Uzeyir Hajibeyov

Uzeyir Hajibeyov was born in Agjabadi in the Elisabethpol

Governorate of the Russian Empire, which is now part
of Azerbaijan. His father, Abdul Huseyn Hajibeyov, was the
secretary to Khurshidbanu Natavan for many years, and his
mother, Shirin, grew up in the Natavan household. Growing
up, Hajibeyov was strongly influenced by Natavan‘s work.
Shusha, often dubbed as the cradle of Azerbaijani music and
culture, had a reputation for its musical heritage. The town
was also referred to as "the Music Conservatory of the
Caucasus" because of its many talented musicians and
singers. And the fact that Hajibeyov grew up in Shusha
explains how at 22, in 1908, with very little formal musical
education, he was capable of writing a full-length opera. On
September 18, 1995 the 110th anniversary of Hajibeyov's
birth has been celebrated. No one in the history of modern
music in Azerbaijan is recognized for having done more to
lay the foundation for Azerbaijani music as it exists today,
especially with its unique synthesis of Eastern and Western
traditional musical instruments and musical forms.