HAYREN | MUSIC FROM ARMENIA

Hayren is one of the most popular forms of ancient Armenian poetry. The genre has its own speech melody and expresses a specific philosophy of life. The music of the Armenian composers Tigran Mansurian and Komitas is deeply rooted in these ancient folk genres. Komitas (1869–1935) was a priest, poet, singer, composer, philosopher and ethnomusicologist. He collected orally transmitted folk tunes from villages all over Armenia and wrote both sacred and secular music that combines the old and the new: working songs, wedding songs, love songs, dances and songs about the trauma of expulsion and displacement that his people repeatedly suffered throughout history. The world-famous Armenian-American viola player Kim Kashkashian joins Tigran Mansurian, one of the most important Armenian composers of our time, and the percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky to bring the music of Komitas to new life. Mansurian’s authentic, untrained voice lends a captivating intensity to the songs he sings. Komitas also inspired Mansurian to create his own works, in which he combines ancient lyricism and monodic mysticism with new compositional techniques.