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What are you keeping silent about, Lamb of God - AGNUS DEI
20-04-2013 07:57:21 | Armenia | Culture
Since the Armenian Genocide, we Armenians have come a long way in
reinstating the historical truth: historiography, diplomacy, lobbying.
Being well aware of the power of culture, we have also been talking in
the language of culture about the state crime committed against us. Of
course, there have been oversights in this as well; we have not always
taken into consideration the important fact of being accessible and
understandable to the world. While on the contrary, a long-term
far-reaching cultural policy would have led us, albeit slowly, to
achieve fundamentally increasing diplomatic accomplishments, because,
in general, documenting is more contested than fine arts.
Today, on the threshold of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, we have the problem of formulating worldwide public opinion.
This applies even to the countries whose governments have recognized
the Armenian Genocide. From Uruguayans to the French and Germans, they
all still need to hear us, and, importantly, in a language that is
accessible to all. Isn't it an indication that God is in favor of this
that we were blessed, at the right moment, with a work of art worth
many diplomatic initiatives?
I am referring to Tigran Mansurian's Requiem dedicated to the victims
of the Armenian Genocide. This forty-five minute large scale musical
composition took 10 years of the Maestro's life; if we count the
entire initial phase of research work, the process of thoroughly
studying the huge number of Requiems already written in the world, as
well as the attempted, but put-aside versions by himself that paved
the way for the work that was premiered in November 2011, in Germany.
The idea of writing a Requiem had long been lingering in Mansurian's
mind when he was commissioned to write one by the Chamber Orchestra of
Munich and the`RIAS' Chamber Choir of Berlin.
I have visited Mansurian many times during the years he was working on
the Requiem and I was witness to his creative concerns and research.
It is natural, as creating such a composition was not a simple or easy
task. He had to enter the world of the numerous Requiems written on
the basis of the Canonic text - in Latin- of the Catholic Church as
well as to thoroughly study the Requiems that were not based on the
Canonic text. Everybody knows the musical monuments of Mozart, Verdi
and Brahms in this domain. The task was to enter that world and create
the first Armenian Requiem based on the Latin Canonic text, which
should simultaneously include both the centuries-old experience of
Armenian sacred music and the psychology of the Christian Armenian
faithful. If we are to agree that any ceremony contains some theatre
elements, we should acknowledge that a Requiem also contains them.
These elements are the necessary condition to the expressions of fear
and entreat, of lamentation and awe found in a Requiem, the equivalent
musical embodiment of which should have found its certification in the
deeper folds of our centuries-old traditions and rituals.
It suffices to say that the citizen of a country with strong
statehood, with the security derived from it, when praying to God, is
psychologically different from a person who lacks the feeling of
safety conditioned by the strength of his country. In other words,
Mansurian had to fulfill the commission of the Germans and at the same
time realize his own dream of creating a genuine Armenian Requiem. The
fact that it was to be dedicated to the victims of the Armenian
Genocide was very important. Members of Mansurian's family were among
the million of victims killed; and the expressions of his own grief
would, inadvertently, be inscribed on the musical canvas that exhibits
the pan-national sorrow. Thus, the problem of `what to do' was
actually solved for Mansurian. The only problem that remained was to
determine who were the people singing this Requiem. And he did find
`heroes' who were visible and perceptible in their specificity. As
Maestro mentions, they are black-browed characters with round eyes
portrayed in Armenian miniatures who live in their peaceful naivety
and sometimes in deeply mysterious silence. As if the ancestor of
those characters was not deceived by the snake. The sin cannot coexist
with this extent of humility. Who else but these characters could be
trusted with the singing where Latin comes to intertwine with the
Armenian melody to say Agnus Dei - God's Lamb? And this is where that
which is neither actually Catholic nor actually Armenian, and not even
a synthesis of the two, but an entirely new value originated; its
interpretation of course, is the work of musicologists. But one thing
is unequivocal: Mansurian's Requiem's text is in Latin, it was
commissioned by the Germans (according to the contract, only the
Chamber Orchestra of Munich and the `RIAS' Chamber Choir of Berlin
have the right to perform it for one and a half years), nevertheless
this `Requiem' became part of both the world music heritage and the
Armenian music treasury. Now a few words about how Mansurian's Requiem
was premiered in Berlin. After the final rehearsal young German
students had an hour and a half long talk with Mansurian about the
Maestro's Requiem, about it being dedicated to the memory of the
victims of the Genocide that took place 97 years ago, and about the
past and future of Armenia. On the concert day, before the performance
of the Requiem, music students from Berlin gave a half an hour
presentation on the history and miniature art of Armenia to prepare
the audience to listen to the musical work. And only after that the
Requiem was performed which was followed by endless applause. On the
next day, Mansurian's Requiem and, following it, his interview were
broadcasted on Deutschlandradio Kultur. And this is precisely what I
was talking about in the beginning-- precisely about this way of being
accessible and understandable to the world; something we are much in
need of.
Three years are left to the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide. If
we make the effort, it will be possible for our Requiem to resound in
various churches of the world. In the same way that in Germany
Mansurian's and Mozart's Requiems were rendered during the same
concert, thus performing an unknown work together with the work of a
genius, Mansurian's work could be performed in Italy together with the
Requiem of Verdi and in France together with the Requiem of Fauré. And
if we can fundamentally resolve this -not only cultural- problem, the
world will understand even without words what the characters of our
Christian miniatures are keeping silent about, or who is, in
Mansurian's Requiem, evocated in known Latin words but in a seemingly
entirely different language.
As I said, while working on the Requiem, Mansurian and I had many
talks about the creation of this unprecedented - in the Armenian
culture- work of music. Together we met with our Catholicos to talk
about intertwining the spiritual and the cultural.
I also met Tigran after he returned from Germany. Once more I was
astonished by his boundless humility. He was talking about his work as
if he had no participation in its creation. For a moment I took him
for one of the characters in our miniature art. During our meeting he
surprised me by voicing his intent to write a Messa (a musical program
of Divine Liturgy of the Holy Mass to be mainly performed in concert
halls, not to be part of the actual Church ritual) that would, this
time, be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. It is a
new responsibility for Mansuryan: to present a new Armenian Messa,
after Komitas andYekmalyan, not only to us but also to the world. The
73-year-old Maestro was talking with the enthusiasm of a child about
our sacred culture, the Armenian melody that deserves to be presented
to the world, and his own I was listening to him and thinking that it
was high time for our country to consider seriously and practically
its greatest treasure - culture, to plan its culture endeavors in all
of this. strategy for the benefit of its citizens, its intellectuals
and its cause.
Razmik Markosyan
The Noyan Tapan Highlights #958
News from Armenia and Diaspora - Noyan Tapan
20-04-2013 07:57:21 | Armenia | Culture
Since the Armenian Genocide, we Armenians have come a long way in
reinstating the historical truth: historiography, diplomacy, lobbying.
Being well aware of the power of culture, we have also been talking in
the language of culture about the state crime committed against us. Of
course, there have been oversights in this as well; we have not always
taken into consideration the important fact of being accessible and
understandable to the world. While on the contrary, a long-term
far-reaching cultural policy would have led us, albeit slowly, to
achieve fundamentally increasing diplomatic accomplishments, because,
in general, documenting is more contested than fine arts.
Today, on the threshold of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, we have the problem of formulating worldwide public opinion.
This applies even to the countries whose governments have recognized
the Armenian Genocide. From Uruguayans to the French and Germans, they
all still need to hear us, and, importantly, in a language that is
accessible to all. Isn't it an indication that God is in favor of this
that we were blessed, at the right moment, with a work of art worth
many diplomatic initiatives?
I am referring to Tigran Mansurian's Requiem dedicated to the victims
of the Armenian Genocide. This forty-five minute large scale musical
composition took 10 years of the Maestro's life; if we count the
entire initial phase of research work, the process of thoroughly
studying the huge number of Requiems already written in the world, as
well as the attempted, but put-aside versions by himself that paved
the way for the work that was premiered in November 2011, in Germany.
The idea of writing a Requiem had long been lingering in Mansurian's
mind when he was commissioned to write one by the Chamber Orchestra of
Munich and the`RIAS' Chamber Choir of Berlin.
I have visited Mansurian many times during the years he was working on
the Requiem and I was witness to his creative concerns and research.
It is natural, as creating such a composition was not a simple or easy
task. He had to enter the world of the numerous Requiems written on
the basis of the Canonic text - in Latin- of the Catholic Church as
well as to thoroughly study the Requiems that were not based on the
Canonic text. Everybody knows the musical monuments of Mozart, Verdi
and Brahms in this domain. The task was to enter that world and create
the first Armenian Requiem based on the Latin Canonic text, which
should simultaneously include both the centuries-old experience of
Armenian sacred music and the psychology of the Christian Armenian
faithful. If we are to agree that any ceremony contains some theatre
elements, we should acknowledge that a Requiem also contains them.
These elements are the necessary condition to the expressions of fear
and entreat, of lamentation and awe found in a Requiem, the equivalent
musical embodiment of which should have found its certification in the
deeper folds of our centuries-old traditions and rituals.
It suffices to say that the citizen of a country with strong
statehood, with the security derived from it, when praying to God, is
psychologically different from a person who lacks the feeling of
safety conditioned by the strength of his country. In other words,
Mansurian had to fulfill the commission of the Germans and at the same
time realize his own dream of creating a genuine Armenian Requiem. The
fact that it was to be dedicated to the victims of the Armenian
Genocide was very important. Members of Mansurian's family were among
the million of victims killed; and the expressions of his own grief
would, inadvertently, be inscribed on the musical canvas that exhibits
the pan-national sorrow. Thus, the problem of `what to do' was
actually solved for Mansurian. The only problem that remained was to
determine who were the people singing this Requiem. And he did find
`heroes' who were visible and perceptible in their specificity. As
Maestro mentions, they are black-browed characters with round eyes
portrayed in Armenian miniatures who live in their peaceful naivety
and sometimes in deeply mysterious silence. As if the ancestor of
those characters was not deceived by the snake. The sin cannot coexist
with this extent of humility. Who else but these characters could be
trusted with the singing where Latin comes to intertwine with the
Armenian melody to say Agnus Dei - God's Lamb? And this is where that
which is neither actually Catholic nor actually Armenian, and not even
a synthesis of the two, but an entirely new value originated; its
interpretation of course, is the work of musicologists. But one thing
is unequivocal: Mansurian's Requiem's text is in Latin, it was
commissioned by the Germans (according to the contract, only the
Chamber Orchestra of Munich and the `RIAS' Chamber Choir of Berlin
have the right to perform it for one and a half years), nevertheless
this `Requiem' became part of both the world music heritage and the
Armenian music treasury. Now a few words about how Mansurian's Requiem
was premiered in Berlin. After the final rehearsal young German
students had an hour and a half long talk with Mansurian about the
Maestro's Requiem, about it being dedicated to the memory of the
victims of the Genocide that took place 97 years ago, and about the
past and future of Armenia. On the concert day, before the performance
of the Requiem, music students from Berlin gave a half an hour
presentation on the history and miniature art of Armenia to prepare
the audience to listen to the musical work. And only after that the
Requiem was performed which was followed by endless applause. On the
next day, Mansurian's Requiem and, following it, his interview were
broadcasted on Deutschlandradio Kultur. And this is precisely what I
was talking about in the beginning-- precisely about this way of being
accessible and understandable to the world; something we are much in
need of.
Three years are left to the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide. If
we make the effort, it will be possible for our Requiem to resound in
various churches of the world. In the same way that in Germany
Mansurian's and Mozart's Requiems were rendered during the same
concert, thus performing an unknown work together with the work of a
genius, Mansurian's work could be performed in Italy together with the
Requiem of Verdi and in France together with the Requiem of Fauré. And
if we can fundamentally resolve this -not only cultural- problem, the
world will understand even without words what the characters of our
Christian miniatures are keeping silent about, or who is, in
Mansurian's Requiem, evocated in known Latin words but in a seemingly
entirely different language.
As I said, while working on the Requiem, Mansurian and I had many
talks about the creation of this unprecedented - in the Armenian
culture- work of music. Together we met with our Catholicos to talk
about intertwining the spiritual and the cultural.
I also met Tigran after he returned from Germany. Once more I was
astonished by his boundless humility. He was talking about his work as
if he had no participation in its creation. For a moment I took him
for one of the characters in our miniature art. During our meeting he
surprised me by voicing his intent to write a Messa (a musical program
of Divine Liturgy of the Holy Mass to be mainly performed in concert
halls, not to be part of the actual Church ritual) that would, this
time, be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. It is a
new responsibility for Mansuryan: to present a new Armenian Messa,
after Komitas andYekmalyan, not only to us but also to the world. The
73-year-old Maestro was talking with the enthusiasm of a child about
our sacred culture, the Armenian melody that deserves to be presented
to the world, and his own I was listening to him and thinking that it
was high time for our country to consider seriously and practically
its greatest treasure - culture, to plan its culture endeavors in all
of this. strategy for the benefit of its citizens, its intellectuals
and its cause.
Razmik Markosyan
The Noyan Tapan Highlights #958
News from Armenia and Diaspora - Noyan Tapan