Sadigjan

Later, when the fame came to him, Mirza Sadikh built a three-story house on one of the best streets of Shusha and himself took part in its construction as a worker for several days.

The graduates of this school, besides Sadigjan, were the most famous mugham performers of Shusha - Haji Husi, Mashadi Isi, Deli Ismail, Shahnaz Abbas, Bulbuljan, Keshtazly Hashim, Kechachioglu Mahammad, Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu.

At the age of 18, Sadigjan lost his voice and after that he learned to play various musical instruments such as: kamancha, flute, nai, and tar.

But one day, when Mirza Ali Asgar fell ill, Sadigjan, replaced him as a tar player and managed to demonstrate his abilities in playing this instrument.

Poets, playwrights, famous musicians and artists from all over the Caucasus came here where theatrical performances were staged and musical meetings were held.

[15] Among these majlises organized by Mir Mohsun Navvab "Mejlisi- Faramushan" ("Mejlis of the forgotten"), "Mejlisi-khananda" ("society of musicians") and Majlises arranged by Khurshidbanu Natavan, where singers and musicians demonstrated their art, discussions were held on the problems of the music theory, the works of poets were performed, and competitions were organized.

Being an admirer of Mirza Sadikh's creation, Mahmud-agha often invited him to his place together with Haji Husi and even gave him a tar, the body of which was made of gold.

This greatly irritated Khurshidbanu Natavan since the performance of Sadikh was an adornment at the "Majlisi-Uns" organized by her, as well as at the celebrations in the Khan's palace which did not take place without his participation.

In addition to the participation in celebrations and musical meetings, Sadikh gave concerts during the breaks of performances held in Shusha and Tiflis.

In March 1872, on the occasion of the celebration of Novruz, he was invited by the Iranian ambassador to Russia to St. Petersburg where he performed with the famous khanende Sattar.

It is known that starting from the 18th century in the countries of the Middle East, including Azerbaijan, singers and performers who gained recognition and fame among people were given a name or pseudonym with using “jan” (“soul”).

Many other musicians and singers also performed at the wedding, but Haji Husi and Sadikh were recognized as the best khanende and tar player and were awarded the Shiri-Khurshid order.

He also stated that the good performance of Mirza Sadikh was possible thanks to the changes made on the fretboard of the instrument, in the fret system of the tar.

The ensemble's performance took place in the concert halls of Shusha, Baku, Ganja, Ashgabat, Tehran, Istanbul, Derbent, Vladikavkaz, at the musical meetings of Khurshidbanu Natavan, Mahmud-agha, Mashadi Melik, in the gardens of Tiflis ("Mushtekhid") and İravan ("Khurrem").

In addition to these, Mirza Sadikh created such performance techniques as the “khun” effect (based on the resonation of the entire body of the tar obtained by shaking the neck of the instrument in accordance with the nature of the performance), the use of a small body or pressing the string to the neck of the tar, extracting sounds by plucking up to change the timbre of the instrument, etc.

In order to make the fingertips of his left hand harder, Mirza Sadikh lubricated them with a liquid of his own preparation, holding them also over a burning candle.

The Baku musical meeting organizer's son, Mashadi Melik, a famous tar player and the father of Bahram Mansurov, Mashadi Suleyman Mansurov, when firstly saw Mirza Sadikh in Tiflis, recalled that “his amazing playing on the tar had some kind of incomprehensible power over people”.

In the second half of the 19th century, the performance capabilities of the five-stringed tar no longer met the requirements of the rapidly developing Azerbaijani mugham art, and a need arose for a radical reconstruction of the instrument.

Sadikhjan, for the first time, made a number of significant and bold innovations in the tar's performance and in the structure of the instrument.

During the accompaniment of the khanende, aliquot strings create an organ point with the help of the vibrational effect “khun”, making mugham melodies more varied and brighter.

In the course of his work on improving the instrument, Sadikhjan used the theoretical knowledge of the musicologists Safiaddin Urmavi and Mir Mohsun Navvab.

In 1897, in Shusha, Mirza Sadikh taling an active part in the production of the “Leyli and Majnun” play, based on Fuzuli's poem with adaptations in the religious style “Shabeh”, he also engaged in its musical arrangement.