April 7 & 8, 2024
Music from armenia
The Chamber Players welcome Ara Dinkjian, oud, and Arsen Petrosyan, duduk, for a concert featuring Armenian composers.
Program and Program Notes
Part I. Arsen Petrosyan – Duduk with Quartet
Aravot Luso
Aravot Luso (Morning Light), an Armenian sacred Hymn of Sunrise, composed by St. Nerses Shnorhali (1102-1173), a remarkable theologian, poet, writer and hymn composer.
Hov Areq Sarer Jan
Hov Areq Sarer Jan (Make Breeze, Dear Mountains) is an Armenian folk song collected and transcribed by Komitas Vardapet.
Chinar Es, Shogher Jan, Kaqavik
Chinar Es (You Are Beautiful) and Shogher Jan (Dear Shogher) are Armenian folk songs collected and transcribed by Komitas; Kaqavik (Little Partridge) is his own composition.
Amen, Hair Surb
Amen, Hair Surb (Amen, Holy Father) is a piece of Armenian sacred music composed by St. Nerses Shnorhali.
Part II. Ara Dinkjian and Arsen Petrosyan Duets
Sari Sirun Yar
Sari Sirun Yar (Sweetheart of the Mountains) is an Armenian love song composed by Kusan (Troubador) Ashod, in which he describes his love in vivid poetic terms, imploring her to “bring the fire of your love.”
Keesher Bar
Upon hearing of the sudden death of a dear friend, Ara Dinkjian went to his instrument for consolation, and composed Keesher Bar (Night Dance).
My Dark Place
My Dark Place, composed by Ara Dinkjian, explores that private, lonely, misunderstood place in us all.
Aparani Bar
Aparani Bar (Dance from Aparan) is an Armenian folk-dance melody in the 5/8 time signature, with some subtle rhythmic variations, in which the male dancers would mimic wheat-harvesting motions.
Intermission
Part III. String Quartet
Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national school of music. In April 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, Komitas—along with hundreds of other Armenian intellectuals—was arrested and deported to a prison camp by the Ottoman government.
He was soon released under unclear circumstances, experienced a mental breakdown, and developed a severe case of posttraumatic stress disorder. He collected and transcribed over 3,000 pieces of Armenian folk music, in essence defining its identity. More than half of these pieces were subsequently lost and only around 1,200 are extant. This set of beautiful miniatures represents the nostalgia, sorrow, bliss and hopeful voice of a resilient nation.
Al Ayloughes (The Red Shawl)
Habrban (Festive Song)
Shushiki (Girls' Dance)
Hoy Nazan (Oh, Nazan)
Karoun A (It’s Spring)
Echmiadzni Bar (Dance from Echmiadzin)
Part IV. Ara Dinkjian, Arsen Petrosyan and String Quartet
Hankchetsek Took Antor
Hankchetsek Took Antor (Rest Peacefully) was composed by Libarid Nazarian in memory of the Armenian Genocide martyrs. Ara Dinkjian composed the short quartet introduction.
Hampere
Hampere (Be Patient) is an Armenian folk song, in which the lyrics state:
I’m far from my country
I’m separated from my friends
Of course we will reunite someday
Be patient my dear, be patient
Meeting My Past
Meeting My Past was composed by Ara Dinkjian after his first trip to Anatolia (Eastern Turkey). The rhythmic mode is Aksak (9/8), subdivided as 4 + 5. The first melody in the piece was inspired by Komitas’s Kele Kele.
Giligia
Giligia (Celicia) was composed by Garbriel Yeranian (1827-1862), with lyrics by Nahabed Rusinian (1819-1876), the first line of which is “When the doors of hope are opened…” Mihran Toumajan, one of Komitas’s five disciples, stated: “This is the song which, like a magnet, has pulled to itself and does pull and bring near all the ancestral emotions and dreams of the Armenians.”
Mardiki Yerk
Mardiki Yerk (Soldier’s Song) was composed by Ashod Satyan (1906-1958) and relates the hope of a freedom fighter on the battlefield to see his mother and home, and recalls his youth.
Offering
Ara Dinkjian’s Offering was written for his dying maternal grandmother, Armenouhie Mallanian Maksian, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. The piece’s two themes represent a dialogue between grandmother and grandson, in which he asks her, “What is life?” She replies, “Life is love.”
Heart Key
Heart Key is Ara Dinkjian’s attempt to compose a piece in the Soviet Armenian style. It was partly inspired by Tatul Altunyan’s arrangement of the folk song Sirem Ge, but also features modal modulation, typical in late Ottoman art music.