Lyrics by Avetik Isahakyan, Is Also Known Under the Name Çabakcur and Means ‘Violently Flowing Water’
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A.G.A TRIO MEETING 1 Erzrumi Shoror 6:11 2 Adanayi Voghpe / Adana Ağıdı 4:54 3 Bingyol 2:48 4 Tal Tala / Daldalan 1:10 5 Tamzara 2:32 6 Dzveli Kartuli Satsekvao 1:54 7 Noubar-Noubar & Yare Mardu 5:57 8 Siretsi Yars Taran 5:00 9 Naz Barı & Nazpar & Halay 4:57 10 Kara Koyun 3:45 11 Tsekva Kartuli “Keto da Kote” 2:32 12 Patara Gogo 5:41 Total time: 47:17 2 A.G.A TRIO MEETING Throughout history, the regions of the South Caucasus and Anatolia have witnessed many encounters, as well as separations. During peaceful times, the people of these regions danced hand in hand; during wars and genocide they sang lamentations in caravans. In its historical journey, the music of these areas has also come into contact with other societies, surviving up to the present day, having gone through various processes of change. This album reinterprets melodies that have been handed down across generations, with a novel perspective, by three musicians from Turkey, Armenia and Georgia. When Denіz Mahіr Kartal travelled to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, to work on his research project ‘Turkicized Armenian Music’ in the summer of 2017, he had in his backpack his kavals and melodies familiar to him from his childhood. During his time in Armenia, he collaborated with the duduk player Arsen Petrosyan and they started to work on some songs together. Soon after, they decided to not only research these songs but to perform them on stage and to record the fruits of their collaboration. Denіz Mahіr Kartal grew up in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey where Georgian culture is still vibrant and alive. Arsen, on the other hand, had his roots in the Armenian community living in Georgia, and his family comes from Erzurum. These circumstances drew out a natural roadmap for the two, which led to the inclusion of Mіkaіl Yakut, a musician of Georgian descent. The kaval in Turkey, duduk in Armenia, and accordion in Georgia are among the most common instruments in these countries. The natural harmony between these instruments create complementing timbres, thanks to the melodies of the shared roots in this album. In the same spirit, while building the repertoire for the album, the three musicians sought to focus on the mutual melodies they had all been introduced to in their childhoods, while also being attentive to the harmony between the themes and stories of the songs. The album also features solo tracks that present the three typical instruments, of their respective cultures, in the most plain and direct way. These musicians believe that the peoples of this region will continue sharing and co-creating, while remaining aware of the impossibility of attributing their traditional music to any specific ethnicity. They hope that this album will help to blossom once again the shared melodies that have been the product of interaction between these peoples living together for centuries. 3 SONG INFORMATION 1. Erzrumi Shoror Some stories we can trace back to past centuries and find narrative forms that have been handed down for thousands of years. Humans have been using dance and music for thousands of years in order to talk about themselves, to articulate their respect for nature and their beliefs, to imitate what they see and to transmit their experiences. The village squares have always proven to be a particularly suitable place for such performances. Erzrumi Shoror (‘The Dance of Erzrum/Erzurum’) is an Armenian piece and is one of the 'Ağirlama' melodies to which people usually dance at the beginning of the performance. Erzurum is a city located in today’s Turkey. Until the beginning of the 20th century, a large Armenian population lived in this city. 2. Adanayi Voghpe / Adana Ağıdı This lament is dedicated to the thousands of Armenians who died in the city of Adana during the massacres instigated by ‘Young Turks’, a leading political movement in the late Ottoman Era. A large number of Armenians lived in Adana until 1909. It held great religious significance, as it was the capital of the old Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. At the beginning of the 21st century, this song resurfaced as a love song in Turkish pop music, initially without any references to its Armenian origins. We would like to interpret this piece again as a persistent symbol against the deniers of history. 3. Bingyol The Armenian folk song Bingyol, with lyrics by Avetik Isahakyan, is also known under the name Çabakcur and means ‘violently flowing water’. The city of Bingöl is located in what is now Turkey and in Turkish bears the name of ‘one-thousand lakes’. As oppression and threats to the Armenians increased in many areas of Anatolia in the late Ottoman era, between 1914 and 1915, the Armenian people in Bingöl, like everywhere else, began to worry. After years of living side by side with other peoples, their fears grew day by day when hearing of tragic events from other places. After a while their fears became true as the people in Bingöl started losing their neighbours overnight, they just disappeared, they never received messages from them again. Children who had played together in their neighbourhood, sisters and brothers with whom they had shared their food, seemed to just disappear silently. They had only taken the most necessary things that they could carry with them and joined the deportation treks without knowing where they would take them. 4. Tal Tala / Daldalan & 5. Tamzara In Anatolia there is a typical dance style for almost every region. These dances have taken on their characteristic shape in accordance with the climatic or geographical conditions and historical events. The pieces Daldalan and Tamzara are played almost identically in Turkey and Armenia, even though there are some choreographic differences in many areas of both countries. We offer these dances on our album in the form of a potpourri. 4 6. Dzveli Kartuli Satsekvao Dzveli Kartuli Satsekvao (‘Old Georgian Dance’) is a piece from the region of Kartli, which also includes the capital of Georgia: Tbilisi. The melody is originally played with the salamuri, a wooden flute and accompanied by panduri – a three-stringed plucked instrument. Here we hear an interpretation in which the different instruments are represented by only one instrument – the accordion. 7. Noubar-Noubar & Yare Mardu Noubar-Noubar is a traditional Armenian love song. It tells the beauty of a young girl named Noubar. The work has become extremely popular in recent years. Yare Mardu is a bard song from the 20th century. The lyrics are written by Ashugh Havasi (1895–1978), music by Levon Katerjian (1940-). 8. Siretsi Yars Taran This is a traditional Armenian song. The lyrics of Siretsi Yars Taran (They Took My Love Away) were written by the poet Avetil Isahakyan. The song, which belongs to the classical repertoire of the Armenian Duduk, is dedicated to lost lovers. 9. Naz Barı & Nazpar & Halay In the 1950s, with the support of the TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation), a group of researchers came together who made numerous expeditions to Anatolia to record the folk tunes that people sang in the villages, fields, at weddings, marketplaces, farewell parties for soldiers, festivals and for special occasions. This project was extremely important, especially as rapidly expanding urbanisation and the relocation of people for economic reasons, or by force, threatened the continuation of this important cultural heritage for future generations. However we are faced with the fact that the sources of the works are unknown or unnamed, and the titles, texts and regions have been changed by methodical errors and deliberate manipulation. While Azerbaijan is named as the place of origin for the piece Naz Barı in the TRT repertoire, Alexander Alexanyan is listed as the composer in the Armenian archives. We have interpreted this piece, the titles of which are even identical, however there are small melodic and rhythmic variations between the versions known in Turkey and Armenia. We played a “Halay” (circle dance) at the end of this potpourri, which is also a common dance melody for the people of both countries. 10. Kara Koyun A long time ago, a shepherd fell in love with the daughter of the owner of a large estate. This love was, of course, a thorn in the side of the father. To get rid of the shepherd, the father gave him an almost impossible task. He said: “We will feed the herd salt for a few days, but no water. If you can get the herd to cross the river without drinking a drop of water, you shall have my daughter as a wife.” Finally, the father ordered the shepherd to lead the thirsty herd to the river. When they came to the water, the shepherd raised his flute and played heart-breaking melodies. All of the sheep stopped, forgot their thirst and followed the shepherd through the river. Only one black sheep stopped, lowered its head and stuck its snout into the water. However, it did not drink, but looked at the shepherd and followed the herd. 5 The father stood by his word. Before the wedding he asked his future son-in-law why the black sheep stuck its snout into the water. The shepherd replied, that because of his fault, the black sheep’s mother had died at his birth. For this, the black sheep wanted revenge. But when it heard the flute, it realized how the mother’s death also hurt the shepherd and forgave him. Kara Koyun (‘Black Sheep’) is one of the rare solo pieces for Anatolian Kaval.