While there are not many pieces for flute by Azerbaijani composers in the twentieth-century, three of the country’s most famous composers wrote substantial works for the instrument. In this essay, I will discuss Fikret Amirov’s Pieces for Flute and Piano, Arif Melikov’s Concertino for Flute and Piano or String Orchestra, and Tofiq Bakihanov’s Three Flute Sonatas. Due to the collapse of many publishing houses in Azerbaijan after the fall of the Soviet Union, because of the high printing costs and low demand for music during this transitional time, the scores of these pieces are not readily available, resulting in a lack of performance by the newer generations of flutists. Fikret Amirov passed away in 1984, but Tofiq Bakihanov and Arif Melikov are well into their 80s. Given their age, it is critical to be able to work with them now on performance practices of their pieces, before their contributions are lost.
For this essay, I made contact with Arif Melikov and Tofiq Bakihanov, performed for them, and conducted interviews. I also studied the style and ornamentation of Azerbaijani classical music with flute Professor Muzaffar Aghamalizade of the Baku Music Academy. With each piece, the similarities and differences in dynamics, style, terminology, folk-elements, and ornamentation, including trills and grace-notes, in all of the publications will be discussed. All the original editions have been compared to their later published versions.
My goal with this research and topic is to bring these three pieces of music to the attention of the international community while diversifying and expanding the repertoire for flutists.