sign in sign up
<<
Home , Avetik Isahakyan, Kaval, Lost in the World, Salamuri, Shvi, Tamzara

A.G.A TRIO MEETING

1 Erzrumi Shoror 6:11 2 Adanayi Voghpe / Ağıdı 4:54 3 Bingyol 2:48 4 Tal Tala / Daldalan 1:10 5 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 & 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 and 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 , and . When Denіz Mahіr Kartal travelled to Armenia’s capital, , 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 player Arsen Petrosyan and they started to work on some 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 . These circumstances drew out a natural roadmap for the two, which led to the inclusion of Mіkaіl Yakut, a musician of Georgian descent. The 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 , 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 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 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 who died in the city of Adana during the massacres instigated by ‘’, 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 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 , which also includes the capital of Georgia: . The melody is originally played with the , a wooden and accompanied by – 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 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” () 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. It’s told that the story above comes from Eastern Anatolia and that the river was the Aras which starts in Turkey and then flows along the border between Turkey and Armenia.

11. Tsekva Kartuli ‘Keto da Kote’ Georgian Dance is a part of Georgia’s first comic opera ‘Keto and Kote’. Composer Victor Dolidze also wrote the text book, based on the romantic comedy ‘Khanuma’ by Avksenty Tsagareli. The opera premiered in 1919, in Tbilisi, since then Tsekva Kartuli has been played as the standard for all celebrations for over 100 years.

12. Patara Gogo Where the Elbrus and Kazbegi mountains meet, there are valleys, hills, and highlands that were created by the patiently and stubbornly flowing water. This song reminds us of the film “Mamluqi” by director Davit Rondelli, which deals with human trafficking in the 17th century. In a Georgian village, there are two young shepherd boys named Xvicha and Gocha. When one day they playfully wrestle with each other, Xvicha realises that one of Gocha’s ears is smaller than the other and asks him why. Gocha laughs and answers: “Because I was born that way. My mother says, it is good. If I get lost in the world, she can always recognise me”. The two boys are kidnapped by riding traders and taken to Istanbul by ship. Xvicha is sold to the Ottoman Court to be trained as a warrior. But Gocha is bought by a French merchant and taken away. Years later, the armies of the French and the Ottomans face each other. On the battlefield, the commander of the Ottoman army, Mahmud (Xvicha), stabs the French commander in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground. As he falls, he screams, “Voy nana!” (Oh, mother). Mahmud is startled. “Who are you?”, he asks the fallen commander and lifts him on his lap. When he sees, that one of the man’s ears is smaller than the other, Xvicha recognises his friend Gocha, but receives no answer to his question. The song “Patara Gogo” also deals with the topic of stolen children. It begins with the words “I’ve lost my little girl, didn’t you see her?”. In the last four-line verse of the song, the lost girl is told: “Don’t fly so high, you may fall down and the trafficker may catch you, what if I lose you for good?”. As the mothers of Xvicha and Gocha pleaded with God, hoping to see their children again, the melody of the song is the sound of desperate prayers trying to stop the feeling of turmoil - like the patiently flowing waters that have been trying to tame the wild mountains of the Caucasus for centuries. Sometimes they become a flood, sometimes they are a babbling brook, where the lambs find peace of mind. Elbrus and Kazbegi greet each other.

6 LYRICS

Although the music in this album is entirely instrumental, the lyrics included below are usually sung with these four folk songs.

2. Adanayi Voghpe / Adana Ağıdı (lyrics in Armenian & English)

Ատանայի Ողբը Adana Massacre Կոտորածն անգութ, հայերը թող լան, Massacred mercilessly, let Armenians cry, Անապատ դարձաւ շքեղ Ատանան, The beautiful Adana has become a wasteland. Կրակն ու սուրը ու անխիղճ թալան, The flame and the sword and barbarous plunder, Ռուբէնի տունը ա՜խ, ըրաւ վերան։ Ruben’s home, oh they torn to ruins. Րոպպէ մը չանցաւ, ու հայոց խեղճեր, Not a minute passed, that unarmed Armenians, Ինկած սուրին տակ խուժանին ահեղ, Ժամեր ու դպրոց բոցի մէջ կորան, Fell by the sword of the dreadful enemy, Բիւրաւոր հայեր անխնայ մեռան։ Churches and schools vanished in the flames, Պարապ էր աւա՜ղ, հարուստ Thousands of Armenians where ruthlessly killed. Ատանան, Our rich Adana has become a desert, Մոխիր է դարձեր ամբողջ Կիլիկիան, The whole of Cilicia has become ashes. Միայն ապրեցաւ Հաճընը սիրուն, Only standing is beautiful Hachyn, Ի՞նչու չի՛ շարժիր ապառաժ Զէյթուն։ Why is it unmoved, the fortress of Zeytun?

7 3. Bingyol (lyrics in Armenian and English)

Բինգյոլ Bingyol Երբ բաց եղան գարնան կանաչ դռները, When the green doors of spring were opened, Քնար դառան աղբյուրները Բինգյոլի. The springs of Bingyol sang like a lyre. Շարվե շարան անցան զուգված ուղտերը, A caravan of camels went by in pairs, Յարս էլ գնաց յայլաները Բինգյոլի: And carried my true love to the fields of Bingyöl. Անգին յարիս լույս երեսին կարոտ եմ, I miss my precious love’s bright face, Նազուկ մեջքին, ծով-ծամերին կարոտ եմ. I miss her small waist. Քաղցր լեզվին, անոյշ հոտին կարոտ եմ, Her hair wavy like the ocean, Սև աչքերով էն եղնիկին Բինգյոլի: I miss her sweet words, her sweet smell, Պա՜ղ-պա՜ղ ջրեր, պապակ շուրթս չի And her dark eyes (like a deer) բացվի, Of that beauty of a Bingyöl. Ծուփ-ծուփ ծաղկունք, լացող աչքս չի Even for cold waters, my parched lips won’t open, բացվի, Even with layers of beautiful flowers around me, Դեռ չտեսած յարիս,- սիրտս չի բացվի, My crying eyes won’t open. Ինձ ի՜նչ, ավա՜ղ, բլբուլները Բինգյոլի: My heart won’t open until I see my true love, Մոլորվել եմ, ճամբաներին ծանոթ չեմ, Alas, even the beautiful springs of Bingyöl Բյուր լճերին, գետ ու քարին ծանոթ չեմ. Won’t open my heart. Ես պանդուխտ եմ, էս տեղերին ծանոթ I am lost, these roads are foreign to me, չեմ. These thousands of lakes, rocks and rivers Քույրիկ, ասա՛, ո՞րն է ճամփան Բինգյոլի: Are foreign to me. I’m a drifter, I’m not familiar with these parts, Sister, tell me, which is the road to Bingyöl?

8 8. Siretsi Yars Taran / They Took My Love Away (lyrics in Armenian & English)

Սիրեցի Յարս Տարան They Took My Love Away Սիրեցի, յարս տարան. They took my love away, Յարա տվին ու տարան They gave me misery and took my love away. Սիրեցի, յարս տարան. They took my love away, Յարա տվին ու տարան They gave me misery and took my love away. Էս ի՞նչ զուլում աշխարհ է, Why is the world so unfair? Պոկեցին սիրտս, տարան: They broke my heart and took my love away. Էս ի՞նչ զուլում աշխարհ է, My pain is deep, there is no cure, Պոկեցին սիրտս, տարան: There is no relief. Ցավս խորն է, ճար չկա, My pain is deep, there is no cure, Ճար կա, ճար անող չկա, There is no relief. Ցավս խորն է, ճար չկա, Why is the world so unfair? Ճար կա, ճար անող չկա, I haven’t one empathetic friend. Էս ի՞նչ զուլում աշխարհ է, Why is the world so unfair? Սրտացավ ընկեր չկա: I haven’t one empathetic friend. Էս ի՞նչ զուլում աշխարհ է, Սրտացավ ընկեր չկա:

9 12. Patara Gogo / Little Girl (lyrics in Georgian & English)

პატარა გოგო Little Girl პატარა გოგო დამეკარგა I´ve lost my little girl წითელ პერანგა She had a red dress on ან ავლილი ან ჩავლილი She was going up or down ხომ არ გინახავთ Didn`t you see her? ვტირი დღე და ვტირი ღამე Crying night and day ცრემლი დეილია I´ve run out of tears პატარა გოგო სიყვარული Oh, you have no idea how hard it is ოჰ რა ძნელია To love a little girl ვაიმე ჩემო ანგელოზო Alas, oh my angel! ჩემო ლამაზო My dearest პატარა გოგო დამეკარგა I´ve lost my little girl რა მეშველება There is no remedy for my sorrow მაღლა მაღლა ნუ დაფრინავ Don`t fly so high ჩამოვარდები You may fall down ვაჭრის ხელში ჩავარდები And the trafficker may catch you დამეკარგები What if I lose you for good?

10 DENİZ MAHİR KARTAL Denіz Mahіr Kartal was born in Istanbul in 1987. He studied Turkish at the Istanbul Technical University from 2005 to 2011 and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. Apart from dance, his passion above all is music. Kartal plays the duduk, kaval and other traditional instruments, as well as saxophone and guitar. He has been making music since the age of five and is working on many projects which are dedicated to the most diverse musical genres, from Anatolian music, to Balkan/ska/reggae, and electronic music. He plays in different bands from Turkey, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. Kartal has been living in since 2013. He has made many new contacts in the Berlin music scene and regularly performs at concerts all over . In addition to his work with A.G.A Trio, Kartal is currently concentrating on his solo project ‘KafaNar’, in which he creates a hypnotic danceable sound with his various instruments, vocals and loops. © Ilya Ilbe

11 MİKAİL YAKUT Mіkaіl Yakut was born in Turkey in 1987. He played with many folk music groups in Istanbul up until 2012. He studied sociology at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, and received a Erasmus scholarship to the Free University of Berlin during the autumn semester 2011–12. He moved to Berlin in 2013 and studied music education, with classical accordion as his major subject and jazz piano as his minor subject – both at Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus. Currently, Yakut is a member of both Heval Trio and A.G.A Trio. In addition, he is involved in two new collaborations: an electro-acoustic techno duo with Korhan Erel and a children’s theatre project with Birgit Hering. Yakut’s main focus in his musical career so far has been the traditional music of Anatolia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe. However, one can hear influences from a wide range of genres including classical music, contemporary music, jazz and blues in his music. He especially enjoys mixing different styles and crossing genre borders, while leaving room for improvisation in his live performances. © Barış Paksoy

12 ARSEN PETROSYAN Arsen Petrosyan is a young duduk master numerously awarded for his talent. He lives in Charentsavan, Armenia. Seen as a musical prodigy, he initially started his studies at the age of six, learning the (an Armenian ) with mentor Krikor Khachtryan. He graduated from the State Conservatory (Yerevan, Armenia), where he studied with the famous duduk master Gevorg Dabaghyan. Despite his relatively young age (he was born in 1994), Arsen Petrosyan is an accomplished professional musician who has toured in the US, , Canada, the UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, India, South Africa, Abu Dhabi, Germany, Spain (Canary Islands), France, Poland, Central Asia, the Republic of Georgia as well as in his home country, Armenia. Recently, he has created his own ensembles – the Arsen Petrosyan Trio and Arsen Petrosyan Quartet. With diverse collaborations that go beyond the boundaries of traditional Armenian music, Petrosyan invites his audience to take a journey of discovery with him. www.petrosyanduduk.com © Arphi Gabrielyan

13 We would like to thank Sören Birke for his generous support; Manne Pokrandt for his mastery in the production process; Metin Yılmaz for his photography; Julia Cartarius, Ali Yağız Şen and Hasret Tıraz for the translations; and Kenan Yaşar for the text about ‘Patara Gogo’.

www.agatrio.com

14