BELMONT, Mass. — Violinist Nuné Melikian captivated the audience at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) on March 6 with a lively introduction to the life and music of composer Arno Babajanian (1921-1983). The event was cosponsored by the Mashtots Chair of Armenian Studies at Harvard University, the Friends of Armenian Culture and Tekeyan Cultural Association Boston Chapter.
Dr. Nuné Melikian is the author of Arno Babadjanian: An Armenian Beat in Soviet Time, which is the first English-language book on this remarkable composer aimed at a broad audience. She is also the North American representative of the Arno Babajanian International Foundation. (There are two transliterated spellings of Babajanian/Babadjanian, both commonly used in English.)
Nuné Melikian speaking about her new book (photo Aram Arkun)
Melikian is a prize-winner of numerous competitions and audience awards, has performed at prestigious venues such as the Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center. She graduated from the Gnessin Music College, studied at the Moscow State Conservatory, and holds a master’s degree from the University of Montreal and a Ph.D. from McGill University.
After a brief introduction by NAASR Director of Academic Affairs Marc Mamigonian, Melikian, accompanied by pianist Riko Higuma, a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music, performed several pieces of classical music by composers whom Babajanian liked, such as Johannes Brahms, as well as the Armenian ethnomusicologist Gomidas Vartabed, who influenced Babajanian’s work. Higuma then played Babajanian’s Impromptu, before Melikian rejoined her to perform a special arrangement by Artem Andreasyan for the violin and piano of Babajanian’s Elegy. Melikian explained that this piece, which is very dear to her heart, is based on Sayat Nova’s folk tune and written in memory of Aram Khachaturian. The two musicians concluded the musical portion of the evening with a rousing version of Sabre Dance, by Khachaturian, who served as a mentor to Babajanian.
After the audience listened to Babajanian’s music, Melikian presented to them a brief overview of the composer’s life and works, accompanied by PowerPoint slides. Born in Armenia, Babajanian received his early musical education in Yerevan, including at the conservatory, before going to Moscow during his formative years. He was a virtuoso pianist even at the age of 11.
Arno Babajanian
He received the Stalin Prize of the second degree later, which was an important jumpstart to his career, Melikian explained. While helpful, she also noted that the state system encouraged ethnic composers to work within certain guidelines, which restricted their musical approaches from being too avantgarde or religious.
Babajanian dedicated his violin sonata (1958) to Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich, and though this work was very heavily criticized by the Composers’ Union, Shostakovich called Babajanian to tell him that he really liked it. Babajanian had a long relationship throughout his life also with Aram Khachaturian and was friends with Armenian-American writer William Saroyan and British composer Benjamin Britten.
From the 1960s, Babajanian became known in the Soviet Union primarily as a pop music composer, where he faced less harsh criticism. His songs were translated into more than 10` different languages, Melikian said. She observed that this shift almost feels forced. This was both because of his lymphoblastoma which did not allow him to continue piano playing due to pain, and also because of lack of Soviet encouragement for his classical compositions.
As a consequence of this shift, Melikian said, he did not receive as much recognition as his peers during his lifetime and even afterwards in the classical field. His childhood friend Edvard Mirzoyan, who was president of the Armenian Composers’ Union, fought hard to get Babajanian buried in the Armenian pantheon. However, he was rejected on the grounds that Babajanian did not write symphonies and so could not be considered a classical Armenian composer. Another factor in this rejection, Melikian said, was that he did not write works praising socialism and the image of the worker, and so was not considered state-aligned.
Even now, his songs continue to be sung or played in Russia and Armenia but Melikian wanted to change the lacuna of materials on his classical works in the West, and her doctoral dissertation research embodied in this new book is a step towards this. She has also given many lectures about him, performed his music, and in 2019 prepared a short documentary film about him in English. The book contains a full list of Babajanian’s works and exclusive photos from the Babajanian family archives, along with anecdotes from his colleagues and family.
Melikian plans for an audiobook and both French and Armenian-language translations of her book to be released next year, which will be the 105th anniversary of Babajanian. Concerts are being planned for next year, too.
After answering some audience questions, including by two people who had interacted with Babajanian, Melikian signed copies of her book, copies of which are also available through the website nunemelik.com.
