Nury Halmammedov

Bust of Nury Halmammedov in Dayna village. Photo courtesy of Infoabad, used with permission. Nurmammet Halmammedovich Halmammedov (; ; 20 June 1938– 4 August 1983), also known as Nury Halmammedov (; ) or Nury Halmammet (; ), was a prominent Turkmen composer described as one of Turkmenistan's "Greatest Sons". His legacy has been commemorated with anniversary events in Turkmenistan and Russia.

Early childhood and education Halmammedov was born on 20 June 1938 in Daýna village near Bäherden, Turkmenistan, to Halmammet Bayliyev and Hangul-Eje Mammedaliyeva. He had a cat, which died protecting Nury from a snake when he was an infant. Nury never forgot about him. Nury had a very difficult childhood. According to Jemile Gurbanova's biography of Halmammedov, his mother died in 1944, and his father moved to Iran with two of the family's four sons, Begmammet and Ashyrberdi, abandoning Nury, his 17-year-old brother, Bayly, and older sister, Artyk. Nury's memories of this time were grim. He recounted at one point.

Since in my childhood I drank cloudy water from an irrigation ditch and lived off the grasses growing along its banks, by age 4 or 5 my belly swelled up and was elastic, like a ball. Because of my round stomach I couldn't see my own feet.

Bayly committed Nury to the Garrygala orphanage. In 1947 Nury was transferred to the Bäherden boarding school. In 1948 little Nury ran away from the boarding school, boarded a train with three rubles in hand intending to go to Moscow, but ended up in Ashgabat. When discovered by authorities, since he had no papers and could not identify his parents, he was sent to the Baýramaly orphanage. Here he encountered a piano teacher, Olga Krivchenko, and began studying piano.

In 1958 he entered Moscow State P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, graduating in 1963. His major adviser was Anatoly Alexandrov, who described Halmammedov as "...devilishly talented..." and "a gifted rarity". Halmammedov wrote a major piano work during this period, Sounds of the Dutar, published in 1962 and dedicated to the prominent Turkmen dutarist Mylly Tachmyradov. In this composition, Halmammedov sought not only to reproduce the sounds of a dutar on piano, but also to capture Tachmyradov's virtuosity as well.

Career Halmammedov published at least 175 works between 1956 and his death in 1983, including over 40 works for pianoforte. These included musical scores for 30 motion pictures, including 9 animated films, 18 art films, and 3 documentaries. The first of these scores was for Bulat Mansurov's 1963 film, Contest. The score for Alty Garliyev's Decisive Step followed in 1965; Garliyev said Halmammedov's contribution made him a "full co-author" of the film. Halmammedov additionally put verse to music, including poetry by Gurbannazar Ezizov, as well as Sergei Yesenin and Heinrich Heine. In particular, Halmammedov was noted for putting to music Yesenin's lyric poetry in Persian Motifs (1969–1971), blending Turkmen- and Persian tonalities in six parts: My Old Wounds are Healed, Blue and Joyful Country, Interview, Shagan, My Shagan, My Beloved's Hands are a Pair of Swans, and Countless Sounds of Sparrows. He composed the music for the 1974 opera Görogly. He wrote the libretto and score for the 1983 ballet version of Decisive Step, which was performed at the Magtymguly Theater in Ashgabat. He is buried at the Vatutin Cemetery there.

Legacy A street in Ashgabat is named in Halmammedov's honor, and a statue of him stands at the western end of that street. A bust of Halmammedov also stands in his home village, Daýna. An annual music festival in Moscow is held in Halmammedov's honor.

The program brochure for the III Moscow International Nury Halmammedov Festival noted, "His music is so naturally and durably woven into the everyday life of the Turkmen people that mothers sing Lullaby from Decisive Step to their children, not even suspecting that this music isn't a folk song. Or another example: when someone dies, he is accompanied on his final journey by Halmammedov's mournful melody from the film Bitter Fate".

Musical style

Aleksandrov told Halmammedov when handing him his diploma upon graduation from the conservatory that he should continue to study Turkmen folk music but also should listen as often as possible to other music. In Cherkezova's words, Halmammedov took this advice and learned he could "find points of contact" between two completely different genres and "harmonically merging two miracles, he created a third." Turkmen singer Medeniyet Shahberdiyeva, who performed many of his works, remarked, "The rhythms of Nury's works are Turkmen, but the harmony belongs to world musical culture."

Vasiliy Larionov noted that Halmammedov's Persian Motifs applied a plot progression characteristic of Turkmen folk dessans: "The action is interpreted in a generalized emotional manner, action is shaped less by the progression of events than by their internal psychological interaction." Cherkezova cites film producer Yevgeny Mikhelson's description of Halmammedov's score for one of his animated features, "...the national tone...which ran like a red thread through his entire composition." Soprano and musicologist Darya Rubanova wrote, One of the principles seen in Halmammedov's musical compositions is singular intonational development, a characteristic feature of professional folk instrumentalism. National peculiarities are most clearly reflected in the melody, which performs an important emotional and semantic function. In [his] works...are organically intertwined song and dance, vocal, and instrumental principles. A peculiar refraction is found in various polyrhythmic forms, borrowed from the practice of folk instrumental performance.

Personal life Halmammedov was married twice. He had three children by his first wife, sons Rovshen and Sapar, and daughter Leyli. His second wife and widow was Gulsoltan Gylyjovna Khalmamedova (; ) née Yagmyrova (; ), who for many years headed Turkmenfilm. They had a son, Ashirberdy. Gulsoltan Halmamedova died in August 2019.

Awards

1979 Meritorious Arts Activist of Turkmenistan 1983 Turkmenistan State Magtymguly Prize (posthumously) 1984 USSR State Prize (posthumously) 1991 People's Artist of Turkmenistan (posthumously) Turkmenia Suite (сюита "Туркмения"), Sovetskiy kompozitor, 1968

External links to music

Nury Halmamedov (YouTube) Нуры Халмамедов музыка из к/ф "Шукур Бахши" (Nury Halmammedov, music from Shukur Bakhshi, performed by Mamed Guseynov) (YouTube) The Interrupted songs of children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (performed by Mamed Guseynov) (YouTube)