June 6 is the birthday of the famous composer Aram Khachatryan. Every year, on that day, the Khachaturian International Competition begins. Chairman of the board of trustees of the competition, composer, and former RA ambassador to Russia and Israel, Armen Smbatyan, who is one of the founders of the Khachaturian competition, presented exclusive and never-before-published details about the foundation of the competition in a conversation with Aravot.am.
“When we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Aram Khachatryan’s birth, we decided that it would be good to organize an international award ceremony to promote Aram Khachatryan’s music on a global level. Living in Armenia, it often seems to us that the world knows us very well—they know that we were the first nation to accept Christianity, that we had a theater in ancient timeս; it seems to us that we are the first in everything. However, we should be more modest and focus on how we can live and become more recognizable in the world. Armenians can be best known globally through culture and art.”
“Aram Khachaturian’s music wasn’t widely recognized globally. Only a few of his works, such as “Sabre Dance” and the ballet “Spartacus,” were performed and known. However, his instrumental compositions, like the Violin Concerto and the Piano Concerto, which are significant pieces, remained relatively obscure. During the Soviet era, Khachaturian, along with composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev, formed a triumvirate at the forefront of modern Soviet art. It’s noteworthy that all three composers resided in Moscow,” explained Armen Smbatyan.
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Then he referred to the history of the creation of the competition. “When my colleagues and I decided to establish an international competition named after Khachaturian in Yerevan, I was in Moscow at the time. I happened to learn that the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation was also organizing a contest named after Aram Khachaturian. At that time, the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation was my good friend Mikhail Shvidkoy. I informed him about our plans for such a contest. Shvidkoi said, ‘But we have already resolved the issue of financing.'”
“I said, ‘If you implement a Khachaturian competition, ours will weaken, as their funding was 50 times bigger. He said, ‘But Aram Khachaturian never lived in Armenia; he was born in Georgia, spent his whole life in Russia, and became Aram Khachaturian there.’ I replied, ‘You have a Tchaikovsky competition, you have Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Glinka, Scriabin, Mussorgsky—you can establish a competition in the name of anyone, but we have Khachaturian.'”
“Mikhail Shvidkoy said, ‘But you have Komitas.’ I replied, ‘Yes, it’s true, we have Komitas, but Komitas doesn’t have works that are performed in the world. Our goal is not just to promote his name or say he was a great artist because he was Armenian. We aim to showcase our cultural richness with works like Khachaturian’s violin concerto, piano concerto, or “Spartacus” ballet, and why not “Sabre dance”… I told him I would ask him to reconsider organizing a competition named after Khachaturian.'”
They valued Khachatryan very much and they said, ‘We are running a competition, you do the same, and we will help you.’ And I replied: ‘That way, we will become your branch, but we don’t want to become a branch”. In the end, Mikhail Shvydkoy said that it must be a collegial decision. He said, ‘You are very respected here. Come and take part in the collegial session and announce this.’ I attended the collegium session, which consisted of 35 people, including various leaders and artists. I gave a speech and explained everything. I said, ‘You can reject me, and you will be right, because Aram Khachaturian is one of the heroes of the Soviet Union in the field of music. But I am asking you, Armenia has Aram Khachaturian, and through Khachatryan we can present ourselves to the world՞.
I said, ‘Do you see the East in Khachatryan’s music?’ Everyone said yes… I continued, ‘It can’t be that a person who did not live in Armenia could write such music. There is so much Armenian spirit in Khachatryan’s music. I even perceive Armenian intonations in the “Spartacus” ballet.’ I know that Khachatryan used Armenian liturgical chants
and paid a lot of attention to spiritual music. I spoke for a long time… I said, ‘With great respect for you, please, you will be proud later when you see how we organize the competition named after Aram Khachatryan in Armenia. Just reconsider your decision”
Armen Smbatyan mentions that only one person was against it, the director of one of the symphony orchestras. “I emphasized that as an ambassador and a musician, this is very important for us. They accepted. Of course, Shvidkoy also played a big role in it. He said, ‘Armen is right, I have nothing to say, but let the collegium decide,’ which already implied his agreement. That’s how they adopted the decision, which was followed by applause.””
Gohar HAKOBYAN
