Imagining the Armenian Duduk: Cross-Cultural Borrowing in a Seemingly Borderless World
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REED, HEIDI, D.M.A. (Re)imagining the Armenian Duduk: Cross-Cultural Borrowing in a Seemingly Borderless World. (2017) Directed by Drs. M. Ashley Barret and J. Revell Carr. 104 pp. In this project, I adapted a song traditionally played on the Armenian duduk for the English horn. Using Walter Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” as a guide, the piece “Knir Im Balik” was transcribed. Performances of the piece by Vatche Hovsepian and Gevorg Dabaghyan are used as models. Included is an illustration of how learning about the duduk and its role in Armenia informed the transcription. Also shown is the decision- making process while transcribing and notating both the original recordings and the English horn version. (RE)IMAGINING THE ARMENIAN DUDUK: CROSS-CULTURAL BORROWING IN A SEEMINGLY BORDERLESS WORLD by Heidi Reed A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts Greensboro 2017 Approved by M. Ashley Barret Committee Co-Chair J. Revell Carr Committee Co-Chair © 2017 Heidi Reed To Phyllis Rae Miller Allen and Joseph McAlister Reed ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation written by Heidi Reed has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Co-Chairs M. Ashley Barret J. Revell Carr Committee Members Michael J. Burns Steven C. Stusek 27 March 2017 Date of Acceptance by Committee 14 March 2016 Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank first and foremost my chairs, Dr. Ashley Barret and Dr. Revell Carr. Their support and belief in this project has been invaluable. The feedback from Dr. Michael Burns and Dr. Steve Stusek have also been of great help. Thank you. Owing to the assistance of the UNCG Special Projects in Music, funded by the Joy Culbreth Morrison Graduate Fellowship in Music and the Dolores Huffines Bernhardt Graduate Award in Music, I was able to obtain several items vital to my investigation. Many thanks to Claudine Bigelow, Ed Carter, Jeremy Grimshaw, and Ty Turley- Trejo who permitted me to interview them. Dirk Elzinga allowed an observation of his field studies class when the focus was the Armenian language. Neil Thornock, thank you for your insight as a composer. Sam, thank you for your input. To V, you always knew the right thing to say. To Dr. Flowers who reminded me I had something to say. Many others have helped with drafts, formatting, and generally cheered me on. Thank you, thank you. To my family, I send my love and thanks. Sarah, we’ve been able to commiserate with very few words necessary. My thanks to you. Matthew, who knew better than to ask ‘how the paper was going’ and instead sent timely cat gifs. Marya and David—words are an inadequate expression for my debt of gratitude to them. I was supported in every way possible: physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially, editorially…the list could go on. Again, I love you. Thank you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION, A CASE STUDY. .1 Limitations and Delimitations ......................................2 II. THE DUDUK .......................................................4 Initial Investigations ..............................................4 Duduk in Armenia ...............................................5 Duduk Pedagogy ................................................9 Duduk Organology .............................................11 Playing the Duduk ..............................................14 III. DESCRIPTIVE TRANSCRIBING: THE PROCESS ......................19 “Knir Im Balik” .................................................19 Descriptive Transcribing: An Overview .............................20 Ownership ....................................................22 Transcribing Specifics: Dabaghyan .................................26 Transcribing Specifics: Hovsepian ..................................30 Notation ......................................................35 A Comparison ..................................................37 IV. PRESCRIPTIVE TRANSCRIBING: ADAPTATION AND TRANSLATION .................................................42 Adapting for English Horn .......................................42 An Improvisation: “Little One, Sleep” ..............................43 Addressing the Drone ............................................46 Notes from Performers ..........................................49 v V. CONCLUSION .....................................................52 Respect .......................................................53 Transformation .................................................56 Further Study ..................................................58 WORKS CITED ............................................................59 APPENDIX A. TRANSCRIPTIONS ..........................................61 APPENDIX B. ENGLISH HORN PIECE ......................................99 vi LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Duduk and English Horn ..............................................5 Figure 2. Duduk Reed and English Horn Reed .....................................5 Figure 3. Ceremony: Tatul Hambarzdumyan Performing at the Centennial Genocide Ceremony .........................................................8 Figure 4. Duduk Lesson. 10 Figure 5. Certificate of Authenticity from Duduk.ca ................................12 Figure 6. Duduk in A .........................................................13 Figure 7. Ghamish ...........................................................14 Figure 8. Preparing the Reed ...................................................15 Figure 9. First Position ........................................................16 Figure 10. Pitch Notation .....................................................26 Figure 11. Examples of Ornament Notation ......................................27 Figure 12. Rhythmic Transcription. ..............................................28 Figure 13. Melody without Rhythm .............................................29 Figure 14. Unnecessary Ties ...................................................29 Figure 15. Vibrato Notation ...................................................30 Figure 16. Beginning of Hovsepian Transcription ..................................31 Figure 17. Hovsepian Ornament Notation ........................................31 Figure 18. Hovsepian Notation Key .............................................32 Figure 19. Example 1.A .......................................................32 vii Figure 20. Example 1.B .......................................................32 Figure 21. Example 2.A .......................................................33 Figure 22. Example 2.B .......................................................33 Figure 23. Example 3.A .......................................................33 Figure 24. Example 3.B .......................................................33 Figure 25. Example 3.A with Edits ..............................................34 Figure 26. Example 3.B with Edits ..............................................34 Figure 27. Example 4.A .......................................................35 Figure 28. Example 4.B .......................................................35 Figure 29. Sample Notation Key ................................................36 Figure 30. Opening Ornamentation .............................................37 Figure 31. Hovsepian’s Performance Longer ......................................38 Figure 32. Melodic Content ....................................................39 Figure 33. Section A1 .........................................................40 Figure 34. Section B2 .........................................................40 Figure 35. Section C1 .........................................................41 Figure 36. Comparing Three Openings ..........................................43 Figure 37. H. Reed’s Improvisation (On Bottom) Is Much Shorter ....................44 Figure 38. Section A1, Three Versions ...........................................45 Figure 39. Section B3, Three Versions ...........................................45 Figure 40. Section C2, Three Versions ...........................................46 viii Figure 41. Inline Drone .......................................................47 Figure 42. With External Drone ................................................49 Figure 43. English Horn Notation Key ..........................................50 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION, A CASE STUDY In order to expand the English horn repertoire, and combine my graduate studies of oboe and English horn performance with a certificate in ethnomusicology, I engineered a case study. For the study, I would adapt a piece of music from outside the Western Art Music tradition for the English horn. During the process I would investigate and comment upon the adaptation. My research questions during this investigation consisted of: When someone from one culture borrows music from another culture, 1. what is maintained, 2. what is lost, and 3. what might be gained during the process? With so much ready access to music from around the world, we hear a piece of music, like it, then play it. My intent was to instill the act of appropriating cultural property with a greater sense of respect for, and acknowledgment of, the source culture. In Chapter II, I describe how