KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: Armenian Martyr's Day, 1992, 1 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

MC.1992.04.24.A

Program Series

Morning Concert

Program Length

78 min

Part

1 of 2

Dates

1992-04-24 | broadcast
| 1992-04-14 | created

Description

Beginning with the touching folk tune “Garun A”, transcribed by Komitas for chorus and piano, Charles Amirkhanian introduces a program of Armenian music rich in variety and textures. Recorded live at KPFA Radio, this concert was timed to coincide with Armenian Martyr's Day. In Turkey on April 24, 1915, the leaders of the Ottoman Empire set in motion a genocidal massacre of Armenians in an effort to rid the country of this Christian minority that had lived in peace there for many centuries.

Composer Maia Aprahamian of Tiburon, California, didn't know her father was Armenian until she was 17. Her story is a touching one told in her own words. She studied composition with Vittorio Giannini and we hear her serenely beautiful work "Batter My Heart" (after the John Donne poem), performed at Grace Cathedral by Barry Tuckwell (French horn) and John Fenstermaker (organ) recorded by KKHI in 1983.

Also on the program is an interview with the musicologist from Armenia, living in Los Angeles, Nikoghos Tʻahmizyan. He discusses Armenian music from the 5th Century to the 18th Century.

Genres

World music
Chamber music

Musical Selections

Garun a dzun a arel (“It is Spring, Though Snow has Fallen”) (1906–07) / Komitas -- Batter My Heart [text by John Donne] / Maia Aprahamian -- Arorn Ou Tatrakn (“The Partridge and the Dove”) / Komitas -- “A cool breeze came down” -- “twisted dance” -- [unidentified song] / Sayat Nova -- Anganim aratchi (“I kneel before thee”) / St. Mesrob Mashtots

Performers

Barry Tuckwell, French horn (Batter My Heart)
John Fenstermaker, organ (Batter My Heart)
Souren Baronian, clarinet (Armenian Folk Songs)
Haig Manukian, oud (Armenian Folk Songs)
Rowen Stormhex, vocals and percussion (Armenian Folk Songs)

Subjects

Folk music, Armenian
Music -- Armenia
Horn and organ music
Armenian chants
World music
Ethnic music

Related places

Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Amirkhanian, Charles
Komitas, Vardapet, 1869-1935
Aprahamian, Maia
Donne, John, 1572-1631
Tuckwell, Barry
Fenstermaker, John
Tʻahmizyan, Nikoghos
Sayatʻ-Nova, 1712-1795
Mesrop, Saint, ca. 361-440