Today would have been the 100th birthday of Alexander Arutiunian. He almost made it, too! Arutiunian, one of the most famous of Armenian composers (after Khachaturian), died in 2012.
Necessarily, a portion of his output was given over to empty, patriotic, Socialist Realist claptrap, of the kind expected of all artists under Stalin. This, however, ensured the receipt of a State Stalin Prize in 1949.
He also wrote a fair amount of music inspired by the folk traditions of his native land, including a cantata with spoken word, “The Tale of the Armenian People,” a woodwind quintet, “Armenian Scenes,” and a violin concerto in response to the Spitak earthquake, subtitled “Armenia-88.”
Far and away, however, his greatest international hit was his Trumpet Concerto in A-flat major of 1950. This too evokes the flavor of Armenian ashughner improvisation.
Among Arutiunian’s other honors, he was named People’s Artist of the USSR, People’s Artist of Armenia… and Honorary Citizen of the State of Kentucky!
Here’s the Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto, performed by its dedicatee, Timofei Dokschitzer:
And an “Armenian Rhapsody” for two pianos, written in collaboration with Arno Babadjanian:
Happy birthday, Alexander Arutiunian!
