Analysis of Arif Melikov's 8th symphony in terms of musical and composition techniques

Each composer's musical career can be evaluated by the compositions that they made within this period and generally by the genres and the styles that they are oriented. While some composers, throughout their career, are recognized by being remain loyal to one single style, focusing their works on a specific genre, the others experience almost every genre of music literature by being inclined to a constant change of style, in the course of history. Arif Melikov, as a composer preserved his own distinctive style, yet he can be considered in the category of composers who execute different perspectives in each era. Despite composing in various categories among music genres, he is mostly known for his ballet and symphonies. In this study, the composer's eighth symphony also known as the last, Ebediyet (eternity) is examined in terms of the composing technique and musical aspect. Moreover, the detailed information about the symphony's writing process, the technical methods, the poems in the symphony and their poets Nazim Hikmet and Elmas Yildirim, is given. In the poems, which appear in the symphony, theme of homesickness is emphasized by the two different approaches of two different poets. It is notable that the composer uses this situation to express the content and the subject of the work more clearly. Melikov, in this piece, skillfully blends these elements with new musical techniques as well as national music elements. The composer's method of using vocal in symphonic music is also striking. When the whole of the symphony examined in terms of form, it is seen that there are singing pieces at the beginning and at the end and an orchestral structure based on resonance and effects in the middle. Arif Melikov, in his eighth symphony, explains the concept of eternity by using his unique musical language and experiences.