GAYANE BALLET BY ARAM KHACHATURYAN By: Ara Musheghyan

EARLY LIFE  Aram Khachaturyan was born to a poor Armenian family in Tiflis in He did not get any formal training in music until 1921, when his older brother Suren took him to Moscow and enrolled him into Gnessin Music Institute.  There he shows potential and becomes one of the best students in the institute, and soon enrolls in composition classes.  He enters the Moscow Conservatory in 1929 where he studies under famous Russian composer Nicolay Myaskovsky.  During this time Aram meets Nina, whom she marries later in life.  Aram graduates with flying colors and starts working on his first Symphony

CAREER WORKS  Khachaturyan starts writing his first symphony soon after graduating. He also writes music for musical theatres such as “Piano and Symphony”, “Masquerade” and others.  In 1939 he composed his first ballet “Happiness” which later was revised and became “Gayane”  His third Symphony, which he wrote during WWII, was highly criticized by the Soviet Union, even though it was written to honor the Party.  He traveled all over the world and performed his pieces to all types of audiences.

LATER LIFE AND LEGACY  Aram Khachaturyan passed away in Moscow in He’s burried in the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan, among other prominent Armenian figures.  He received countless awards during his life time, but the biggest contribution he made was helping Armenian music be heard all over the world.

BALLET GAYANE  Originally written in 1939, and titled “Happiness”, Khachaturyan revised, and turned it into “Gayane”. It first premiered in Perm, Russia in  The story is centered around a woman named Gayane, who lives with her family in a mountainous village in Soviet Armenia.  The music in the ballet was inspired by traditional and folk music from Armenia, Russia and Georgia.  The original cast was headlined by Natalia Dudinskaya, and Konstantin Sergeyev, two of the leading dancers in that era.

SABRE DANCE  Perhaps the most famous piece from the ballet is the Sabre Dance. The piece was inspired by traditional music from Leninakan, one of the bigger cities in Armenia.  We will talk about this piece in more detail in later slides.

12 MINUTE PIECE  For my 12 minute piece, instead of taking one long performance, I’ve decided to take number of pieces from the ballet which differ in length and range from 3 to 5 minutes.

SABRE DANCE  This is the most famous piece from the ballet, and it represents the wedding between Gayane and Kasakov. The piece is used to show Gayane’s patriotism.  The piece has an A and B section, a bridge, and then back to the A section.  The piece leaves a very chaotic feeling, as if something is about to unleash.  All in all the piece is about two and a half minutes long.

LEZGNINKA  Like the Sabre dance the lezgninka is very fast paced, and is native to the Caucasus Mountains.  The piece starts with fast paced flute, and then gradually violins and violas enter.  The piece reaches climax at about the 1:15 mark, gradually slows down, and picks up again. All in all the piece is no longer than 3 minutes.  It has a very victorious feeling to it.

LULLABY  Unlike the first two pieces Lullaby is a very slow paced piece. Called “oror” in Armenian, it’s a traditional theme song for a mother to put a child to sleep.  At the 1:45 mark, the instruments start to play off one another. At the 2:20 mark, the piece reaches its climax. At 3:50 mark, the piece returns to its slow tempo, almost putting the listener to sleep.

ADAGIO  Like Lullaby Adagio is slow paced. This, of course, is realized from the title, which means “slow tempo”.  The piece was written in 1941 when the Nazis seemed unstoppable, and invasion and destruction of the Soviet Union seemed inevitable.  The sadness of the violin represents the hopelessness and desperation the people were facing during that time period.  The whole piece is about 5 minutes long, but it feels like a much longer piece.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. "Aram Khachaturyan." Wikipedia. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, Web. 20 Oct Ter-Simonyan, Margarita. "Aram Khachaturyan is 100."Armeniaemb.org. Armeniaemb.org, n.d. Web. 20 Oct "Gayane (ballet)." Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, Web. 20 Oct "Sabre Dance- Aram Khachaturyan." Youtube.com. N.p., Web. 20 Oct "Aram Khachaturyan-Lezginka from Gayane."Youtube.com. N.p., Web. 20 Oct "Aram Khachaturyan Lullaby (From Gayane)."Youtube.com. N.p., Web. 20 Oct "Gayane's Adagio-Khachaturyan." Youtube.com. N.p., Web. 20 Oct