ROBERT AMIRKHANYAN: "ARMENIAN MUSIC IS CREATED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN BELIEF"

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 30, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Meeting with the RA People’s Artist,
distinguished composer Robert Amirkhanyan was organized April 29 in
Yerevan Sayat Nova Music School. Below is the conversation of pupils
of the school Norayr Zoryan and Elen Hakobyan with the composer.

– Mr. Amirkhanyan, You have been awarded "St. Mesrop Mshtots" Order
in 1998. What does it mean to You?

– In reality, this is the greatest award at this moment.

– Were you offended from your parents when you were small and if yes
what do you think about it years after?

– I am offended from my parents only because they gave me birth early.

I would like to be a child.

– Mr. Amirkhanyan, everyone in his/her life plays pranks, do you
remember such a case and which subject did you like most in school?

– Running from classes is a very bad thing. As to me, the reason of
doing it is an uninteresting lesson and not that in another place
it is better. I cannot forget my teachers of geography and Armenian
language who did everything to make the lessons unforgettable. Running
from classes has naughtiness in it. I cannot forget that once in
conservatory we ran from lessons and together with our professor went
to a cinema. In general, the small age has not ended yet. I think that
the most gifted age is the school-year age. Five year old "artist"
is the most perfect one as no one has managed to give direction to
him/her yet and he/she is free to display his/her feelings. I think
that it is necessary to keep the consciousnessof that age in him/her.

Our admiration of that age toward the world must be preserved till
the last day of our life. That childhood is not far from me.

– Mr. Amirkhanyan, did you or do you have now a composer you like
the most?

– After being born we are growing, starting recognize the world, we
are becoming adults and every time we are learning something. With
each breath we are learning something new. I started creating from a
very early age when we did not even have a piano and that circumstance
did not allow me to study music. I have painted a piano keyboard on
our table and for ours I was sitting at it and playing. My mother,
of course, was crying – how a child is suffering without a piano. But
they did not know that I loved that table. The first composer I loved
the most was my father as he was making me sit on his knees and was
singing folksongs in my ear. It is very important that a parent sings
his/her land’s song to the child, the music of that land. The second
composer was Komitas. After taking my age, I was always admiring of
different names, which were with a clang filling the world. I cannot
omit also the name of Aram Khachaturyan and of course, Musogorski:
we cannot be restricted only in the national circles. The world lives
in a wider family and its aesthetics becomes much more beloved. Though
the world is open in front of me and there will still be many talented
people whom I am ready to listen.

– Mr. Amirkhanyan, 45 years have passed since studying at Eduard
Mirzoyan’s creative class, which is the most remarkable thing to
remember?

– The principle, the lessons which our memorable teacher was trying
to sow and through these lessons we were revealing the principles
of Komitas music. The greatest merit of Komitas is not that he has
cleaned the national music giving to it principles of academism and
self scientific approaches but Komitas managed to present the Armenian
music to the world as an independent branch in the east and not a type
of eastern music, but an independent way of music thinking which is
ready to communicate to world’s music composition systems. I compare
the Armenian music with a church as the Armenian music is created on
the principles of Christian belief and the latter supposes certain
self-restriction. There is no superfluity in the Armenian music,
Armenian music is built with small means, with several sounds which
just leave magic impact.

– Did you have incomparable performance which you remember till now?

– Recently my songs have spread more and different singers are singing
them. Every time I am getting calls that this or that singer has
distorted my song. I am thankful that someone is singing my song as
it revives in his/her soul certain feelings which is very precious
for me. In this respect I am not striving to make someone sing it
very good, it is the singer’s issue.

– Mr. Amirkhanyan it is very interesting how is a song being written –
first the melody then the words? Is there other way?

– I have written a number of melodies, and I must have learnt the
technique of writing a music. I catch myself on a thing that I do
not know how to do it. The most important thing is to preserve the
admiration toward a sound, a word.