Going down into an underpass to cross the busy boulevard that runs along the Caspian Sea in Baku, I hear a delicate-but-piercing twangy sound echoing in the passageway. It is a busker with his music case open for donations. It’s only in Azerbaijan that you’re likely to see a street musician playing a tar – a plucked lute with a distinctive figure-of-eight shaped body. One of the reasons he’s playing here is probably because this subway leads towards the International Mugham Center, the main venue for mugham music in which the tar plays an important part.
Mugham is Azerbaijan’s home-grown ‘classical’ or ‘art’ music. In its traditional form it features a singer accompanied by a small ensemble, usually comprising the plucked tar and bowed (spike-fiddle) plus a or (frame drum), generally played by the singer. These core, a clarinet, lute or zither. Slower vocal sections alternate with faster instrumental ones. You can compare the genre’s textures with the interwoven threads of a handmade carpet – another artform in which the country excels.
