By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan will host the 14th Uzeyir Hajibayli International Music Festival on September 18-26, Azernews reports.

The festival will feature concert programs dedicated to Azerbaijan's musical figures, young people, and much more.

Soloists, conductors, and musical groups from the USA, Norway, France, Austria, Germany, Turkiye, Greece, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Georgia are invited to take part in the festival.

Since 1995, September 18 has been celebrated as National Music Day in Azerbaijan.

Starting in 2009, it was decided to hold the International Music Festival devoted to well-known Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayli's creativity.

Numerous cultural events, including gala concerts and festivals, are being held across the country as part of the celebration.

Musicians and collectives from Germany, Russia, Turkey, Georgia, France, Bulgaria, and other countries take part in the festival.

Uzeyir Hajibeyli laid the foundation of a national musical style. He was the first composer of an opera in the Islamic world.

The opera "Leyli and Majnun" (1908) is based on traditional folk music and dance, musical genres that relied on oral traditions.

Furthermore, the composer wrote his second opera "Sheyx Sanan", "Rustam and Sohrab", "Asli and Karam", "Shah Abbas", "Khurshudbanu and Harun" and "Leyli" entirely based on the national folk music elements, primarily mugham.

He also composed three comedies including, "Husband and Wife" (1910), "If not this one, that one" (1911), and "Arshin Mal Alan" (1913).

"Arshin Mal Alan" or "The Cloth Peddler" was the latest and one of the most popular operettas of the eminent composer.

The operetta has been successfully performed in a plethora of languages in over 60 countries of the world, including in the U.S, Austria, France, China, Greece, India, Russia, and Turkey.