The photo shows singer Muslim Magomayev and composer Arno Babajanian with Robert Rozhdestvensky. They formed a vibrant creative trio which the audiences knew very well because of the many famous songs they composed together. One of their most popular shared compositions was the song “Nocturne” with lyrics by Robert Rozhdestvensky. It was performed by Iosif Kobzon and Muslim Magomaev.

They began working together in the 1960s-1970s. The trio came together when the rising Soviet pop star Muslim Magomaev was only 19 years old, Arno Babajanian was 40, and Rozhdestvensky was 29. For a long period of time, they would create together one hit song after another. The most popular among them are: “Beauty Queen”, “Waiting”, “My Destiny”, “Wedding, ” “The Moscow Song” and “Grateful to you”.

Robert Rozhdestvensky felt at ease and free in songwriting. He came to songwriting with his own special mode of verse, tone, and imagery, for which he was so loved as a poet. However, he did not compose verses for songs purposefully. As a rule, his works lay organically on the music written for them by composers. Rozhdestvensky’s songwriting has been recognized not only by the general public but also by professional writers, composers, and performers.

He was one of the first authors to raise the art of songwriting to the level of true poetry. It was important to Rozhdestvensky that the people, not just the professionals, loved and wanted these songs. During his lifetime, he wrote several hundred poems, the music for which was composed by famous composers of the second half of the twentieth century — Mark Fradkin, Oskar Feltsman, Maksim Dunayevsky, and many others. In addition, his songs were performed by the best singers — Anna Herman, Iosif Kobzon, Lev Leshchenko. This was a significant part of Rozhdestvensky’s poetry, which accounts for almost a third of his entire literary legacy.