SHYSHTAR: METAMORPHOSES FOR STRING ORCHESTRA

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
(b. Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR, May 29, 1947)

Composed 2004; 14 minutes

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh began studying from a young age in her native Azerbaijan and started composing at eight. She enrolled in the State Conservatory and studied with Kara Karayev, one of the foremost musicians of Azerbaijan during its Soviet era, and a former composition student of Dmitri Shostakovich at the Moscow Conservatory. 

As a pianist, she gave the first performances in Azerbaijan of then contemporary composers like Cage, Crumb, Messiaen, Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. As a composer, Ali-Zadeh’s references span the standard repertoire of Bach and Mahler, to her love of modernism and the revered musical tradition of her homeland, called Mugham. A deeply passionate and intricate artform, Mugham encompasses both the modal tonalities and melodic phrase structures used as the foundation for improvisation, and is culturally esteemed as a combination of poetry, philosophy and meditation. It was named as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity traditions by UNESCO in 2003. For Ali-Zadeh, drawing on all these influences and using elements of each in a variety of ways, allows her to revel in the joy of what she calls a “rich musical continuum” between East and West. 

Shyshtar: Metamorphoses opens with a burst of energy propelled by neoteric dissonance, then shifts to unfold an expanse of lyrical introspection that seems almost improvisatory in its unhurried ease. As the work progresses, it shape-shifts between these two moods before suddenly collapsing in a hush at the end that swells to a definitive and dramatic closing.