The Russian capital hosted the First Moscow International Festival of Turkmen Classical Music "Sounds of Dutar" named after Nury Khalmamedov. Turkmen music gained international recog-nition and admirers all over the world largely owing to the works by the great composer, whose musical compositions are replete with deep folk cultural traditions.
The name of Nury Khalmamedov is well known to anyone who somehow came in contact with the world of Turkmen music. He is one of the brightest talents in the constellation of Turkmen classical composers. It is hard to overestimate the value of his works for the Turkmen national culture. On many ...
occasions, Khalmamedov's immortal works serve as a musical visiting card of Turkmenistan.
That is why many modern artists return to his works again and again. As regards genuine con-noisseurs of classical music, not only in Turkmenistan but also far abroad, they appreciate every opportunity to enjoy the magical sounds of his compositions.
The composer's talent was extremely versatile. There is not a single area in musical art that he would leave untouched. These are symphony orchestra works, ballets, chamber-instrumental and vocal-symphonic works, pieces for various instruments that "spoke Turkmen language" thanks to his talent. The vocal cyclesbased on the verses by Magtymguly, Mollanepes, folk singers and po-ets of the nineteenth century, as well as Sergei Yesenin, Heinrich Heine and Japanese poets made his name known far beyond the borders of Turkmenistan.
Music for films occupied a special place in the composer's works. His compositions to more than twenty films that became the Turkmen film classics ("Sostyazaniye", "Reshayucshiy Shag", "Tainy Mukama", "Kechpelek", "Magtymguly" and others) not only made these films emotional-ly deeper and richer but also revealed the psychological subtext of the action, becoming a full-fledged character of the stories.
Nury Khalmamedov got the magnificent music composing skills and wrote many of his immortal musical compositions in Moscow. And now, after many years, the Moscow audience had got an-other opportunity to get in touch with the treasure of the Turkmen composer's works. The versa-tility of the Turkmen composer's works guided the variety of different genres of contemporary art in the program of the festival: music, choreography, poetry. The idea of the festival belongs to the young pianist and composer from Ashgabat, Mamed Huseynov, who was the art director of the project.
People's Artist of Russia, Zurab Tsereteli, who is the great admirer of Nury Khalmamedov's works, provided the venue for the festival. The Turkmen classical music was performed by musi-cians from different countries in the spacious halls of the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts (ZurabTsereteli Art Gallery). The two-day event was attended by the great number of people.
Representatives of Japan took a genuine interest in the idea of holding such a festival. The Japa-nese Embassy in Moscow took an active part in organizing the festival. The fact is that Nury Khalmamedov's vocal cycle "Nedoslushanniye Pesni Detey Hirosimy i Nagasaki" is particularly revered in Japan. This vocal cycle performance in the framework of the festival was a kind of tribute to the victims of nuclear bombings that happened 70 years ago.
Nury Khalmamedov's art heritage is in line with the best traditions of national and world musical culture. It continues living and exciting more than one generation of musicians and music lovers. One could easily see it by visiting the festival named after the Turkmen musician in the Russian capital.
The success of this music forum gives hope for the annual recurrence of the Turkmen music festi-vals in Moscow.
Maya KLYCHEVA
