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Home , Armenian folk music, Duduk, Gevorg Dabaghyan, Kaval, Music of Armenia, Pku

CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS

Shoghaken Ensemble of Thursday, April 8, 2004, 8 pm Wheeler Auditorium

Gevorg Dabaghyan, , Tigran Ambaryan, kamancha Aleksan Harutyunyan, vocals Hasmik Harutyunyan, vocals Karine Hovhannisyan, kanon Kamo Khatchaturian, Grigor Takushian, duduk Levon Tevanyan, blul, , tav shvi,

This performance has been made possible, in part, by members of the Cal Performances Producers Circle.

Cal Performances thanks the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation for their generous support.

C AL PERFORMANCES 1 PROGRAM PROGRAM NOTES

PROGRAM Armenian is one of the world’s cy to Central Asian and Middle Eastern musi- richest musical , burgeoning with an cal instruments. ’ cultural autono- Tsamerov Par extraordinary array of melodies and genres. my in the region was buttressed by theology Janoy Since the 1880s, ethnographers and musicolo- and literacy—they adopted in gists, most famously the Armenian priest 301 AD and an alphabet in 404, leading to an Shatakhi Dzernapar , have traveled to remote villages and extraordinary monastic culture that churned towns in and the collecting out countless manuscripts, many gloriously Karabakhi Horovel Armenian and dances. Currently, there illuminated, that preserved both the classical are over 30,000 catalogued in various archives, heritage (some original versions of Plato are Zangezuri Par each with rhythms and modes characteristic of only available in Armenian copies) and a Gorani both broad Near Eastern influence and partic- received Armenian . The elaborate ular rituals and dialects not seen or heard modal music of the liturgy was theorized in Hovern Enkan beyond the next mountain pass. Tonight’s pro- writing and notated as it developed, becoming gram, performed by Armenia’s preeminent tra- part of an intellectual clerical tradition that Kani Voor Jan Im ditional music ensemble, offers a rare chance remained cohesive for centuries. Meanwhile Shalakho to witness the energy and variety of this music, Armenia’s remarkably stable feudal courts and which for centuries was so integral to large towns and cities supported professional Ororotsayin Armenians’ rites of passage and daily lives. bardic ashughs, who prospered especially Popular dances and troubadour (ashugh) between the 17th and 19th centuries, traveling Saren Gookayi melodies are interspersed with more unusual from town to village singing of Armenians’ Armenak Ghazariani Yerk emigrant- and work-songs, medieval epic historical feats and forsaken love. verse, mournful wedding dances (a peculiarly , forged over cen- Yes oo Yars Armenian oxymoron), and exquisite lullabies turies in the language and rituals of everyday (numbering in the hundreds and renowned life, traditionally accompanied everything for their haunting lyricism). from family celebrations to sowing fields to INTERMISSION This wealth of folk material was honed funerals, and remains a rich brew of historical and passed down over many generations, its elements. Pagan ritual can still be traced in depth a result of the Armenians’ long histori- songs foretelling a maiden’s future retained as cal presence at a remote, biblical crossroads of part of the Christian festival of the Ascension, Karabakhi Harsanekan Par the world. It was as early as 7000 BC that the not to mention the beloved circle-dance, with Mokats Mirza Armenians settled in the eastern Anatolian its prehistoric and Zoroastrian antecedents in highlands, the land coursed by the Euphrates the Near East. The folk repertoire is in many Naz Par and dominated by Mt. Ararat, on which cases highly differentiated—specific songs, Noah’s ark is believed to have set down. each with distinct modal characteristics, are Sev Moot Amber Speaking their own Indo-European language tied to dozens of moments in the wedding cer- and following their own kinship and religious emony, from blessing the wedding tree to the Aparani Par traditions, they formed a unique culture that entry of the bride to male-only dances. Im Khorodik Yar thrived through centuries of conflict and As in much of the , Armenian usurpation. Sandwiched between the Greco- music is modal, based not on an octave with Tuy-tuy & Ghazakhi Roman and Persian empires in the classical major or minor notes, but on an untempered period and the Ottoman and Russian empires scale. Still, repertoire from the Anatolian plain Antarayin Tsayner in the modern period, and for years part of the differs from that found in the Caucasus Ororotsayin valued trade route of the Silk Road, Armenia mountains, and within these areas distinct folk was continually reconquered, divided, gov- music styles, rhythms, genres, and instru- Zurni Trngi erned, and taxed by invaders, spawning a large ments evolved corresponding both to the diaspora as early as the Byzantine era. main geographical and political division of Tnen Ilar & Jakhraki Vod Occupiers and merchants invariably intro- Western and Eastern Armenia and to the more Msho Geghen duced new customs, and Armenians were than 60 regional dialects spoken across this adept at assimilating and transforming neigh- vast expanse. In the city of Erzerum, west of Lelum Le Le & Yarkhooshta boring traditions, from Persian Zoroastrianism Mt. Ararat, one would most likely dance to a (with its worship of fire) to Roman bureaucra- 10/8 rhythm, as do Turks and Kurds in the

2 CAL PERFORMANCES C AL PERFORMANCES 3 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES area, while across the Transcaucasian region, emony of taking a bride-to-be from her fami- Black Sea; 2. Taroni Heyroor (“Lullaby of Aparani Par shared by Georgians and Azeris, a fast 6/8 is typ- ly home. From Shatakh, a region south of Taron”), from the town of Mush, historical A traditional harvesting dance in 5/8 from the ical, as you’ll hear tonight. Folk instrumental Lake Van in eastern Anatolia. Taron region; 3. Roori Roori (“Rock, Rock”); Aparan region, north of . ensembles heard to the west might include the 4. Nani Bala (“Sleep, My Child”), from the ud, while the duduk is the main Karabakhi Horovel town of Van. Im Khorodik Yar (“My Beautiful Love”) to the east, where melody is always accompanied (“Horovel of Karabakh”) A folk lyric from Sassun in eastern Anatolia. by a drone that holds the tonic note. Such musi- A horovel is a work traditionally sung in a Saren Gookayi cal differences solidified in the wake of the geno- recitative call-and-response form while (“I Was Coming From the Mountain”) Tuy-tuy & Ghazakhi Par cide of 1915, in which over a million Armenians ploughing, its drawn-out free-meter lines A lyric song by the blind ashugh Sheram Dance melodies from the duduk repertoire. perished and the remainder fled either to the sometimes corresponding to the time it takes (1857–1938), the most famous modern musi- The region of Gazakh lies at the juncture of West or eastward to what would become a few to plough a length of field. Karabakh is an cian in the Armenian troubadour tradition. , Armenia, and . years later the Soviet republic of Armenia (today Armenian enclave surrounded by modern an independent nation). The Shoghaken Azerbaijan and is historically one of the rich- Armenak Ghazariani Yerk Antarayin Tsayner (“Sounds of the Forest”) Ensemble, the consummate representative of est Armenian cultural regions. (“Armenak Ghazarian’s Song”) A modern showpiece for the shepherd’s the eastern tradition, combines the musical vir- A patriotic song from the turn of the 20th (shvi). Levon Tevanyan imitates with remark- tuosity inherited from the Soviet years with a Zangezuri Par century, written by Ghazarian, a leader in able fidelity the forest cries and singing of - new attention to the unscripted forms and styles A women’s dance in 6/8 from the mountain- the Armenians’ struggle for freedom from mals and birds, especially the nightingale. of lost songs and dances, from both west and ous southern Armenian region of Zangezur Ottoman rule. east—a curiosity that has become a hallmark of (bordering Azerbaijan) in which dancers mime Ororotsayin post-Soviet Armenian culture. the gestures of various female tasks, such as Yes oo Yars (“My love and I”) Two more lullabies: Taroni Oror (“Lullaby of rocking a cradle, sewing, or knitting. A spry line-dance in 6/8 called the ververi (lit- Taron”) and Oror Jojk Em Kabel (“I Bind the Tsamerov Par (“Braid Dance”) erally “up”), characterized by repeated jumps, Cradle”), from the eastern Anatolian village of A dance in the “urban folk” genre written by Gorani in which dancers traditionally break into song. Agn (near Kharpert). A jojk is a special kind of 20th-century female Dzovak Pagan in origin and widespread in Anatolian cradle made of woven branches and tied Hambartsumyan in which young female Armenian villages, gorani songs tell the stories INTERMISSION between trees. Hasmik Harutyunyan sings in dancers twirl their long braids. of emigrants forced to leave their homes. part: “I bind the cradle to the tree/My Karabakhi Harsanekan Par bundled little lamb rocks and turns/Eh, my Janoy (“Oh, My Dear”) Hovern Enkan A “wedding dance of Karabakh,” featuring darling, eh....” A wedding song traditionally sung by family (“Coolness Has Descended”) on the zurna. With its elders as they moved in a half-circle in a quiet, A traditional duduk folk melody. urgent wail, heard hundreds of yards away, this Zurni Trngi solemn dance called a govend. is a traditional opener and closer of ceremonies. A Caucasian men’s solo or pair dance in 6/8 Kani Voor Jan Im (“As Long As I Am Alive”) with intricate footwork and jumps (trnger Oh, my dear A song by the great 18th-century Armenian Mokats Mirza (“The Lord of Moks”) means “to jump”). Usually performed on the Wild, long-necked crane ashugh Sayat Nova. Featuring Tigran Ambaryan An epic song about the death of the Lord of zurna, as the title suggests. Father, mother, have me married on the kamancha, an instrument long associat- Moks, a province of historical Armenia south- Give me to a shepherd ed with the lone traveling troubadour. west of Lake Van whose people often struggled Tnen Ilar (“You Left Home”) & Not to the master who will weave his against various nomadic tribes. The Lord of Jakhraki Vod (“Leg of the Spinning Wheel”) threads Shalakho Jizre invites the Lord of Moks to visit, only to Traditional milling and spinning work-songs. But forget me A male solo dance in 6/8 from the Caucasus poison him. Or to the merchant who will count his profit region, featuring characteristically Caucasian Msho Geghen (“From a Village of Mush”) But forget me fast footwork, abrupt turns, high kicks, and Naz Par A folk song from the Mush plains, said to hold Give me to a shepherd deep knee bends. included A women’s solo improvisational dance in 6/8, a thousand Armenian villages: “From a village Give me to the winds of the mountain the melody in his ballet . Often played featuring delicate arm and hand movements of Mush two brides emerge from a river/ Feed me the milk of the black sheep as a strictly instrumental piece, here the tune is and playful glances (the word naz suggests Shivering and shining like seeds/ Put me to sleep in the bed of the shepherd a vehicle for the extraordinary pyrotechnics of both grace and coyness). Two rivers pass through Mush, Meghraget and Karine Hovhannisyan on kanon. Mourat,/And they flow to the river Yeprat.” Shatakhi Dzernapar Sev Moot Amber (“Dark Black Clouds”) (“Hand Dance of Shatakh”) Ororotsayin (“Lullaby”) A folk melody sung to the verses of poet Lelum Le Le & Yarkhooshta A mournful female solo wedding dance in 6/8 A medley of verses from four lullabies: 1. Avetik Isahakian, who portrays Mt. Aragadz Lelum Le Le is a traditional song-dance (par- rhythm emphasizing graceful hand move- Pootanya Ororotsayin (“Lullaby of Pontus”), (modern Armenia’s highest peak) as a symbol yerg) in which line-dancers sing in a call-and- ments. Traditionally danced as part of the cer- from the ancient province of Pontus on the of the grief and longing of Armenians. response form. Yarkhooshta (literally “friend of

4 CAL PERFORMANCES C AL PERFORMANCES 5 PROGRAM NOTES ABOUT THE ARTISTS spear” in Persian), a male military “clapping Middle Eastern nay or Balkan . The shvi ing Atom Egoyan’s Ararat (2002). Dabaghyan (Celestial Harmonies). dance,” originated in the eastern Anatolian (a small flute), made from cane, wood, released his first major independent solo Hasmik has traveled throughout Armenia and region around Mush and Sassun. Hasmik and or bone, has a mouthpiece with an adjacent recording Miniatures: Masterworks for presenting Armenian folk music and is Aleksan Harutyunyan demonstrate the dance, metal ring for adjusting pitch and a range of Armenian Duduk on the Traditional now the artistic director of the Hayrig circling separately and then clasping hands an octave and a half. The tav shvi (tav means Crossroads label in 2002. For the past two Mouradian Children’s Song and Dance together in an outstretched arc. The sound of “low”) is a more recent variant—bigger and years, he has performed alongside Yo-Yo Ma Group. their hands clapping signifies weapons clash- with a deeper pitch. and his Silk Road Project Chamber Ensemble ing and the popping of gun powder. The kamancha, a three-stringed vertical in concerts and recordings of a new composi- Karine Hovhannisyan (kanon), born in fiddle with a gourd base resting on a metal tip tion by Vache Sharafyan. A much sought-after Yerevan in 1966, is a graduate of the Tigran Instruments and played with a horizontal bow made of collaborator, Dabaghyan has also performed Choukhajyan and the Arno The duduk, a double- made of apri- horsehair, is found in various forms in the recently in concerts with violinist Gidon Babajanyan School of Music, and a prize win- cot wood, is native to Armenia and considered urban classical of the Middle East and Kremer and saxophonist Jan Garbarek. ner at the renowned Sayat Nova Competition. its national instrument, though variants can is a direct antecedent of the Western . In She is currently a post-graduate student and be found in Turkish, Kurdish, Georgian, and Armenia, it is strongly associated with the Tigran Ambaryan (kamancha) graduated teacher at the Yerevan State Conservatory and Azerbaijani regions, as well. The best musi- urban, refined ashugh music of Sayat Nova. In from the Romanos Melikian Music Institute a member of the Armenian State Dance cians use subtle lip and finger techniques to the 20th century, it became a principal instru- and attended the Komitas State Conservatory. Ensemble. Hovhannisyan recorded a solo CD extend its tonal range. The duduk is always ment along with the duduk in the interpreta- He has been a member of the Armenian State as part of The Music of Armenia box set accompanied by a second duduk, which emits tion of Armenia’s folk music. Dance Ensemble since 1992, and is currently (Celestial Harmonies, Volume 3). an unbroken drone, achieved through circular The kanon, a trapezoidal lap zither com- the group’s director. Ambaryan is also a mem- breathing, around which the principal player monly played in Arabic and Turkish classical ber of the Mihr Armenian-Iranian Traditional Kamo Khatchaturian (dhol) studied at the weaves complex melodies and improvisations. music, has been in use in some form since at Music Ensemble. Romanos Melikian Music Institute and was a The zurna, a double-reed , can be least the 4th century. The Armenian version member of Armenian National Radio’s found throughout the Middle East, where its has 24 triple courses of gut or plastic strings, Aleksan Harutyunyan (vocals) was born in Agoonk Ensemble for several years. He cur- shrill, piercing call provides an insistent invita- plucked with tortoise-shell plectrums, Yerevan in 1962. His ancestors are from the rently performs and tours with the Shoghaken tion to ritual celebrations and a driving stretched over a set of metal levers that modi- province of Mush in historical Armenia (pres- Ensemble. accompaniment to dance. fy the pitch of the strings. The bridge rests on ent-day ). After graduating from Shepherd’s were an important part a narrow strip of skin that creates a resonant Yerevan State University and the Komitas Grigor Takushian (duduk), born in Yerevan of Armenian pastoral culture for millennia, and percussive sound. State Conservatory, he worked for many years in 1965, graduated from the Romanos the earliest prototypes having been found The dhol is a large cylindrical drum with as a soloist in, and eventually the director Melikian Music Institute and has performed in Garni and Dvin in eastern Armenia at skin on both sides, usually played with the of, Armenian National Radio’s Agoonk with both the Agoonk Ensemble and the archaeological sites dating back to the 5th or hands, though for loud, traditional outdoor Ensemble, and then as a soloist in the Shoghaken Ensemble. 6th century BC. The blul, or dziranapogh (lit- celebrations a pair of wooden sticks are used to National Opera and as a member of the State erally “pipe made of wood” in create a heavy beat. Academic Choir. He performed with these Levon Tevanyan (shvi), born in Yerevan in Armenian), is an end-blown flute akin to the —Cynthia Rogers various groups around the globe, and is now a 1975, graduated from the Komitas Con- soloist in the National Chamber Choir of servatory. He played on the soundtrack for the Armenia and the vocal group Hye Folk. Iranian film Miss Maria, along with Gevorg ABOUT THE ARTISTS Dabaghyan, and has performed in concerts Hasmik Harutyunyan (vocals), Aleksan’s sis- throughout Europe and the Middle East. He The Shoghaken Ensemble was founded by performed at the Smithsonian in Washington, ter, is one of Armenia’s best-known folk is also an accomplished pianist and has given Gevorg Dabaghyan in 1991, and has become DC, as part of the Silk Road festival. singers, specializing in the songs of Western solo concerts in Yerevan. Tevanyan currently one of the most respected traditional music Armenia. Born in Yerevan in 1960, she gradu- plays with the Tkzar National Instrument ensembles in Armenia. Dedicated to rediscov- Gevorg Dabaghyan (duduk, zurna), born in ated from the Arno Babajanyan School of Ensemble. ering and continuing Armenia’s extraordinary 1965, is one of Armenia’s best living duduk Music and the Yerevan State Pedagogical folk , the group presents music players. He has won many awards, including Institute and was a soloist for several years Sponsor Support from a broad geographical and historical span the grand prize at the international Eastern in Armenian National Radio’s Agoonk The 2004 Shoghaken Tour was produced by using traditional instruments and song styles. Traditional Instruments Competition in Ensemble. Well known in Armenia for her Direct Cultural Access Inc. with the following The Ensemble has performed extensively in 1990, and the grand prize in the Sayat Nova broadcast performances of traditional lulla- sponsor support: Mr. & Mrs. Nubar & Anna Europe, Armenia, and throughout the former duduk competition in both 1991 and 1992. bies, she has just issued a new recording, Afeyan Foundation, Armenian American , and can be heard on the sound- He is featured on more than 50 recordings in Armenian Lullabies, on Traditional Crossroads Cultural Assoc., Mr. & Mrs. Varujan & Linda track of Atom Egoyan’s movie Ararat. In the the Armenian National Radio archives and as (CD 4321). As a member of the Shoghaken Arslanyan, Mr. & Mrs. Edward & Eleonore summer of 2002, the Shoghaken Ensemble a soloist on several movie soundtracks, includ- Ensemble, she was featured as a soloist on The Aslanian Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Nishan

6 C AL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 7 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Atinizian, Mr. & Mrs. Kevork Atinizian, Mr. Mr. Luther Khachigian & Cal Western & Mrs. Vartkess & Rita Balian, Mr. & Mrs. Nurseries, Garabed & Aghavni Kouzoujian Jim and Marta Batmasian, Cafesjian Family Benevolent Foundation, Mrs. Barbara Foundation, Cannery Row Company, Mr. & Lorincie, Megerian Rugs, Mr. & Mrs. Cyrus Mrs. Vahan and Anoush Chamlian, Mr. Haig Melikian, John Mirak Foundation, Ms. Dadourian & the United Armenian Charities, Carolyn Mugar & the Azadoutioun Foun- Dr. Raymond Damadian, Dickranian Family dation, K. George & Carolann S. Najarian Trust – Mrs. Eleanor Dickranian, Mrs. Laurel Charitable Foundation Inc., Mr. & Mrs. Karabian, Mrs. Cynthia Norian, Dr. & Mrs. Martin & Anig Nalbandian, Mr. & Mrs. Heratch & Sonya Doumanian, Mr. Robert Nazar & Artemis Nazarian, Jerair Nishanian Fesjian & the Fesjian Foundation, Mrs. Siran Foundation, Inc., Mr. Edward Paloyan, Gabrellian, Dr. Arnold & Mrs. Dianne Pehlivanian Family Foundation, Leon S. Gazarian & The Berberian & Gazarian Family Peters Foundation, Philibosian Foundation, Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Hirant & Ruby Mr. & Mrs. Stephen & Elizabeth Sabounjian Gulian, Hagopian Family Foundation, Mr. & Foundation, Mr. Arsen Sanjian, Mrs. Louise Mrs. Robert Hekemian Jr. & Hekemian Simone & the Manoogian Simone Foun- Family Foundation, Mrs. Ann Hintlian, Mr. dation, The Starr Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. & Mrs. Jirair S. & Elizabeth Hovnanian Arshag & Takouhi Tarpinian, Mr. Tom Family Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Kevorg & Tarzian, Mr. & Mrs. Bruce & Katherine Sirvart Hovnanian, Mr. & Mrs. Vahag & Tatarian, Mr. & Mrs. Jack Tenbekjian, Mr. & Hasmik Hovnanian, Armen & Bersabe Mrs. Harry Toufayan, Janet & Agnes Jerejian Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Saghatelian of Valley Lavosh Baking Co., Mr. Kashian, Mr. Haig Kelegian & Bicycle Casino, & Mrs. George & Margaret Yacoubian.

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