Unknown pages of Lazar Sarian 's Life and Creative work Based on his Letters from 1939-1940

Abstract

The rich epistolary heritage of Lazar Sarian provides a basis for a more detailed study of his biography and creative work, especially during the years of his formation as an individual and as a composer. The focus of our research is on his letters from 1939 to 1945, written during his studies at the Gnesin Music College in Moscow, his military service, and the last two years of the war. From the letters addressed to his father, the outstanding painter Martiros Sarian; his mother, a writer, educator, and enlightener, the daughter of Ghazaros Aghayan, Lusik Sarian; his aunt, Katarine Samartsian; and his uncle, Hovhannes Sarian, many interesting and important facts emerge about the formation of Lazar’s character and strong-willed temperament, as well as about his musical interests and compositions. The letters are written with a good command of the Armenian and Russian languages and are marked by sincerity and an unrestrained style. They are also filled with deep emotional feelings and longing when speaking of Armenia, the paternal home, and beloved and close people. The letters of these six years reveal a strong, purposeful, principled, and masculine young man, who in later years — already as the mature Lazar Martirosovich, a composer, rector of the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, and a public figure — would be known, loved, and respected by his many colleagues and students.