KARAEV, Kara

Kara Karaev (Azerbaijani, Qara Əbülfəz oğlu Qarayev 1918, Baku–1982, Moscow), is a prominent Soviet composer, who integrated Azerbaijani academic music into the realm of the whole European culture. A significant part of his creative heritage can be characterized as a phase of development of Soviet music in general.
The composer’s musical language is characterized by the mutual enrichment of national and Western tradition, that is, the peculiar synthesis of folklore sources and modern technical-stylistic tendencies, which determine the striking individual writing style of the composer.
The creative heritage of Kara Karaev includes compositions for musical theater, symphonic, chamber-instrumental, cantata-oratorio and vocal works, as well as music for drama performances, art films and documentary films.
The future composer was born into a typical family of Azerbaijani intelligentsia. His father, Əbülfəz Fərəc oğlu Qarayev, doctor of medical sciences, was the founder of national pediatrics, and his mother, Sona xanım Axundova, was one of the few Azerbaijani women who received high-quality education in various fields, including music, at that time.
From 1935 Kara Karaev studied in Baku, and from 1938 to 1946 at Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, from which he graduated in the class of D. D. Shostakovich, who had a great influence on the formation of his composer’s individuality.
From 1947 to 1982 Kara Karaev taught composition at the Hajibeyov (Azerb. Üzeyir Hacibəyov) Azerbaijan State Conservatoire (translator’s note: currently known as the Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music). During those years over forty students graduated from his class, many of whom are presently leading Azerbaijani composers. The name, Kara Karaev, is still famous not only as the name of an outstanding composer, but also as the founder of the school of Azerbaijani modern composers.