(b Baku, 28 May 1947). Azerbaijani composer and pianist. She studied at the Music School attached to the Azerbaijan State Conservatory (1954–65) and then at the conservatory itself (composition with Kara Karayev and the piano with Khalilov), graduating in 1970 as a pianist and 1972 as a composer. She then attended a postgraduate course under Karayev (1974–6) and at the same time served as his assistant (1970–76) before being appointed assistant professor (1976–89) and then professor (1996 onwards). During the 1960s and 70s she encouraged the dissemination of new music by giving the first performances in Azerbaijan of works by Berg, Cage, Crumb, Messiaen and Schoenberg as well as playing works by Soviet composers such as Denisov, Gubaydulina and Schnittke. She also frequently took part in festivals around the former Soviet Union, while in 1988 she was elected to join the Friends of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute of Los Angeles and in 1989 she gained her DMus. Since the mid-1980s her works have been heard in the USA and Europe on a regular basis. She has lived in Turkey since 1992. Her compositional style is informed by Azerbaijani traditions including mugam, and also by Western modernism; she was initially attracted to techniques variously employed by Boulez, Ligeti, Lutosławski and Stockhausen. Problems concerning time and space, stasis and dynamism are central to her thinking; Gabil-Sajahy (1979) for cello and piano is characteristic of her output and also formed the basis of her international reputation.
(selective list)
|
Dramatic: Legenda o belom vsadnike [The Legend of the White Horseman] (rock op, 1, folk texts), 1985, unpubd; Empty Cradle (ballet, 2), 1993 film scores |
|
Inst: In Memoriam Alban Berg (Pf Sonata no.1), 1970, unpubd; Pf Conc., 1972, unpubd; Str Qt no.1, 1974, unpubd; Sym., orch, 1976, unpubd; Zu den Kindertotenlieder (In Memoriam Gustav Mahler), cl, vn, perc, 1977; Gabil-Sajahy, vc, prep pf, 1979; Fantasy, org, 1982; Partita, org, 1985; Travermusik in memoriam Kara Karaev, conc., chbr orch, 1986, unpubd; Dilogia I, str qt, 1988; Music for Pf, 1989, 1997, unpubd; Dilogia II, str qt, wind qnt, 1989–94, unpubd; Pf Sonata no.2, 1990; Crossing I, cl, vib/cel, 1991; Crossing II, fl, ob, bn, hn, trbn, hp, vib, str qt, 1992–3; Mugam-Sajahy, str qt, synth/tape, 1993; Fantasie, gui, 1994; Str Qt no.3, 1995, unpubd; Azerbaijani Pastoral, 2 gui, fl, perc, 1998; Mirage, ud, chbr ens, 1998, unpubd [pt of Silk Road, cycle]; Oasis (Str Qt no.4), 1998, unpubd; Sturm und Drang, chbr ens, 1998; Werk, vc, 1998 [pt of Silk Road, cycle] |
|
Vocal: Pesni o rodine [Songs about the Homeland] (orat, N. Hazri), 3 solo vv, chorus, orch, 1978, unpubd; Oda [Ode] (orat, D. Nassib), chorus, orch, 1980, unpubd; 3 akvareli [3 Watercolours] (N. Rafibeyli), S, fl, prep pf, 1987, unpubd; Iz yaponskoy poėzii [From Japanese Poetry] (I. Takuboku), song cycle, S, fl, prep pf/cel/vib, 1990; Journey to the Immortal (N. Hikmet), Bar, chorus, inst ens, 1995–9 |
|
Principal publishers: Ischig, Sikorski, Hug |
E. Schwinger: ‘Kurz berichtet’, MG, xxxvi (1986), 612 only
F. Ali-Zadeh: Orchestral Styles of Azerbaijani Composers (Baku, 1989)
Yu. Gabay: ‘Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’, Music in the USSR (1990), July–Dec
A. Olivier and S. Braun: ‘Ali-Zade, Frangis’, Komponistinnen aus 800 Jahren (Kamen, 1996), 22-3
P. Griffiths: ‘From the Global Village, New Composers’ Voices’, The New York Times (26 Sept 1997)
MARINA LOBANOVA