Jovdat Hajiyev

Jovdat Ismayil oghlu Hajiyev (June 18, 1917 - January 18, 2002) was one of the major Azerbaijani composers of the Soviet period. He is remembered for his monumental orchestral works, having been the first Azerbaijani to compose a symphony (1936). He studied under Azerbaijan's Founder of Composed Music, Uzeyir Hajibeyov (1885-1948) and under Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). Hajiyev was born in Shaki (then Nukha), a town in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains in northwestern Azerbaijan.