ROBERT AMIRKHANIAN’S “MY HOMELAND” TO BE PRESENTED AT COMPETITION FOR ARMENIAN ANTHEM

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 30 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The State Chamber
Chorus of Armenia presented on May 30 the work “My Homeland”
of Chairman of the Union of Composers of Armenia, composer
Robert Amirkhanian at Yerevan State University. “My Homeland” will
participate in the competition to choose a new anthem of the Republic
of Armenia. “This piece of music is the result of many years’ work. The
1.5-min anthem is undergoing continuous improvement. Before applying
to a well-known poet, I made an attempt to write a text myself. I am
sure that after this song, if someone does not raise his hand to his
heart, he at least will take it out of his pocket,” R. Amirkhanian
noted. Nevertherless, according to the composer, he has no ambitions
in terms of selecting his song.

According to him, Tigran Mansurian, Artur Shahnazarian and other
composers also have songs for the Armenian anthem. “All works should
be presented for competition so that the people will be able to make
a choice,” he said. Robert Amirkhanian considered the “return” of the
anthem written by Aram Khachatrian as unacceptable. In his opinion,
it is the symbol of the second republic of Armenia and cannot reflect
today’s life. “We took the anthem of our first republic 15 years
ago and made a wrong choice. If we take Aram Khachatrian’s anthem,
we will make a mistake again. The third republic should have its
symbol,” he underlined.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress