ABOUT ILYAS MALAYEV
(b
Mary, Turkmenistan,
12 Jan 1936).
Bukharan Jewish musician,
oral traditional composer and poet.
Growing up in Kattakurgan, a small city near Bukhara, now in the republic of
Uzbekistan, he played the tanbūr from an early age and learnt the
shash makom, the orally transmitted court music tradition of the later
Bukharan feudal nobility, from local teachers as well as from phonograph
records. In 1951 Malayev moved to Tashkent, the capital of Soviet Uzbekistan,
where he performed in a succession of state musical ensembles including the
Uzbek Song and Dance Ensemble (1952–60), the Ensemble of Singers and Dancers of
the Peoples of the World under the direction of Tamara Khanum (1953–6), the Folk
and Variety (Estrada) Orchestras of Uzbekistan Radio (1956–62), and from
1962 to 1992, the Symphonic Variety (Estrada) Orchestra of Uzbekistan
Radio. Malayev became popular in Uzbekistan as a vaudeville performer and
wedding entertainer, combining comedic routines, poetic recitation, excerpts
from the shash makom and songs, many with his own texts and melodies. In
1992 Malayev emigrated to Queens, New York, where he quickly established himself
as a leading cultural figure in the Bukharan Jewish émigré community. As the
music featured at weddings and other social events in the émigré community has
moved towards hybrid forms of popular music performed by a younger generation of
musicians, Malayev's focus has turned to the classical shash makom.
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Leading a group of
fellow Bukharan Jewish singers and instrumentalists known
variously as Maqam-i Nawa and the Ilyas Malayev Ensemble, Malayev has become
well known among ‘world music’ audiences in the USA and Europe for his
interpretations of Bukharan classical music. 'My purpose in life was to leave something that
will be remembered for decades or centuries,'' he said. ''I have done
that in the United States by publishing my book.'' In one of the poems,
translated by Mr. Feldman, Mr. Malayev wrote: In one of the poems, translated by Mr. Feldman, Mr. Malayev wrote:
In my heart I long to hear sweet
words
In my heart I long to see the
graceful strutting of the peacock
The turning of the wheel of fortune won't bring me to
my dear one's feast,
But in my heart I hear the screams of that revolving
sphere.
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Ильяс Малаев
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