“About musical heritage of Komitas” (Songs by Komitas piano transposition by Willy Sargsyan).

Authors

  • Artur Yuri Avanesov Yerevan State Conservatory

Keywords:

Komitas, transcription, processing, paraphrases, Willy Vahan Sargsyan, pedalization, T. E. Mansuryan, Armenian

Abstract

Pianist, composer, PhD, Docent of YSC Artur Yuri Avanesov.- “About musical heritage of Komitas” (Songs by Komitas piano transposition by Willy Sargsyan). The article is devoted to the review and analysis of songs of the outstanding Armenian composer Komitas, performed by the pianist, professor of the YSC Willie Sargsyan which has been published in 2015 at “Komitas” Publishing House. On the basis of these changes, the article provides an overview of the tradition of the piano conversion/transcription genre and discusses in detail the debate about the necessity and applicability of this genre to the music of Komitas. The author of the article proposes not to use the term "processing" in relation to already existing musical works. In this work, parallels are drawn both with the author 's translations of Edward Grieg's songs and with Tigran Mansuryan's article “Knowledge of our Genius” (1969), which strongly criticizes the paraphrases of Komitas’s music that existed at the time, which distorted the essence of his innovative achievements and as well the differences and advantages of V. Sargsyan’s creative method are revealed.   

Author Biography

Artur Yuri Avanesov, Yerevan State Conservatory

(born 09.12.1980 in Moscow, Russia) is an Armenian composer of chamber, choral, vocal and piano works that have been performed in Armenia and abroad. Avanesov studied piano at variousmusic schools in Baku, Kapan and Yerevan as a child and studied music theory at the Alexander Spendiaryan SpecialisedMusic School in Yerevan from 1994-97. He studied composition with Stepan Rostomyan and piano with Elena Abajyan at theYSC from 2000-2002 and earned his doctorate in musicology in 2005. As a pianist, he has performed with musicians such asRohan de Saram, Kim Kashkashian, Anja Lechner, Tony Arnold and many others. His compositions have been performed inmany countries including Europe, CIS countries, United States, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Brazil, and the Middle East. Among his honours are co-First Prize in the Benjamin Britten competition in Yerevan (2003, for Namu-Amida-Butsu) and co-FirstPrize in the Ghazaros Saryan competition for vocal music in Yerevan (2004, for Garun a - Spring). Avanesov has taughtcomposition at YSC since 2005. His writings have appeared in many journals in Armenia and he has served as co-editor ofthe magazine Musical Armenia since 2002, where he has published articles on the music of Stockhausen and several contemporary Armenian composers.[2] He is also the co-founder of the AUS Contemporary Music Ensemble (formed in 2001),which performs works of young and established composers from Armenia and abroad. Chamber music: Four Pieces, stringquartet, 1996; Namu-Amida-Butsu, flute, piano, 2001; ...dies ist ein lied für dich allein... (cellist also sings text by StefanGeorge; performer must be male), cello, 2003; webcrossings.ch-am, flute, oboe, bass clarinet, 2004; ...leise..., clarinet, piano,2004. Choral: Et resurrexit, 12 mixed voices, 1999; Kyrie eleison, male chorus, 2000; Christe eleison, soprano, male chorus,2001; Te decet hymnus, mixed chorus, 2001; Requiem æternam, tenor, mixed chorus, 2 flutes ad libitum, 2 oboes ad libitum, piano, timpani, 42 strings, 2002; Kyrie II, male chorus, 2002; Lungi da te cor mio (text by Luzzasco Luzzaschi), mixedchorus, 2004; Miserere, mixed chorus, 2007. Vocal: Cinq Haïkaï (texts by Matsuo Bash?, Rinka Ono [Armenian translations]), female voice, piano, 1996; Two Gazelles of Yeghishe Charents, female voice, flute, oboe, French horn, violin, cello,piano, 2 percussion, 1997; ...and the moon is like shadow under your feet... (text by Vardan Areveltsi), female voice, piano,1998 (also version for female voice, 1998); Les douze couleurs d'Alleluja, alto, 2002; ...i have tried to write paradise... (textby Ezra Pound), mezzo-soprano/countertenor, string quartet, 2003; Garun a (text from a folksong from Armenia), mezzosoprano, piano, 2003; Wieder (text by Rose Ausländer), male voice, piano, 2005; Im Luys - My Light (text from a folk sourcefrom Armenia), soprano, violin, 2005; A Handful of Fire (text from a folksong from Armenia), soprano, piano, 2006; ...zijlijkt op een vreemde bloem... (text by Krikor Momdjian; pianist also sings and must be male), mezzo-soprano, cello, piano,2007. Piano: Three Preludes, 1996; Ave Sancta, 1997; In memoriam T. Takemitsu, 1998; Et in sæcula sæculorum, 2 pianos,1999; Un peu de musique pour S., 2000; Illa, 1999-2001; Deux Énigmes, 2002; Malinconia in fis, 2005; No lloro, 2005; Feuxfollets (cycle), 2007-; Harpsichord: Fenstern zu G-dur, 2002; Musique triste, 2002; Film score: Words, Words, Words, 2005(Raffie Davidian).  

References

Boulez. P., L'esthétique et les fétiches/ Points de répère I: Imagi ner. Christian Bourgois Èditeur, 1995.

Комитас., Песни., фортепианное переложение Вилли Саркисяна., Ер.: Комитас., 2015. Komitas, Pesni., Fortepiannye perelozhenie Villi Sarkisyana., Yer.: Komitas., 2015.

http://granish.org/komitas-1969/.

Kim Kashkashian, Robyn Schulkowsky. Hayren /Music of Komitas and Tigran Mansurian. ECM New Series - 61 831-2

Атанова Л. П., О межнациональных музыкально-фоль клорных связях (на примере трансформаций башкирской песни“Ма к лашка”)., //Башкирский фольклор: Исследо ва ния последних лет., Уфа., 1986. Atanova L. P., O mezhdunarodnykh muzykal’no fol’klornykh svyazyakh (na primere trnsformatzij bashkirskoj pesni “Maklashka”)., //Bashkirskij fol’klor: IЯsledovaniya poslednikh let., Ufa., 1986.

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Published

2019-11-29

How to Cite

Avanesov А. Ю. (2019). “About musical heritage of Komitas” (Songs by Komitas piano transposition by Willy Sargsyan). Musical Armenia, 1(56), 21–27. Retrieved from https://yerazhshtakanhayastan.am/index.php/ma/article/view/148

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 56 (2019): Musical Armenia

Section

Articles