Franghiz Ali-Zadeh

• Franghiz Ali-Zadeh attempts to build a bridge between the Western avant-garde and the music of her homeland Azerbaijan, but also of other regions of the Near East
• A central cycle of her works has been grouped under the generic theme of the Silk Road
• Compositional styles from her Oriental homeland are encountered repeatedly, such as the Mugam, a fixed modal melody type, combined with characteristics of the Western avant-garde to create distinctive soundworlds
• Alongside chamber music such as Mugam Sayagi, are scores including Music for Piano, in which she works with a prepared piano like John Cage
• Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is also attracted to philosophical and literary subjects, for instance in Nizami Cosmology or In Search of Lost Time.

Works by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh include:
Habil Sayagi for cello and prepared piano (1979)
Crossing II for eleven instruments (1992-93)
Silk Road Concerto for percussion and chamber orchestra (1999)
Nasimi-Passion for baritone, choir and orchestra (2016)

Works by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh are published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski

Looking Ahead: World premiere Music for Cello and Strings with Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Ivan Monighetti (Vc) at the Cello Biennale 2024 (6 Apr); premiere Variazioni Asiago for two violoncellos, vibraphone and percussion with Julius Berger, Hyun Jung Berger (Vc), Frangis Ali-Sade (Vibr, Tr) in Asiago (11 Aug)

"The greatest influences on the development of a composer's musical language are the first childhood memories: the family, the environment, the musical life of the homeland." — Franghiz Ali-Zadeh