Arzruni Samples Works By Armenian Women Composers

By Women: Piano Works by Armenian Women Composers Sahan Arzruni, piano. AGBU/Positively Armenian Total Time:  61:06 Recording:   ****/**** Performance: ****/****

In this new recital, Armenian pianist Sahan Arzruni surveys music from eight composers, all Armenian women.  Most all these performances are receiving world premiere debuts on this new special album.  Arzruni, who is also a noted ethnomusicologist, has been exploring Armenian music more recently and previously released a 3-disc anthology of music (a couple of those recordings appear here).  The pieces here span across 150 years and thus reflect some of the different aesthetic styles that inspired composers in this region.  Many were/are pedagogues, often also writing music for educational use.

The album opens with a beautiful Sonatina (1986) by Geghuni Chitchyan (1929-).  The more neoclassical style of the music instantly engages and the clear lines and harmonies are quite wonderful.  Her delicate Prelude (1979) is a quite moving work with fascinating harmonic ideas, which then moves into a collection of shorter pieces.

Two preludes inspired by folk song follow.  They are by Koharik Gazarossian (1907-1967) was a student of Dukas.  The first of these seems to have some of that style in its harmonic structures, with a bit more passionate writing in the second that also infuses the music with new scalar references (it also feels like a bit more complicated work technically).  “I Haven’t the Words” was part of a Project 19 commission.  Mary Kouyoumdjian’s work  was composed during the recent pandemic and seems to blend the sort of static life of lockdown amidst the rising turmoil and protests around George Floyd’s murder.  The style stays mostly tonal with close intervals adding the dissonant qualities against incessant eight-note ostinatos.  Sirvart Karamanuk (1912- 2008) is Arzruni’s maternal aunt and her “Dance Song” is a delightful piece for virtuosic display.  It has an engaging melodic idea and its interesting rhythms also provide its regional connection.  “The Bells of Ani” (1971) is from Ethiopian-born composer Sirvart Kazandjian which is part of a series of pieces for her homeland of Armenia.  Here, she explores a creation of bell sounds across the register of the piano which also creates interesting dissonances due to the sustain pedal use.  Gayane Chebotaryan’s Six Preludes (1948) provide a great window into her exploration of style and the capabilities of the piano with interesting shifts of tone and added percussive qualities that make the set a rather intriguing listen.  The first and fifth are particularly striking.  These preludes are perhaps one of the highlights of the album which provide a sort of summary of approaches to the other works on the album.  “Ode to Vahan”, written for Arzruni by Alicia Terzian, is based on an 8th-Century piece sung in the Armenian Church.  The chant is one of the first known pieces composed by a woman in the world.  Here one gets exposed a bit to this liturgical style and its reinterpretation for this homage which features more avant-garde approaches and techniques.  Haunting vocal lines add an ethereal quality to the work which also finishes with spoken text (no translation is provided in the booklet) some of which are manipulated to create a ghostly sound.  The final piece is by Lucy Hazarabedian (1863-1882) who died tragically young.  She is thought to be the first Armenian woman to write for piano and her work is represented here by the little polka, “The Nightingale of Armenia.”  It is a fine piece of salon music.

The pieces here are all quite engaging works.  The overall style falls within that Neo-Classical mode often with more open harmonies.  This is often blended with unique scales and inflections derived from the use of folk song material and it is enhanced by the interesting rhythmic ideas.  Arzruni provides informed and engaging performances here and the pieces do provide plenty of technical challenges along the way.  One is struck by the crispness of the attacks in the more neoclassical works, especially.  The heartfelt, romantic moments provide further appreciation for his phrasing. The piano is further enhanced by a rather fine sense of space in the recording as well. 

The present release provides a great window into discovering some engaging music.  The accompanying booklet provides some basic background for the composers and the music.  It would have been nice though to have clear information for composition dates for the works as it is not always mentioned in the notes.  Even having this in parenthesis next to the titles somewhere would be welcome.  A small quibble an otherwise engaging release.