SKU: A0.596489

Paregamutiún (Friendship): Four melodies of Armenian connotations for cello solo.

I am not Armenian, but these melodies could be: it is an invented folklore. Nevertheless, I never wanted to compose an imitation of real Armenian music; for that I should live in Armenia a few years, learn the language, soak in a couple of millennia of culture and impregnate myself with the current problems. And yet it would be doubtful that the result would sound authentic. Neither I was interested in composing some sounding touristic postcards. These melodies reflect, yes, how a thankful being sees the Armenian from outside. And this is what grants them legitimacy.

About the titles:

The general title of the piece, Paregamutiún, is translatable as friendship. Sometimes it is transliterated Baregamutyun (as a certain station of the subway in Yerevan).

 The single titles of each piece refers to a lake, a mountain, a mythical patriarch and a tree of Armenia:

1) Sevanavank: Monastery of the Black Lake, founded in 874. The name Sevan means literally Black Van, referring to a lake called Van. It is said that long ago the Armenians came from areas next to the lake Van towards the lake Sevan, they noticed that its waters were dark, almost black, but they reminded them of the lake Van, and therefore called it black Van: Sevan.

2) Hayk is the patriarch of the foundational myth of the Armenian nation, and the original name of the country (Hayastán: land of the Armenians); some sources affirm that he was great great grandson or great-great-great grandson of Noah.

3) Dziraní Dzar: apricot tree, the Armenian national fruit. Dzar is tree and dzirán is apricot, the obvious phonetic similitude seems to underline a strong semantic proximity between both concepts. The letter Dz is a complex phoneme similar to a smooth th.

4) Masis is the Armenian name of mount Ararat, where -according to the Bible- ended up Noah's Arch after the Flood (Genesis 8:4).

SKU: A0.1181209

SKU: A0.1181249