| Birth Date: | 11 July 1925 |
| Birth Place: | Kazan, TASSR, USSR |
| Death Place: | Moscow, Russia |
| Occupation: | composer, conductor, cellist |
| Genre: | classical, jazz, ethnic, pop music |
| Native Name Lang: | tt |
| Native Name: | Almaz Zakir ulı Monasıypov |
| Years Active: | 1953–2008 |
Almaz Monasypov (tt-Latn|Almaz Zakir ulı Monasıypov,, 1925–2008) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Tatar origin. He was an art worker of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1987), People's Artist of the Tatarstan Republic (2000), and laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Tatarstan named after Gabdulla Tuqay (1991). He used traditional Tatar musical techniques such as baits (tt-Cyrl|бәет), munajats (tt-Cyrl|мөнәҗәт), and booksinging (tt-Cyrl|китап көе) in modern music. The symphony-poem Musa Jalil (Symphony II) and the vocal-symphonic poem In the Rhythms of Tuqay (tt-Cyrl|Тукай аһәңнәре,) are recognized as Tatar national musical classics.
Almaz Monasypov was born on 11 July 1925, in Kazan. His family often played music and his father had a love for playing the violin. At the age of eleven, Monasypov entered the children's music school in Kazan to learn to play the cello. His teacher at the music school and then at the Kazan Music College was Ruvim Polyakov.
In 1943, Monasypov turned 18 and was subsequently drafted into the Red Army to serve on the Eastern Front. After the end of World War II, Monasypov entered the Kazan State Conservatory, where he graduated in 1950 as a cellist in the class of Professor Alexander Brown.[1] He returned to the Conservatory in 1952 to study composition. In 1956, he graduated from the Kazan Conservatory for the second time in the class of Professor Albert Leman, and received a diploma as a composer. In 1964, Monasypov completed a post-graduate studies course at the Conservatory, specializing in opera and symphony conducting under the guidance of Professor Isay Sherman.
From 1959 to 1970, Monasypov worked as a conductor at the Tatar State Opera and Ballet House named after Mussa Jalil. From 1970 to 1973, Monasypov was the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Tatar State Philharmonic named after G. Tuqay. From 1968 to 1973 and from 2000 to 2003, he taught at the Kazan Conservatory at the Department of Composition.
Starting in 1972, Monasypov lived in Moscow but actively participated in the musical life of the Republic of Tatarstan, in the work of the Union of Composers of Tatarstan and in the education of young composers.[2] In 1991, he was awarded The State Prize of the Republic of Tatarstan, named after G. Tuqay.
Monasypov died on 22 July 2008 in Moscow and was buried at the Mitinskoe Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.
Monasypov's works include several symphonies; he also authored hundreds of songs, romances, music for solo instruments, and a violin sonata (all detailed below).
Dedicated to the famous Tatar poet-hero, the symphony-poem Musa Jalil (also Second Symphony, 1971) brought great success to Monasypov. The symphony-poem was intended to embody images of courage, heroism, war, and the enemy.
In the Third Symphony (1974), Monasypov aimed to expand upon the philosophical themes of man's search for his place in the world and the necessity of resisting cruelty and violence. In the music of the symphony, the rhythm from the Morse code SOS signal is included. The rhythm of the SOS signal breaks through at the climax zones of the development of the theme.
The Fourth Symphony "Dastan" (1978) is an example of Tatar symphonic music. Monasypov often utilized rhythms of ancient baits (tt-Cyrl|бәет) and munajats (tt-Cyrl|мөнәҗәт), including them in his instrumental and vocal compositions. The symphony touches on themes of the spiritual world of Tatar culture.
While primarily creating more serious pieces of music, Monasypov was also the author of many popular songs within the Republic of Tatarstan and far beyond its borders. One of his most popular works was the vocal-symphonic poem In the Rhythms of Tuqay written in 1975. His compositions have also been performed by pop orchestras. For example, the Foxtrot "Hallar" ("Dreams") was included in the repertoire of famous jazz orchestra under Oleg Lundstrem. In 1990, Musical offering to Salih Saidashev was written for the Symphony orchestra, in which the author pays homage to the founder of Soviet Tatar professional music.