People’s artist of Turkmenistan; winner of the Magtymguly National Award; composer; conductor; professor of the National Conservatory and public figure, Nury Muhadov engaged in creative activity in the 1950s. He would be turning 95 on 18 January.
This talented composer made a tremendous contribution to the musical repository of the Turkmen people, having written such works as Keymir Kor ballet; The Miraculous Healer ballet in collaboration with Matvey Ravich; the symphonic poem, Mollanepes; several symphonic, vocal and chamber compositions and a large number of songs and romances.
He was born on 18 January 1924, in the village of Bagir, near Ashgabat, in a musical family (his older brother, Velimuhammet Muhadov, was one of the masterminds behind Turkmenistan’s composing school).
Their father, Muhat aga, was very close with such prominent musicians and destan singers as Tachmammet Suhangulyyev, Mylly Tachmyradov, Magtymguly Garlyyev, Garly bagshy, Nobat Amansahedov, who were frequent guests at the Muhadovs’ family home.
In 1939, after completing school, Nury Muhadov enrolled at the Turkmen department of the Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied cello under the supervision of professor Alexander P. Stogorsky.
During the Great Patriotic War, Nury Muhadov fought in the battle of Stalingrad and the battles for liberation of Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Austria.Between 1946 and 1951 he worked as a choirmaster and conductor, and subsequently a principal conductor of the Magtymguly Academic Theater for Opera and Ballet.
In 1952-1956 Nury Muhadov studied at the department of theory of the Turkmen State College of Music, and in 1958 he enrolled at the Tashkent State Conservatory where he studied composition under supervision of Boris I.
Zeidman.
During these years Nury Muhadov wrote several outstanding pieces, such as the fairy ballet, The Miraculous Healer (in collaboration with M.Ravich, on a libretto by G.Muhtarov), the symphonic poem, Mollanepes, themed on the Zohre and Tahir destan.
Later, he wrote two symphonic suites based on the music composed for the poem.They were released by Music Publishing in Moscow in 1966.The composer manage to stylistically intertwine these pieces with folk melodies, such as Dag Arman, Kushtdepdi, Leyli Gelin, Aglaryn, Baykaka, Bal Sayat and many others.
His graduation work was the four-part Symphony (1965) performed by the symphonic orchestra of the Uzbek State Philharmonic under the author as a conductor. Thus, Nury Muhadov graduated from the conservatory with great honors in two specialties: composition (class of professor B.I.Zeidman) and conducting (class of professor M.Ashrafi).
In 1977, the composer wrote a heroic opera, Keymir Kor, with libretto written by B.Amanov and A.Haidov. The opera was innovative in terms of use of folk melodies and high level of compositional style. Nury Muhadov received the Magtymguly National Award for this work in 1980.
Among his major pieces, the most notable are the musical comedy on the libretto by O.Akmammedova and G.Latfulli, The Eighth Treasury (1984) and the Attack overture (1985) on the subject of the Great Patriotic War, as well as the symphonic poem, Andalip (1991) themed on the Yusup and Zuleyha destan.
His songs and romances were included in the following compilations: Songs of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan (Music Publishing, 1962), Song after Song (Soviet Composer Publishing, 1970), Sing, Turkmenistan (Music Publishing, 1974), Songs of Turkmenistan (Muzychna Ukraina Publishing, 1972).
In his work, Nury Muhadov greatly focused on the pieces for younger generations. Among them are the works for children and adolescents: Ten Easy Piano Pieces, Eleven Violin Pieces, Piano Variations, Cello and Piano Pieces, as well as songs that enriched the repertoire of Turkmenistan’s music schools for children.
Until the end of his days, Nury Muhadov remained the chief conductor of the Magtymguly Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet.He supervised the staging of such marvelous pieces of world and national classical music as Tschaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, Adam’s Giselle, Verdi’s La Traviata, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Khachaturian’s Spartacus, A.Shaposhnikov and D.Ovezov’s Shasenem and Garip, A.Shaposhnikov and V.Muhadov’s Kemine and Qadi, Y.Muytus and D.Ovezov’s Leyli and Mejnun, K.Korchmaryov’s Aldar Kose, A.Agajikov’s Firuza and many others.
Nury Muhadov was also actively involved in teaching and public activity; he taught a symphonic conducting class at the Turkmen State Conservatory; was a member of the Union of Composers of the USSR and Turkmenistan, a member of the Arts Council of the Magtymguly Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet and the State Television and Radio Company of Turkmenistan, a member of the Knowledge society and the Turkmen Theatrical Association.
The prominent composer, the outstanding conductor and teacher passed away on 31 December 1999.