About Gara Garayev Gara Abulfaz oghlu Garayev (Azerbaijani: Qara Əbülfəz oğlu Qarayev, February 5, 1918 in Baku - May 13, 1982 in Moscow), also spelled as Qara Qarayev or Kara Karaev, was a prominent Azerbaijani composer of the Soviet period. Garayev wrote nearly 110 musical pieces, including ballets, operas, symphonic and chamber pieces, solos for piano, cantatas, songs and marches, and rose to prominence not only in Azerbaijan SSR but also in the rest of the Soviet Union and worldwide .