Nury Halmammedov

Early childhood and education

Nury Halmammedov was born on 20 June 1938 in Daýna village near Baherden, Turkmenistan, to Halmämed Baýlyew and Hangül-Eje Mamedaliýewa. He had very difficult childhood. According to Jemile Gurbanowa's biography of Halmamedov, his mother died in 1944, and his father moved to Iran with two of the family's four sons, Begmamed 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 Karakalinsk orphanage. In 1947 Nury was transferred to the Baherden boarding school. At some point, however, around 1950 or 1951 little Nury ran away from the boarding school, stowed away on a freight train, and 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.

After three and a half years, in 1954, Halmammedov was transferred to Turkmen State Music School in Ashgabat, where he studied under Viktor Khiruntsev and Elena Kulesh. At this school he was introduced to composition by Ashir Kuliyev, and wrote his first piece, "Dance", for piano. Other compositions during this period include "March", "Play", and "Reminisces", as well as pieces for cello and violin with 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". While at the conservatory Halmammedov wrote about 30 songs, romances, and choral works, including romances based on the works of Magtymguly Pyragy and Mollanepes. His graduation project was the symphonic portrait "Turkmenia", which premiered at his graduation examination in 1963, performed by the All-Union Radio and Television Great Symphony Orchestra. It was his first symphonic composition.

Career

Halmammedov published at least 175 works between 1956 and his death in 1983. These included musical scores for 9 animated films, 18 art films, and 3 documentaries. The first of these scores was for Bulat Masurov's 1963 film, Contest. The score for Alty Garlyev's Decisive Step followed in 1965. Halmammedov additionally put verse to music, including poetry by Gurbannazar Ezizov, as well as Sergey Esenin and Heinrich Heine. He composed the music for the 1974 opera Görogly. Halmammedov wrote over 40 works for pianoforte.

Halmammedov died in Ashgabat of cirrhosis of the liver and complications of diabetes. He is buried at the Vatutin Cemetery there.

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 Çerkezowa'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."

Halmammedov's work was noted for incorporating elements from both the Turkmen folk musical heritage and the broader classical tradition as taught at the Moscow conservatory. Turkmen singer Medeniýet Şahberdiýewa, who performed many of his works, remarked, "The rhythms of Nury's works are Turkmen, but the harmony belongs to world musical culture."

Musicologist Jemile Gurbanowa noted the influences of early Franz Schubert on Halmammedov's vocal works, of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Aram Khachaturian on his symphonic works, of Robert Schumann on piano pieces, and of Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff on romantic works. She noted as well, however, that national folklore remained his "primary inspiration." Çerkezowa 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."

Personal Life

Halmammedov was married twice. He had three children by his first wife, sons Röwşen and Sapar, and daughter Leýli. His seçond wife and widow is Gulsoltan Klychevna Halmammedova (Russian: Гульсолтан Клычевна Халмамедова), who for many years headed Turkmenfilm. They have a son, Aşyrberdi.

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)