Worlds of Music; Music of Armenia : Djivan Gasparyan
- Series
- Worlds of Music
- Producing Organization
- World Music Institute
- Contributing Organization
- WNYC (New York, New York)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/80-06g1kcd4
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- Description
- Program Description
- [NOTE ON TAPE LOG:] "Titles were in different order from that listed in the program what is written down here is probably incorrect" World Music Instiute presents Music of Armenia Djivan Gasparyan with Vachik Avakian Levon Arshakimg Saturday, January 7,1995 8:00PM Washington Square Church 135 West 4th Street, NYC This program is made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. Additional funding has been made available by the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and the Howard Bayne Fund. Music Of Armenia Music has been an integral part of Armenian culture for over 1,000 years. Manuscripts and paintings exist which describe various functions of music in liturgical and secular ceremonies. The instruments and means of making music have been written about by Armenian scholars, priests and artists as early as 200 BC, yet the definition of Armenian music remains ambiguous, perhaps even somewhat controversial. The confusion can, in part, be linked to the political and social conditions which permeate Armenian history. Soon after the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in 1071, the last Armenian kingdom of Cilicia fell. Though the Armenians remained on their homeland in eastern Anatolia, they became subjects of the Ottoman, Persian, and Russian Empires. As an ethnic minority spread throughout various countries, much of their contributions in the area of art, architecture, music, etc., have simply been categorized as "Persian Art" or "Ottoman Architecture." Deciphering the Armenian element within these contexts can sometimes be difficult. Secondly, throughout the years, as Armenians integrated into society under their new rulers, they began to develop new customs unique to their region. Distinct language dialects, for example, developed in the eastern (Russian) and western (Turkish) regions. The same sort of regional influences followed in other aspects of the culture such as cuisine, garments, and trades. Music was no exception and strong musical forms and traditions developed within the Anatolian and Caucasian regions. Instruments used by Armenian musicians such as the kemencbe (spike fiddle), oud (unfretted lute), kanun (zither), 2urna (conical oboe), and dumbei) (goblet drum) are common throughout the Middle and Near East. While they may not have originated in Anatolia or the Caucasus, Armenian musicians developed their own distinct regional styles. One instrument, however, is truly Armenian in origin. The duduk is a form of oboe with a 1,500 year history behind it. A deceptively simple instrument with a range of only one octave, it nevertheless requires considerable skill to play. Essentially it is a hollow pipe made of apricot wood with eight finger holes on the upper side and one thumb-hole on the bottom and a wide reed mouthpiece. It is almost always accompanied by one or more additional duduks which play a drone that may modulate along with scale changes of the principal duduk The duduk and derivatives of the instrument are found in Persia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Balkans - wherever Armenians have settled. In the hands of a master musician such as Djivan Gasparyan, the instrument is capable of expressing deep emotion and its haunting sound reflects both the pride and suffering of the Armenian people. Notes by Harold Hagopian & Robert Browning. Program 1. Kele Lao - Lullaby - Come my child let us return to our homeland. 2. Dele Yaman - Village love song - The wind came from the mountains. -I loved you from the very first sight. 3. Dzirani Dzae - Apricot Tree - Armenian love song - yearning for love 4. Anzrevn Yegav, Alagyaz - Female group dance 5.1ntz Mi Latsatsni - Don't make me cry, my love - I've cried enough 6. Mi lar boulboul, kez mi dangeer - The pretty rose lost with the wind 7. Mi sird ounem - How lucky is the one who loves and marries for love 8. Sari aghtchig - Male and female slow dance 9. Anoush Karoun - love song - Sweet Spring 10. Doudouk Dance - for male and female 11. Sarer Gaghatchem - Mountains, I beg you not to block the path to my beloved Intermission 1. Odar Amamyi Jampeki Vra - Wandering on foreign roads 2. Veratartsir - Love song - My love, when you tire of wandering, you will return to me once more. 3. Hey Jahn, Hey Jahn - My dear, caress me and hear my woes 4. Eshkhemed - Sayat Nove - Love song of yearning 5. Female solo dance 6. Khanasora Dzoroume - A mother's song of yearning for a son in battle 7. Sayat Nova - Love song - I am filled with immortality. Drink with a golden cup, drink from the golden cup of immortality. 8. Barzir Akhpuir - Spring water, become clear in order that you can free us from our captors 9. Popular dance melody 10. Knir im Balig - Lullaby - Sleep my child 11. Hovern Yelan - The wind has risen, my dear mother. Cry for me. I will return no more from war. * x 12. Dzakhort Orer - Misfortune will not stay long - it will come and go. 13. Sokhag - played on the shyi 14. Zourna - Call to arms Program subject to change. About the Artist: Djivan Gasparyan was born in Solag, a village just outside the capital city of Yerevan, Armenia in 1928. Basically self taught, he began playing the duduk at age six. In 1948 he joined the Tatool Atounian National Song and Dance Ensemble and also had his first professional engagement that year as soloist with the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra. He won Gold Medals in each of the four world-wide competitions organized by UNESCO in which he competed (1959, 1962, 1973, and 1980), and was the only musician to be given the honorary title of People's Artist of Armenia by the Armenian Government (1973). Gasparyan is currently a professor at the Yerevan Conservatory and has prepared 70 duduk musicians for professional performance. He has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States. His three recordings available in the United States are I Will Not Be Sad In This World (Opal) released in 1989 and dedicated to the victims of the Armenian earthquake,- Moon Shines At Night (Gyroscope) and the recent Ask Me No Questions (Traditional Crossroads). Gasparyan's recordings are available through World Music Institute. Send $2 for a WMI catalog with over 3,000 titles of traditional music from around the world, to: World Music Institute, 49 West 27th St., Suite 810, NYC 10001, (212)545-7536 Production Management by Tour De Force'
- Genres
- Performance
- Media type
- Sound
- Duration
- 01:18:23
- Credits
-
-
Engineer: Haber, Edward
Engineer: Wellington, George
Performer: Gasparian, Djivan
Performer: Avakian, Vachagan
Performer: Arshakung, Levon
Producing Organization: World Music Institute
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68046.1A (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Original
Duration: 01:18:23
-
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68046.1B (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: DAT
Generation: Original
Duration: 01:14:21
-
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68046.2A (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: audio/vnd.wave
Generation: Dub
Duration: 01:20:52
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WNYC-FM
Identifier: 68046.2B (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: audio/vnd.wave
Generation: Dub
Duration: 01:28:50
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- Citations
- Chicago: “Worlds of Music; Music of Armenia : Djivan Gasparyan,” WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 18, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-06g1kcd4.
- MLA: “Worlds of Music; Music of Armenia : Djivan Gasparyan.” WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 18, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-06g1kcd4>.
- APA: Worlds of Music; Music of Armenia : Djivan Gasparyan. Boston, MA: WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-06g1kcd4