic relationships are in many ways reminiscent of thegoshma genre, but differ from the last number of quatrains, subject, meaning and theme music.[16][17]
Traditional themes in this genre consist of songs and teachings with moralistic themes.[17][18]
