Representations of women and gender in the music of the Caucasus are extremely varied, as every ethnicity has different traditions and exhibits a different response to contemporary music and globalization. As most ethnicities of the region have not been researched on this subject, this entry focuses on Azerbaijan.

Traditionally, professional music in Azerbaijan is comprised of improvised modal art-music (mugham) and minstrel music ( ashiq ) (Figures 19, 20). Mugham is prized for its passion, which expresses itself in vocal intensity and lyrics. Gender is the catalytic principle of m…