Composer: Vertapet Komitas
Performer: Lusine Grigoryan
Format: FLAC (track)
Label: ECM
Release: 2017
Size: 779 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Seven Songs
01. I Semplice
02. II Dolente
03. III Allegro Non Troppo
04. IV Allegretto Semplice, Tempo Rubato
05. V Comodo
06. VI Nobile
07. VII Allegrazza, Energico
08. Msho Shoror
Seven Dances
09. I Manushaki
10. II Yerangi
11. III Unabi
12. IV Marali
13. V Shushiki
14. VI Het U Araj
15. VII Shoror
Pieces For Children
16. I Allegretto Amabile
17. II Allegretto Amabile
18. III Vivo
19. IV Allegro Moderato
20. V Andantino
21. VI Lento
22. VII Vivace
23. VIII Moderato Con Giubilo
24. IX Con Alterezza
25. X Calmo
26. XI Moderato
27. XII Andantino Con Tenerezza
28. Toghik (Komitas Vardapet)
The Armenian composer Komitas, also known as Soghomon Soghomonian or Komitas Vardapet (“Komitas the Priest”) was a unique figure. Essentially the founder of Armenian classical music, he wrote short pieces that were deeply informed by his study of Armenian folksong and vernacular instrumental music. He was not exactly a nationalist but rather a composer fascinated by the musical language of folk music and seeking to extend it. The new interest by the ECM label in Komitas’ music is great news, for the label’s famed vanishing-point acoustics catch the small details in his music that evoke models of folk playing. Armenian pianist Lusine Grigoryan obviously treats this music as a labor of love, and you also get her own notes on the music (as well as an introduction by the always informative Paul Griffiths), drawn from an interpretive tradition that in most cases probably came down directly from Komitas himself. Sample one of the Pieces for Children, brief works that look forward to Bartók’s Mikrokosmos. A deeply absorbing, beautifully recorded album.