modulation necklace New Music from Armenia ARTUR AVANESOV (b. 1980) ASHOT KARTALYAN (b. 1985) 1] Quasi Harena Maris (2016)* 12:19 Suite for Saxophone and Percussion (2015)* Movses Pogossian & Ji Eun Hwang, violins 7] 1. Vivace 2:26 Morgan O’Shaughnessey, viola 8] 2. Allegro moderato 1:45 Niall Ferguson, cello 9] 3. Allegro animato 3:16 Artur Avanesov, piano 10] 4. Andante moderato 4:03 11] 5. Presto 2:31 ASHOT ZOHRABYAN (b. 1945) Katisse Buckingham, saxophone 2] Novelette (2010)* 14:49 Dustin Donahue, percussion Varty Manouelian, violin Scott St. John, viola ARTUR AVANESOV (b. 1980) Antonio Lysy, cello Selected works from cycle Feux Follets (2010-17) Artur Avanesov, piano 12] 1. Let It Be Forgotten 0:57 13] 2. Quand l’aubespine fleurit 2:36 MICHEL PETROSSIAN (b. 1973) 14] 3. Modulation Necklace 1:18 3] A Fiery Flame, a Flaming Fire (2017)* 11:17 15] 4. Exercise in Necklace Mode 1:43 Varty Manouelian, violin 16] 5. Mon cœur reste brûlé 1:49 Charles Tyler, cello 17] 6. Gespenstertanz 1:01 Artur Avanesov, piano 18] 7. Kinderstück IV (Ladybug) 1:31 Artur Avanesov, piano ARTASHES KARTALYAN (b. 1961) Tekeyan Triptych (2018)** Total Time 78:40 4] 1. Es Siretsi (I Have Loved) 5:51 5] 2. Papaq (A Wish) 3:05 * Commissioned by the Dilijan Chamber Music Series and the Lark Musical 6] 3. Hashvehardar (A Summary) 6:13 Society UCLA VEM Ensemble ** Commissioned for the UCLA VEM Ensemble by the Tekeyan Cultural Association Danielle Segen, mezzo-soprano Ji Eun Hwang & Aiko Richter, violins Morgan O’Shaughnessey, viola Jason Pegis, cello ODULATION N ECKLACE is a collage project was their first experience with Armenian music, and, of unabashedly contrasting compositions. by all accounts, a very pleasant one! Its unifying component, of course, is that Artur Avanesov’s presence in this recording as a composer, it represents recently written works by five pianist, and writer is pivotal. His modest biography below Armenian composers, all of them dear friends of mine. The doesn’t even come close to describing the depth and breadth similarities end here -- all of the pieces are so distinctly unique of his gifts and his influence on composition, pedagogy, and thatM rationalizing a storyline for this recording is a thankless musical scholarship in today’s Armenia. I feel fortunate to task. However, I see it as an opportunity to celebrate liberation have been introduced to Artur by Tigran Mansurian 15 years from the dogmas of the not-so-distant past when dozens and ago, and for us to have shared some truly memorable creative dozens of works were virtually indistinguishable from each and human experiences, with many more to come. other, having followed the tired Soviet models. My dear friend and musician of rare insight, Vatsche There is actually one composer who is not presented on Barsoumian has built an oasis of Armenian culture in this CD but deserves to be acknowledged: Tigran Mansurian. Glendale, CA by founding the Lark Musical Society 30 years It was his stubborn courage and absence of fear that first led ago and its offspring, the Dilijan Chamber Music Series, him to explore progressive Western influences in the 60s which commissioned most of the works on this CD. Like (Ligeti, Boulez, etc); then, he had the audacity to turn to the Greek titan Atlas, he shouldered the weight of endless Komitas, the great spiritual father of the Armenian classical responsibilities, financial turbulence, as well as scepticism musical tradition. This process of purification and quest from many in society - all in the service of tirelessly advancing for transparent honesty is picking up steam in the fabric of the riches of Armenian culture and educating the young. contemporary Armenian music, which I think is evident from Vatsche is also “guilty” of being the de-facto godfather of the this colorful recording. Tekeyan Triptych by Artashes Kartalyan. He’s been a crucial There are many things that I love about this project. I love part of the creative process throughout, from choosing witnessing each of these pieces come to life, watching them the Tekeyan poems to working painstakingly with mezzo- grow from the initial phone call to a successful premiere. soprano Danielle Segen of the UCLA VEM Ensemble for I love that, in every single case, it is a labor of love and a her to arrive at an astonishingly authentic level of Armenian testament to a multitude of personal friendships, inspirations, pronunciation. and pedagogical highlights. I love that the performers range Happy listening! from internationally renowned artists to current or recent students. I love that for several of these performers, this – Movses Pogossian 3 ABOUT THE MUSIC Quasi harena maris (2016) is teetering on the verge between neo-classicist rhythmical and formal clarity, and the dramatic pointillist gestures of his earlier Artur Avanesov (b. 1980) works. Novelette includes a number of recurring motives and The Latin title of this piece (meaning “Like the Sand of the intonations. Perhaps, the most important of these is the interval Sea”) was inspired by the following passage from The Book of of the compound major third, which is also the opening interval Job (Old Testament): “quasi harena maris haec gravior, unde et of Komitas’ Antouni - a historically important Armenian art verba mea dolore sunt plena”: “[O that my grief were thoroughly song. Thus, the modern composer interprets the past through weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!] For incorporating it as an integral part of the new composition, yet now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my keeping intact the intrinsic emotional meaning of the source - words are swallowed up”. It was conceived as a variation-form that of longing and separation. continuous somber microtonal chorale with string quartet – Artur Avanesov treated as choir repeatedly “chanting” the biblical text, and the piano playing the role of the “protagonist”. The middle section A Fiery Flame, a Flaming Fire (2017) of the piece is based on a distorted rhythmical pattern borrowed from an Albanian pop song. The chorale returns in the last Michel Petrossian (b. 1973) variation, this time heavily ornamented by the improvisation- A fiery flame, a flaming fire revolves around the question like lamentation of the piano part. of identity. This issue seems a crucial one in our globalized – Artur Avanesov and interconnected world. Imagine someone born in the USA with a Russian secular Jewish father and a Zoroastrian Persian Novelette (2010) mother, raised in Paris, converted to Protestantism and working in China…. What is their identity? Which aspects prevail that Ashot Zohrabyan (b. 1945) make them belong to one or another community? Novelette for piano, violin, viola and cello (2009) is among the The identity of people is changing, sometimes radically, most important recent compositions by Ashot Zohrabyan (b. according to the time and space where they are living. This issue 1947). Conceived as a one-movement, yet multi-layered, almost can be explored further considering identity as internalized by sonata-form composition, it symbolizes a notable stylistic shift someone or the identity attributed by others. within the general output of the Armenian composer. The music All this intrigued me for two reasons: first, my own identity is 4 multifaceted (Armenian by birth, Russian by education, French Tekeyan Triptych by culture), second, while commissioning a short piece for a concert held at La Fenice in Venice (Italy), I became haunted Artashes Kartalyan (b. 1961) by a traditional Armenian song --“Kars” -- brought to light The words of Vahan Tekeyan (1875-1945), widely regarded as by the jazzman Tigran Hamasyan. Later the initial short piece the “Prince of Armenian Poetry”, take focus in this remarkable grew into larger form : new ideas came to interact with the first composition by Artashes Kartalyan. Mr. Kartalyan selects three musical seed, fertilizing it in some unanticipated way. works – two love poems followed by a meditation on what is left This change of identity implies an anguish of loss and behind – to which he brings an intricate musicality, promising to allows me to think of the score in terms of a musical drama. make the Tekeyan Triptych one of the composer’s masterpieces. The musicians, like a troupe at a theatre, have to free their Kartalyan’s first choice is a work that describes, with utmost imagination in quest of a lost melody as if browsing through subtlety, the depth of the Poet’s love – surprising for a writer the pages in quest of Marcel Proust’s In Search Of Lost Time. reputed to be a recluse. In the poem, Tekeyan laments that Sometimes there are obvious folkloric reminiscences where the none of the objects of his affection have realized the extent of flowing of notes seems easily guessed. Sometimes this flowing his passion, leaving his love unrequited. Over five stanzas he is discontinuous, and the notes appear in an unexpected expounds on the intensity of his feeling and the sadness in its place and at an unpredictable moment. Smooth rendez- remaining hidden within him. Kartalyan captures the insistence vous of instruments or brusque departures from each other, of that feeling, which permeates the poem, by allowing the viola new harmonic textures or timbral combinations, leitmotifs, an insistent pitch (D) implying the steadfast nature of his love. variations… all of this can be perceived as different facets of a He further develops this by allowing the pitch to usher in the play. ritornello, which time and again repeats (first in the introduction The title “A fiery flame, a flaming fire” refers to the passage of and then between verses) signifying the poet’s ambient and the burning bush in the Bible/Ancient Testament, as translated intense torment.