Tigran Hamasyan with the Yerevan State Chamber Choir - Luys I Luso (2015)

Armenian for "light from Light", Luys I Luso was the brainchild of pianist Tigran Hamasyan (b. 1987) in which he wanted to fuse together Armenian sacred choral pieces from the 5th - 20th centuries (including ones by Komitas) with classical composition and improvisation.  The results were gorgeous and spellbinding, with the austere beauty of the Yerevan State Chamber Choir blending perfectly with Hamasyan's piano.

Sometimes providing minimal piano accompaniment, sometimes letting rip in more jazzy runs (Voghormea indz Astvats is the most eyebrow-raisingly energetic thing here), Hamasyan's skill is that this potentially clashing mix just works, and pays off in spades.  Whether he's taking a brief diversion into prepared piano (Nor Tsaghik) or closing the album with a sampled recording from 1912 ('made in the presence of Komitas'), Luys I Luso is superbly arranged and just hugely enjoyable in its otherworldly, transportive magic.

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Komitas - Divine Liturgy (1988 recording, Choir Of St. Gayané Cathedral)

Been listening to Komitas again, so here's the other recording of his most substantive choral opus.  Review here, along with download of the 1989 Melodiya recording that I previously posted, to compare & contrast.  Will post other Komitas works in due course, as soon as I get around to getting hold of them!

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Komitas - Patarag (1989 recording, Male Chamber Choir of the Yerevan Opera Theatre)

Thought we'd go into the weekend on an Armenian note, just like last week - this time with the masterwork by one of the greatest composers ever to come from there, and one who still needs to be better known.  I started listening to Komitas (1869-1935) following the release of the stunning ECM album Luys I Luso by Tigran Hamasyan last year, and went looking for the pure roots of its sound.

Soghomon Soghomonian was ordained Komitas Vardapet(priest) in 1895, taking his new name in tribute to a seventh-century poet, and was responsible for collecting hundreds of Armenian and Kurdish folk songs as well as a modest body of composition both secular and sacred.  The latter had its finest expression in this mass, Patarag (Liturgy) for male choir; the exact completion date is unknown, but it was first published in France in the 1930s, around the time when its composer, traumatised by the Armenian genocide, was spending his final days in a Paris sanatorium.

Komitas in 1902

Even after that, it wouldn't be until the late 80s when Patarag was recorded in full by two different Armenian choirs (oddly enough though, with the same conductor and choirmaster).  One recording was released under the name Divine Liturgy by the US label New Albion; the other came out on the Soviet Melodiya label as a double-LP and as this CD (split into four tracks, as per the four sides of vinyl) that I'm posting here.  This one for me has a bit of an edge: it feels rawer and more austere than the New Albion.  It's also slightly longer, most noticeably starting with a solo introduction which is missing on the New Albion recording; not sure if there's any other substantive differences.  Anyway, enjoy. In the words of Claude Debussy: “Brilliant father Komitas! I bow before your musical genius!” 


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Djivan Gasparyan - I Will Not Be Sad in This World (first rel. 1983)

Back in more relaxing, near-ambient territory today; but no electronic ambience here whatsoever, just one instrument in fact – the Armenian double-reed wood flute known as the duduk.  Played here by master of the instrument Djivan Gasparyan, backed up only by another duduk drone, 40 minutes of this stuff might on paper seem a bit monotonous, but the pure sound and hypnotic melodies draw you right in.

Original LP cover, 1983

Just the right side of unsettling to be truly mellow, these eight traditional duduk pieces were first released on the Soviet Melodiya label in 1983, and came to wider attention when Brian Eno gave the album its first international release under the ‘I Will Not Be Sad…’ title in 1989.  Having been thrust into the 80s/early 90s ‘world music’ limelight, Gasparyan toured widely and played with/influenced many musicians including Peter Gabriel, most famously on the ‘Passion’ soundtrack to Scorcese’s Last Tempation of Christ.

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Original CD release, 1989 (picture at top is 2005 reissue)