A few thoughts on Aram Khachaturian
The energetic and electric rhythms and harmonies of his native Armenia provided Aram Khachaturian (1903 - 1978) with enough influences to last a lifetime. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Khachaturian was fascinated by music but could not read or play it. When his brother went to Moscow to study at the Conservatory, Aram with him in 1921, unable to speak a word of Russian. Although he could not read music or play an instrument, he had enough talent to further his musical knowledge at the Gnessin Institute in 1925 and studied cello under Mikhail Gnessin and entered a composition class. In 1929, Khachaturian went to the Moscow Conservatory in 1929 where he studied composition in earnest from one of the great Russian composers, Nikolai Myaskovsky. In 1931, Khachaturian married his fellow classmate Nina Makarova. In 1951, he took over the professorship post at the Gnessin Music and Pedagogical in Moscow as well as at the Moscow Conservatory. He also held important posts with the Composers’ Union which would later denounce himself as well as Dimitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. Yet in spite of these indignities of being officially banned, Khachaturian became, along with his three accused colleagues, one of the pillars of Soviet music.
Always an enthusiastic advocate of the Communist regime in Soviet Russia, Khachaturian went on tour through Georgia and Armenia when they were admitted into the Soviet Union in 1920. He joined the Communist Party in 1943 and wrote his best known work, the ballet Gayaneh, that same year. It espoused not only Soviet ideas but also the location of the work was on an Armenian collective farm.
It was after his Third Symphony was written in 1948 that he found himself a subject of the wrath of the Soviet leaders in the arts headed by Andrei Zhdanov. The composer later wrote, "Those were tragic days for me... I was clouted on the head so unjustly. My repenting speech at the First Congress was insincere. I was crushed, destroyed. I seriously considered changing professions."
Yet he continued to compose works that stimulated his mind. "Spartacus" from 1956, continues to be one of his greatest ballets. Yet he remained true to his Armenian roots. Even his large scale compositions such as his Piano Concerto (1936) and Violin Concerto (1940) contain folk rhythms and melodic lines that were his lifelong passions.
When he died on May 1, 1978 in Moscow, many of his works had been forgotten except for the "Sabre Dance." This condition has been righted, thankfully, for more and more people have taken delights in this virtuoso composer of the orchestral world. Aram Khachaturian’s works could be called the source of the familiar saying, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy."
Posted on 10/11/2008
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