“3 years ago, I was in Paris, and as everyone else, I walked down the streets and admired the French architecture. When I reached Notre Dame de Paris, I looked at that construction for a while and listened to the music played in the cathedral,” composer Alexander Iradyan starring in the movie “To Listen to the Visual” stated during a conversation with www.aravot.am today. Alexander Iradyan who is considered as the most promising musician of his generation has started to carry out the plan he devised long ago, to create the biggest orchestral score in the world, which is based on architectural features and proportions. World-famous Notre Dame de Paris is chosen as a creative basis, given the 850th anniversary of its building. In 2012, director Tigran Shahinyan suggested that Alexander Iradyan shoot a documentary movie about the creation of the orchestral score “Notre Dame Symphony.” As a result, the biggest, the most extensive score “Notre Dame Symphony” was created. The movie wouldn’t have been shot without the support of the Armenian Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations. The width of the piece is 4 meters, the height is 6 meters. Every line corresponds to the structure of the cathedral. “When I strained my ears, I realized that this music was actually playing in my head. I was listening to the architecture. One of my main goals was to break the musical stereotypes and present to the world how orchestral music can sound in architecture, where every architectural feature of the building would correspond to one instrument of a symphonic orchestra.” Special attention is paid to the central stained-glass window of the cathedral, 25 parts, which, according to the piece, equals 25 musicians who play various percussion and musical instruments, creating music of glass and merging, intertwining colors. According to director Tigran Shahinyan, the goal of the movie is to enhance the Franco-Armenian friendship and intercultural ties. “I was attracted to the young composer’s bold idea. The movie is a means to engage in certain activities with France, which will hopefully be carried out in the future.” Watching the movie and seeing the score in 2013, Eduard Topchyan, the principal conductor and the artistic director of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, expressed a wish to premiere the piece, in which the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Hover Choir would participate, in the Aram Khachaturian Large Hall of the Opera and Ballet Theater of Armenia. The premiere is scheduled for May 2013. On the same day, they intend to premiere Tigran Shahinyan’s documentary movie.
Anzhela SHAHUMYAN
