MUSICIAN MANUK HAROUTIUNIAN MAKES ANCIENT NATIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CALLED "JUTH"

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 29 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Musician Manuk Haroutiunian made
musical instrument called "juth" from maple and pear-tree wood. Juth
is one of ancient Armenian national instruments. As M.Haroutiunian
said in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent, various types of
juth were discovered as early as during excavations of Dvin. He gave
assurance that violin and cello origin from Armenia. M.Haroutiunian
is also convinced that in the future juth will become one of the most
important instruments of our folk orchestras.

M.Haroutiunian has been engaged in collecting national instruments
since 1984. He has rather a big collection that includes unique samples
of Armenian national instruments, including Baghdasar Dpir’s saz
(Eastern, as well as Armenian national stringed musical instrument),
pipes brought from Van, Kars, Mush, Levon Madoyan’s duduk, Makar
Yekmalian’s duduk made in 1895, zournas (Armenian national wood-wind
musical instrument, type of flute), zarbs, tars, mandolines, etc. In
his words, his collection was mainly replenished in the 1990-s when
people had to sell instruments having historic value in consequence
of hard socio-economic conditions. In those years the musician
managed to purchase many instruments with great difficulty for them
not to be taken away from Armenia. "I was anxious about preventing
these instruments from appearing in the hands of our too well-bred
neighbors. I am convinced that if our neighbors bought them after
some period of time they would announce that these were not Armenian,
but Azerbaijani instruments," M.Haroutiunian emphasized.