Yunus Rajabiy

Composer, singer, and musician, Academician Yunus Rajabiy is primarily known to the broad cultural public as a talented singer with a sharp, rich voice. Combining singing with composition, the artist worked effectively in the Uzbek musical drama genre, writing melodies, songs, dance tunes, and choral works. He is a People's Artist of Uzbekistan, a recipient of the «For Great Merits» order and the Republic State Prize, and a full member of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.

Composer, singer, and musician, Academician Yunus Rajabiy was born in Tashkent in 1897. He studied first in a madrasa, then in the Turkestan People's Conservatory (1919-1922), in the preparatory course of the Tashkent Higher Music School (1934), and in the composers' course in Moscow (1940-1941). Yu. Rajabiy learned the folk musical heritage from Mirzaqosim Hafiz, Sh. Shoumarov, Toychi Hafiz, and Domla Halim Ibadov.

He began his work in 1923-1925 as a teacher at a club in the Samarkand Pedagogical College, served as music director of the Samarkand Theater (1925-1926), organizer and artistic director of the folk instruments ensemble under the Uzbekistan Radio Committee (1927-1959), music director of the Yangiyul Musical Drama and Comedy Theater of Tashkent region (1942-1945), and organizer and artistic director of the Maqam ensemble under the State Committee of Uzbekistan for Television and Radio Broadcasting (1959-1976).

Yu. Rajabiy was initially known to the broad cultural public as a talented singer with a sharp, rich voice. Songs in maqam styles he sang, such as «Girya», «Nolish»,

«Kocha Bogi», «Eshvoy», «Kurd», «Qalandari», «Shahnozi Gulyor», «Bayot», «Qaro Kozim», «Dugohi Husayni», «Chorgoh», «Miskin», «Nasrulloyi», and the ancient Uzbek melodies and songs he restored such as «Subhidam», «Yolgiz», «Sayqal», «Segoh», «Dugoh», continue to bring aesthetic pleasure and peace to the hearts of listeners.

Combining singing with composition, the artist worked effectively in the Uzbek musical drama genre, writing melodies, songs, dance tunes, and choral works.

While he initially composed melodies based on folk songs for plays such as Khurshid's «Farhad and Shirin» (1922-1925), «Layli and Majnun» (1926), O. Ismailov's «Rustam» (1933), A. Hidoyatov's «Avaz» (1935), and Hamza's «Kholiskhan» (1940), he later wrote musical dramas including «Qochar Turdiev» by S. Abdulla and Chustiy (1942), «Revenge» by A. Umariy and Uygur in collaboration with B. Nadejdin (1941), «Farhad and Shirin» by K. Yashin (1944), «Muqanna» by H. Olimjon in collaboration with G. Mushel (1943), «Nodira» by S. Qosimov and L. Mamatkhonov in collaboration with Khalil (1942-1943), «Marrying Off a Son» by H. Gulam in collaboration with B. Zeydman (1964), and «Navoi in Astrabad» by Y. Mahsumov in collaboration with Sayfi Jalil (1968), as well as the opera «Zaynab and Aman» in collaboration with T. Sadiqov, D. Zokirov, and B. Zeydman, contributing greatly to the formation of the Uzbek musical drama genre.

He also created choral works, marches, and melodies such as «Factory Yalla», «Yor-Yor», «Wedding in Mirzachul», «Uzbekistan», «Song about Heroes», «Our Era», «Song about the Homeland», «Friendship of Peoples», «Spring Has Come», «Joy», «To Friends», «Koshki», «Flower Petal», «Victory», and dance tunes such as «Oyin Bayoti», «Oyin Dugohi», «Cotton».

Yu. Rajabiy's services in collecting the Uzbek musical heritage are immense. He began collecting melodies, songs, and maqams in 1935. As a result, the collection «Uzbek Folk Songs» compiled by E. Romanovskaya and A. Akbarov in 1939 included 29 songs transcribed by Yu. Rajabiy.

In 1955-1959, Yu. Rajabiy published (edited by Y. Akbarov) the 5-volume collection «Uzbek Folk Music», which included about a thousand Uzbek (and several Tajik and Uyghur) melodies and songs of various genres, the «Bukhara Shashmaqom», Tashkent and Fergana maqam melodies, large songs, Hamza's songs, and works by dozens of composers. As a result of working with the Maqam ensemble for a long time, he prepared a new 6-volume edition of «Shashmaqom» in 1966-1974 (edited by F. Qaramatov).

His work «A Look at Our Musical Heritage», published in 1978, which provides commentary to these books, became an important manual for studying the performance styles of maqam musicians.

In addition to raising and training composers such as T. Sadiqov, D. Zokirov, D. Soatqulov, F. Sadiqov, N. Hasanov, and singers such as N. Ahmedova, B. Davidova, K. Ismailova, O. Imomkhojaev, O. Alimahsumov, he also raised and brought up children such as People's Artist of Uzbekistan Obid Yunusov, People's Hafiz of Uzbekistan Hasan Rajabiy, and Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Tohir Rajabiy.

They are continuing their father's work as wise children and creators and are working effectively to immortalize his sacred name.

Yu. Rajabiy's great services in the perfection of Uzbek music and song art were awarded with the title of «People's Artist of Uzbekistan» in 1958 and the Republic State Prize (1973). In 1966, he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.

The great figure of Uzbek musical art, Yunus Rajabiy, passed away in Tashkent in 1976. The name of Yunus Rajabiy was given to the «Maqam» ensemble under the State Committee of Uzbekistan for Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Jizzakh Musical Drama Theater, the Tashkent Music Pedagogical College, and one of the central streets in Tashkent.

The cultural public of our republic celebrated the 100th anniversary of Yunus Rajabiy widely in 1997. For his immense contribution to the development of Uzbek national culture, he was awarded the «For Great Merits» order in 2000.