Zagir Ismagilov - Soviet and Bashkir composer, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR was also a social and musical figure. He became the first rector of the State Institute of Arts in Ufa. Ismagilov's name has become a symbol of the formation and development of the art of Bashkiria, and the works have become a significant part of the golden fund of the republican musical culture.
Zagir Garipovich Ismagilov has won many prestigious awards. His biography began in the village of Verkhnee Sermenevo at the very beginning of January 1917. From the age of eight, Zagir learned to play the kurai, becoming the best kurai player in the area.
The path to the vocation
Since the father of the future famous composer was a lumberjack, the son decided to continue his father's business and entered a forestry technical school. After completing his education, the graduate began work at the timber industry enterprise in Beloretsk. The famous actor Arslan Mubaryakov, who came there on tour, changed the biography of the young man.
He offered him a job as a curator in productions. After a successful debut, an invitation to study followed. Zagir learned all the intricacies of the craft, gave concerts, played in performances. Colleagues appreciated the considerable creative potential and advised the guy to study further. Ismagilov, 20, became a student at the Bashkir studio at the Moscow Conservatory.
Musicality, talent for improvisation and excellent ear completely compensated for the lack of musical notation. Zagir started writing the first works, made arrangements of folk songs. During the Great Patriotic War, the composer worked in Ufa. He participated in front-line concerts, created patriotic songs. After his composition "Fly, my chestnut!" the whole country learned about the nugget.
The National Studio was graduated in 1948. Zagir became a student of the Moscow Conservatory on the main course. He wrote plays for various musical instruments. In 1954, the opera "Salavat Yulaev" was presented as a thesis. The defense went great. In the middle of the spring of 1955, the public premiere of the work took place.
It turned into a grandiose cultural event for Ufa. Zagir Garipovich received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. The national hero of Bashkiria became the center of the author's creation. Folk motifs with songs, choral scenes, ensembles, arias, orchestrations were skillfully woven into the work.
Significant compositions
Composer's creativity has become a huge contribution to the musical life of the republic. A lot of songs were created on the verses of fellow countrymen. Their themes are related to the poetics of nature, the life of the country and Bashkiria. In 1959, the musical comedy Kodasa was written. It showed the opposition of the inhabitants of the Bashkir village of the thirties in upholding the familiar way of life with the introduction of new trends, the fight against superstitions, and breaking stereotypes.
Fascinating events took place against the background of poetic pictures of beautiful nature, the characters of the main characters of the work were skillfully conveyed. Since 1958, Ismagilov became the chairman of the republican Union of Composers, of which he was a member in 1943.
Then there was the State Institute of Arts in Ufa. Zagir Garipovich became its first rector. He held this post for two decades. For thirty years he worked as a composition teacher. His contribution to the development of the national musical culture is invaluable. The composer was engaged in choral, instrumental, chamber-vocal and operatic themes.
Ismagilov's activities are an example of purposefulness in achieving the set goals. Creativity has become a continuation of the traditions of the composers of The Mighty Handful.
Ismagilov's works were performed throughout the Soviet Union and outside the country in China, North Korea, Hungary, Ethiopia, Bulgaria. The composer became widely known thanks to his operatic compositions.
After "Salavat Yulaev" the composition "Shaura" was created. The new opera shows the tragic fate of a Bashkir woman striving for happiness. In a violent society with Sharia law, her life was broken. The color and expressiveness of the music was given by folk melodies, masterfully woven into the composition.
Recognition and reassurance
In 1982, the celebration of the reunification of Bashkiria with the Russian state took place. For the 425th anniversary, the composer wrote the opera "Ambassadors of the Urals". All stages of development and formation of the people, who became the main character in the epic work, are shown. The song "Ural" was chosen as the main motive.
Zagir Garipovich received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. Ismagilov also wrote instrumental compositions. He is the author of the orchestral "Festive Overture", the ballet "Shonkar", a concert for piano and orchestra. The composer understood the value of everyday songs. Zagir Garipovich Ismagilov remains revered and loved by several generations of listeners.
The diversity of his creations proves the talent of the nugget. The author left this life on May 30, 2003. One of the streets in Ufa bears his name.
A house-museum was created in his small homeland. Next to the Bashkir State Theater, there is a monument to an outstanding figure. The Ufa State Academy of Arts bears the name of Ismagilov. The memory of the composer is kept by his outstanding works.
The daughter of Zagir Garipovich Leila was born in 1946. She continued her father's work, becoming a national composer and honored art worker of the Russian Federation and the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Leila Zagirovna is a member of the Union of Composers of the Country and the Republic. She is a laureate of the Shostakovich Prize of the Russian Union of Composers. Since 2013, Leila Ismagilova has been the Chairman of the Union of Composers of Bashkiria.
