Arno Babajanian
Առնօ Պապաճանեան
Background information
Born(1921-01-22)January 22, 1921
Yerevan, Armenia
DiedNovember 11, 1983(1983-11-11) (aged 62)
Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1952–1983

Arno Arutyunovich Babajanian (Armenian: Առնօ Պապաճանեան; Russian: Арно Арутюнович Бабаджанян; January 22, 1921 – November 11, 1983) was a Soviet and Armenian composer and pianist. He was made a People's Artist of the USSR in 1971

Biography

Babajanian was born in Yerevan on January 22, 1921. By the age 5, his musical talent was apparent, and the composer Aram Khachaturian suggested that the boy be given proper music training. Two years later, in 1928, Babajanian entered the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. In 1938, he continued his studies in Moscow with Vissarion Shebalin.

He later returned to Yerevan, where from 1950 to 1956 he taught at the conservatory. In 1952, he wrote the Piano Trio in F-sharp minor. It received immediate acclaim and was regarded as a masterpiece from the time of its premiere. Subsequently, he undertook concert tours throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. In 1971, he was named a People's Artist of the USSR.

Babajanian wrote in various musical genres, including many popular songs in collaboration with leading poets such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Robert Rozhdestvensky. Much of his music is rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore, which he generally uses in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninoff and Khachaturian. His later works were influenced by Prokofiev and Bartók. Praised by Dmitri Shostakovich as a "brilliant piano teacher", Babajanian was also a noted pianist and often performed his own works in concerts.

List of principal works

Piano works

for piano solo

for two pianos

(co-composed by Alexander Arutiunian)

Works for solo instrument and piano

Chamber works

Orchestral works

Concerto

Ballet pieces

Pieces for stage orchestra

Film scores

Songs (over 200 in total; selection)

Honors, prizes and medals

A minor planet, 9017 Babadzhanyan, was named after him.[4]

Legacy

Babajanian is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Soviet era.

References

  1. ^ Филипп Киркоров - Верни мне музыку on YouTube
  2. ^ Artemy Troitsky. Артемий Троицкий о песнях о Москве [Artemy Troitsky on the songs about Moscow]. Cosmopolitan (in Russian) (September 2010).
  3. ^ "Arno Babajanian". Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  4. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. p. 675. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arno Babajanian.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Arno Babajanian (Armenian Wikiquote).
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