THE LIVING COMPOSERS PROJECT  

Elmir Mirzoev

(b. 1970, Baku).

Azerbaijani composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and vocal works that have been performed in Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

Mr. Mirzoev studied composition with Faraj Karayev at the Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası – Academy of Music in Baku from 1989–94, with whom he then had postgraduate studies in composition there from 1995–99. He also attended a course in composition by James Dillon and Ole Lützow-Holm at Göteborgs universitet – University of Gothenburg in 1994 and the International Young Composers Meeting in Apeldoorn in 1999.

Among his honours is a term as artist-in-residence at the Villa Sträuli in Winterthur (2013). His music has been performed in Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the USA, and Uzbekistan.

He is also active in other positions. He served as artistic director of the Initiative Centre of Contemporary Music – Ensemble SoNoR in Baku from 1995–2005. Moreover, he has organised international projects in Azerbaijan and elsewhere since 1996.

He has taught composition at the Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası since 1998. He taught as an assistant to York Höller at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne in 2007–08 and as an assistant at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar in 2010–11. He later taught as an assistant professor at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin from 2019–22. In addition, he has given lectures, masterclasses and workshops in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

CONTACT INFORMATION

E-mail address: elmir.mirzoev@gmail.com

Website: https://www.mirzoev.net/

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

ORCHESTRAL:

A game with rosaries, large orchestra (79 players), 1996

Seven minutes for orchestra, large orchestra (78 players), 1999

Candentia II, piano (+ celesta, glockenspiel), 18 strings, 2005

Illumination, 2008

Die schwerfälligste ästhetische Erfahrung vom verschwundenen Lärm der Schönheit (symphony), violin, small orchestra, 2010

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Sacrificium intellectus, oboe, clarinet, French horn, qanun (zither from the Middle East), violin, viola, cello, piano, organ, 1992

Intra cancellos, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), oboe, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon, French horn, piccolo trumpet, 2 violins, viola, cello, piano, 2 percussion, 1994

Candentia I, flute (+ alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), guitar, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 1995

Symbolic Triangular Silence, bass clarinet (+ clarinet), guitar, piano, 1995

Short exercises for brain and hands, piano, percussion, 1996

Drei Reminiszenzen, guitar, 1997

ReAKSIYA, bass clarinet, piano, percussion, fixed media, 1998

Impromptu, flute (+ piccolo), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), 2 saxophones, 2 French horns, trumpet, 2 trombones, bass tuba, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, percussion, 1999

Bahar, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, French horn, organ, percussion, 1999 (also version for bass flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, French horn, violin, viola, cello, percussion, 1999)

Visions and Echo, flute (+ alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 2000

Symbolic Triangular Cross, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), viola, piano, 2001

White Circles, clarinet, violin, 2001

Chamber concerto, clarinet, ensemble (balaban [oboe from Azerbaijan], contrabassoon, trombone, harp, violin, viola, cello, percussion), 2001–02

Rituals, percussion ensemble, 2002–03

Faiyum Portraits I, bass flute, harp, cello, percussion, fixed media, 2004

Die Gestorbene Zeit des Idealismus, bass flute (+ flute), harp, cello, accordion, fixed media, 2006

Illusory perception of the destroyed world of anarchy, bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, fixed media, 2008

L'identification de la vengeance d'Eurydice (instrumental music-theatre work), bass flute (+ flute), 4 percussion, 2011

Die Vergänglichkeit der Zustände des Phönix-Mythos, bass clarinet, double bass, ensemble (flute, saxophone, trombone, accordion, violin, viola, cello), 2012

Le complexe de Caïn (instrumental music-theatre work), soprano, flute, contrabass clarinet, harp, cello, percussion, 2013

Allegoria Sacra, 2 players (with violin, prepared piano, glockenspiel, triangle, singing bowls), film, 2015

Epitaph, violin, cello, piano, fixed media, 2022

Die Krankengeschichte (instrumental theatre, after Irina Yasina), accordion, ensemble, live electronics, film, 2023

VOCAL:

...Also, Sie sind gekommen, soprano, bass clarinet (+ clarinet), guitar/cello, piano, percussion, 1997

JUStACRUM, soprano, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon, French horn, trumpet, harp, qanun, cello, piano, percussion, 1998

Sarı Gelin, soprano, flute (+ alto flute), guitar, percussion, 2002

Four Songs, soprano, flute (+ alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet, balaban), guitar, cello, piano, synthesizer, 2 percussion, fixed media, 2002

Todesfuge, 2 sopranos, 2 double basses (both + percussion), 2003

Faiyum Portraits II, soprano, English horn, theorbo, fixed media, 2005

Die Flucht aus der Zeit (texts by Hugo Ball, Alfred Meißner), soprano, 3 soli, ensemble, 2009

PIANO:

Five Styles, 2006

ORGAN:

In trance, 1991

FILM SCORES (DIRECTOR):

Black Room, 2006 (Nonna de Gubek)

Transcommunication: invasion of senses, 2012 (Teymur Daimi)

The WELL, 2021 (Rüfat Ray)

ARRANGEMENTS:

Seven Motets (Guillaume de Machaut), soprano, flute, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon, French horn, guitar, cello, 1997

Prelude VII–Prelude VIII–Prelude XV–Prelude XVI–Prelude XXIV from 24 Preludes (Kara Karayev), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), harp, cello, percussion, 1998