Oriented on making people closer

Every year, the chairmen of the State Examination Commission - professors, composers and teachers of the Maya Kuliyeva Turkmen National Conservatory - come to the state examinations at specialized art schools. This year, and not for the first time, Honored Artist of Turkmenistan, composer and scientist Suhan Tuiliev is visiting the Balkan region. On the third day of his arrival, as part of the state examinations in the regional library of the city of Balkanabat, a creative meeting with the composer was held, organized by the directorate of the local specialized school of arts.

At the beginning of the creative conversation, the composer told about his creative path, shared informative facts and interesting events from his life. I am proud to say that I am well acquainted both with the composer himself personally and with his work. I first met Suhan Tuyliyev at school when he came to us for state exams. Then I entered the conservatory, where I attended classes with him in a number of subjects. Then I recognized him as a kind, gentle, tolerant, modest, sympathetic, and at the same time demanding, especially to himself.

Being a versatile and interesting person himself, reading a lot and listening a lot, he demanded the same from his students. He is a real man of art and a composer devoted to folk musical traditions. The result of our communication was my thesis dedicated to the study of the symphonic poems of Suhan Tuyliyev...

Returning to the creative meeting in Balkanabat, its continuation was the showing of video recordings of the performance of some of the composer's works, including both vocal-siphonic and instrumental-symphonic works. At the same time, the composer talked about the programming and the history of the creation of these compositions.

Among them is an ode to the poems of Magtymguly "Türkmen binasy" for reader, soloist, choir and symphony orchestra. The composer spoke about a new project dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the great Turkmen poet Magtymguly, which will be presented at the Festival of Culture of the Turkic Peoples in Ashgabat. At the initiative of the Rector of the Turkmen National Conservatory Rasul Amangeldiev, this work has been translated into other Turkic languages, and will be performed in six languages – Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Turkish and Turkmen.

Next, the vocal lyrical works "Nejoldy" on the words of G. Hanov and "Ezizim" on the poems of A. Taganov were performed. The latter was written by the author in 1985 during his postgraduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory and was forgotten until one day the conductor, teacher of the Turkmen Conservatory Nury Muhyev approached Tuyliyev and asked him to arrange this composition for the orchestra. So, the piece sounded for the second time, but in a new instrumental composition.

The creative conversation was continued by the musical legend "Uzuklar" from 6 parts. As the composer himself notes, the work belongs to the folklore genre. Having heard this legend performed by O. Nobatov as an instrumental piece for dutar, as well as performed by G. Yakubov as a small destan, Tuyliyev became eager to compose his own work based on this legend. The composer wrote this musical legend for 15 years. Previously, under the direction of conductor A. Hojatov, the work was partially performed. On May 10, 2023, during a concert in the great hall of the Turkmen National Conservatory, all parts of this legend were performed by the symphony Orchestra for the first time.

I would like to share one interesting point with regard to this work: I myself did not manage to attend that concert, but, as Svetlana Ivanova, a senior lecturer at the conservatory, a colleague and good friend of the composer, tells me, throughout the concert a dove was tossing around in the hall, looking for her place. However, during the performance of "Uzuklar", the dove calmed down and sat down in a nest built in this hall.

... During the conversation, the composer told the story and the program idea of this work: according to legend, three sisters Uzuk, Nazik and Lalik (the youngest was a stutterer) were in love with a shepherdess. Not knowing how to solve this difficult situation, they decided to turn to a village teacher who taught them to sing since childhood. To resolve the sisters' dispute, she invited them to compete in the skill of performing the folk song "Läle". After listening to all three sisters, the shepherd chooses the youngest, while the others agree with his choice. However, the composer notes that this work is not about love, but about the power of music. And that's why: during the performance of the younger sister Lyalik, the doge went. But the shepherd really liked her singing, and he begged the heavens to stop pouring rain and played the garga tuyduk. His playing was so skilful that it cured Lalik of her ailment.

Then the conversation touched upon the three-part vocal cycle "Dünýe, heý!" based on the poems of Magtymguly. The literary basis of this work has also been translated into Azerbaijani and Turkish, and it will be performed in three languages (including Turkmen) at a concert dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the classic.

The conclusion of the creative meeting was the work "Gözelim" for cello and symphony orchestra, as well as good wishes to the composer.

Jennet ORAZOVA

Photo: 2nd Children's art school of Balkanabat