Arno Harutyunovich Babajanian ( hy, Առնո Բաբաջանյան; russian: Арно Арутюнович Бабаджанян; January 22, 1921 – November 11, 1983) was a Soviet and Armenian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and pianist. He was made a

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

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

. 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 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

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

* Prelude (1938) * Vagharshapat dance (1943) * Impromptu (1944) * Polyphonic sonata (1946, revised 1956) * Capriccio (1951) * Six pictures (1963–64) * Poem (1965) * Meditation (1969) * Melody and Humoresque (1970) * Elegy (1978)

for two pianos

''(co-composed by Alexander Arutiunian)'' * Dance (early 1940s) * Armenian Rhapsody (1950) * Festive (1960, includes percussive instruments)

Works for solo instrument and piano

* Violin sonata (1958) * Air and Dance for Cello (1961)

Chamber works

* String quartet No. 1 (1938) * String quartet No. 2 (1947?) * Piano trio (1952) * String quartet No. 3 (1976)

Orchestral works

* Poem-rhapsody (1954, revised 1980) * March of the

Soviet Police ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, , mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə) was the name of the police forces in the Soviet Union (until 1991) and in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), as well as in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). T ...

(1977)

Concerto

* Piano concerto (1944) * Violin concerto (1948) * "Heroic ballade" for piano and orchestra (1950) * Cello concerto (1962)

Ballet pieces

* "Parvana" (Парвана) (1954–56; incomplete, probably lost) * "Pas-de-deux" (Па-де-де) * "Stellar symphony" (Звездная симфония) (early 1960s) * "Umbrellas" (Зонтики) * "Sensation" (Сенсация)

Pieces for stage orchestra

* Armenian Lipsi * Rhythmic dance * In

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...

* Come to Yerevan * Festive Yerevan * Nocturne (Concert piece for piano and orchestra) (1980) * Dreams (Concert piece for piano and orchestra) (1982)

Film scores

* Looking for the addressee (В поисках адресата) (1955) * Path of thunder (Тропою грома) (1956) * Personally known (Лично известен) (1957) * ''

The Song of First Love ''The Song of First Love'' ( hy, Առաջին Սիրո Երգը; russian: Песня первой любви) is a 1958 Soviet romantic musical film co-directed by Yuri Yerznkyan and Laert Vagharshyan. The film is about a talented singer, spoiled b ...

'' (Песня первой любви) (1958) * '' A Groom from the Other World'' (Жених с того света) (1958) * Bride from the North (Невеста с севера) (1975) * My heart is in the Highlands (В горах мое сердце) (1975) * Baghdasar's divorce (Багдасар разводится с женой) (1976) * Chef contest (Приехали на конкурс повара) (1977) * The flight starts from the Earth (Полет начинается с земли) (1980) * The mechanics of happiness (Механика счастья) (1982)

Songs (over 200 in total; selection)

* "Nocturne" ("Ноктюрн") * "Bring me back the music" (""Верни мне музыку") * "Beauty queen" ("Королева красоты") * "Wedding" ("Свадьба") * "Best city in the world" ("Лучший город Земли"), originally performed by

Jean Tatlian Jean Arutyunovich Tatlian (russian: Жан Арутюнович Татлян; born 1 August 1943, Thessaloniki, Greece) is a Soviet Union, Soviet singer of Armenian ancestry. In the late 1960s he enjoyed great popularity in the USSR. He emigrated ...

and made a classic by Muslim Magomayev * "Grateful to you" ("Благодарю тебя") * "Ferris wheel" ("Чертово колесо") * "Heart on snow" ("Сердце на снегу") * "The blue taiga" ("Голубая тайга") * "Dum spiro, spero" (Пока я помню, я живу)

Honors, prizes and medals

* 1935 - First two prizes for two songs dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Soviet Armenia * 1937 - First prize for the best performance of

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...

's Piano Variations at Yerevan Conservatoire * 1939 - First prize for the best performance of works by Soviet composers * 1945 - Medal "for defence of the Caucasus" * 1945 - Medal "for valiant labour" * 1947 - Second prize for three piano pieces (or the Piano Concerto) at the

1st World Festival of Youth and Students The 1st World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 2 July to 20 August 1947 in Prague, capital city of the then Czechoslovak Republic. The World Federation of Democratic Youth had decided to celebrate its first festival there in re ...

in Prague * 1951 - Stalin Prize, third degree, for the "Heroic Ballade" for piano and orchestra * 1953 - Second prize for the song "Fly Aloft the Friendship Banner" at the 2nd World Festival of Youth and Students in Bucharest * 1956 - Order of the Red Banner of Labour * 1956 -

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

* 1962 - People's Artist of the Armenian SSR * 1967 -

Armenian SSR State prize Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across t ...

for "6 pictures" for piano solo * 1971 -

* 1973 - Best composer's award at the 2nd Tokyo Music Festival for the song "Ferris wheel" * 1973 - Honorable citizen of two cities in Texas * 1981 - Order of Lenin * 1983 (posthumously) -

for the OST for the film "Mechanics of happiness" A minor planet,

9017 Babadzhanyan 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, was named after him.

Legacy

Babajanian is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Soviet era. File:Arno Babajanian 2021 stamp of Armenia.jpg, Babajanian on an Armenian stamp File:Առնո Բաբաջանյանի անվ. համերգասրահ 3.jpg, Arno Babajanian Concert Hall, Abovyan Street, Yerevan File:Arno Babajanian, Yerevan, June 2016.jpg, Babajanian's statue in Yerevan Arno Babjanyan's plaque, Yerevan.JPG, Arno Babajanian's plaque on Mashtots Avenue, Yerevan

References

External links

*
Arno Babajanian Piano Trio in f# minor sound-bites and short bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babajanian, Arno 1921 births 1983 deaths 20th-century classical composers Armenian classical pianists Ethnic Armenian composers Soviet classical pianists 20th-century classical pianists Soviet composers Soviet male composers Musicians from Yerevan People's Artists of Armenia People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Stalin Prize winners Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan alumni Armenian film score composers 20th-century male musicians