Haji Khanmammadov

Haji Dadash oglu Khanmammadov (Azerbaijani: Hacı Xanməmmədov) (June 15, 1918, Derbent – April 7, 2005, Baku) was an Azerbaijani and Soviet composer. He is best known for writing the first concertos for the Azeri stringed folk instruments tar and kamancheh.

Khanmammadov was born in Derbent (present-day Dagestan, Russia) and began studying tar at age 10. In 1932, the boy's life experienced a major change when his father and uncle were arrested during the Great Purge and permanently exiled to Siberia on account of owning land. After Khanmammadov graduated from middle school, his mother, who was struggling to take care of six children, sent him to Baku to find Uzeyir Hajibeyov, an Azerbaijani composer known for his patronage of the arts. Indeed, Hajibeyov did provide lodging for the boy and, after being convinced of his musical abilities, the composer enrolled him in the Asaf Zeynally Music College. Khanmammadov would go on to develop into a fine tarist.

Khanmammadov composed his first song Gozal pari ("Beautiful Nymph") in 1942. In 1946 he was sent to Tabriz, then ruled by the Soviet-backed Azerbaijan People's Government to found a philharmonic orchestra but after the Soviets' withdrawal returned to Baku. In 1947, Khanmammadov was admitted to the Azerbaijan State Conservatory to study folk music and musical composition taught by Hajibeyov and Gara Garayev respectively. He graduated in 1952. It was Garayev who challenged him to write a concerto for tar and symphonic orchestra for his graduation piece.

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