Melikov, Arif Dzhangir oglu

In 1945 - 1954 he studied playing the container at the Baku Music College. A. Zeynalli , then from 1955 to 1958 - at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory in the composition class of Kara Karaev . The graduation work of the young composer was his First Symphony.

Since 1958 he has been teaching at the conservatory (associate professor since 1971 , professor since 1979 , head of the composition department since 1982 ).

Member of the Union of Composers of the Azerbaijan USSR ( 1959 ). Member of the Union of Cinematographers of the Azerbaijan SSR ^[2] .

People's Deputy of the USSR from the Salyan Territorial Electoral District (Azerbaijan SSR). Full member of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS). Honorary Doctor of the Khazar University ( 2012 , Baku, Azerbaijan).

He led an active composing, teaching and musical-social activity.

Arif Melikov died on May 9, 2019 in Baku ^[3] . He was buried on the same day on the I Alley of Honor ^[4] .

• Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR ( 1965 )
• People's Artist of Azerbaijan SSR ( 1978 )
• People's Artist of the USSR ( October 17, 1986 ) - for great services to the development of Soviet musical art ^[5]
• State Prize of the Azerbaijan SSR ( 1986 )
• Heydar Aliyev Prize ( May 5, 2009 ) - for special merits in the development of the musical culture of Azerbaijan ^[6]
• Heydar Aliyev Order ( September 13, 2013 ) - for exceptional merit in the development of Azerbaijani culture ^[7]
• Order of Independence ( September 12, 1998 ) - for great achievements in the development of the musical culture of Azerbaijan ^[8]
• The Order of Glory ( September 13, 2018 ) - for services to the development of the musical culture of Azerbaijan ^[9]
• Order of the Badge of Honor ( 1971 )
• Gold medal named after Nizami Ganjavi ( 2015 ) ^[10]

Having deeply studied the Azerbaijani folk musical art, and above all, the mugam , Melikov, in his early works, was actively implementing his ideas. The composer's outstanding work is the ballet Legend of Love on the plot of the drama of the same name by Nazim Hikmet , written and first staged in Leningrad in 1961 on the stage of the Opera and Ballet Theater. S. M. Kirov . This work has not lost its popularity in our days. Thanks to the ballet The Legend of Love, which was staged by many theaters in the world, Arif Melikov gained fame throughout the world.

Important milestones in the work of Melikov are also the symphonic poem “Metamorphoses” and the Second Symphony, which marked the complication of his compositional style and some distance from folk music.

The six-part “Second Symphony”, which Arif Melikov dedicated to D. D. Shostakovich , was first performed in April 1973 in Baku. Later it was performed in Moscow , Tbilisi , Ankara ( Turkey ).

In 1974, A. Melikov wrote The Third Chamber Symphony for the Yugoslav Chamber Orchestra. In 1977, a one-part “Fourth Symphony” was created, which was noted by an individual decision of the principle of symphony. As a sequel, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies later appeared.

In 1983, the premiere of the ballet “The Poem of Two Hearts” took place at the Kuibyshev State Opera and Ballet Theater and the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of the Uzbek SSR named after A. Navoi .

In 1984, the Sixth Symphony was first performed, which received the name Contrasts from the author.

Ballets

• The Legend of Love ( 1961 )
• "Stronger than death" ( 1966 )
• “Two on Earth” ( 1969 )
• “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” (1973)
• The Poem of Two Hearts ( 1982 )
• "Yusuf and Zuleika" (1999).

Operetta

• The Waves (1967).

Works for orchestra

• concertina for flute and orchestra ( 1955 )
• eight symphonies (from 1958 to 2000)
• eight symphonic poems (including “Fairy Tale” (1957), “Fizuli” (1959), “Homeland” (1963), “Metamorphoses” (1964), “The Last Pass” (1972), “Hero”)
• orchestral suites (1967, including three suites for the orchestra of folk instruments (1968))
• Symphonic Tales (1968)
• Symphony No. 7 for the folk instrument orchestra (1995).

Chamber and vocal compositions

• cantata “Voice of the Earth” for soloists, choir and orchestra (1972)
• six songs for voice and orchestra
• two cycles of romances to the words of H. Hikmet for voice and piano (1962, 1971)
• ballad "Azerbaijan" for voice and symphony orchestra (1995).

Music for drama theater and cinema.

• Alekberova N. Arif Melikov. - Baku, 1993

• Short biography (azerb.)
• Melikov about the ballet "The Legend of Love" (English)
• Arif Melikov