Harouth Bezdjian - Gantche Groung ("Call, Crane") / Հարութ Բեզջյան - Կանչէ Կռունկ [1985]

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Harouth Bezdjian - Tsolker / Reflets ("Reflections") [1985]
Հարութ Բեզջյան - Ցոլքեր

Privately pressed and released in Paris, France
MPO; HB-0285

"The contribution made by KOMITAS [Soghomon Soghomonian - 1869-1935] to Armenian music is enormous and of inestimable value. Today, numerous performers, composers, musicologists and ethnologists continue to draw from his monumental work. Along with Magar Yegmalian and Gara Mourza, Komitas was one of the first to show a real interest in rural folklore through Armenian songs. During his long voyages through the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, region by region, village after village, he transcribed and arranged hundreds of songs and melodies. These represent generations of oral tradition, a cultural heritage consisting of social and linguistic customs that were otherwise destined to disappear. During his active period (1893-1916) he devoted himself to presenting the specifically Armenian character of this music, through his conferences and public concerts in capitals such as Tiflis [Tbilisi], Constantinople [Istanbul], Vienna, Berlin and Paris. Having miraculously survived the events of April 24th, 1915, he developed sever psychological problems and was hospitalized in Paris until his death.

A return to one's cultural sources throughout the songs selected in this record, is not simple nostalgia for what has been and is now disappearing. Instead, it is a way of recognizing and taking a stance on a modern problem and its future development.

Today, the new generations of the Armenian diaspora face a serious problem of identification. As they are gradually assimilated into the social and economic structures of their adopted countries, the traditions that provided their parents and grandparents with their own cultural identity are becoming inert and fading further in the past.

The "REFLECTIONS" of a tradition can be help uncover traces of a cultural identity once thought to be nearly lost, can strengthen that identity and its autonomy and help it open to others. May these "REFLECTIONS" then, help inspire a freedom and independence of culture and tradition everywhere in the creation of the truly pluralistic world we so much desire.

Karoun a, tzoun a arel... It is spring, it has snowed...
Moranal mi... Do not forget..."

-Harouth Bezdjian

Face A:
1. Tchinar Es ("You're A Plane Tree") / Չինար Ես
2. Hov Arek ("Weather, Be Cool") / Հով Արեք
3. Yes Saren Goukayi ("I Come To The Mountains")/ Ես Սարեն Կուգայի
4. Alakyaz ("Alagoz Mountain") / Ալագյազ
5. Gantche Groung ("Call, Crane") / Կանչէ Կռունկ

Face B:
6. Akh Maral Djan... Ervoum Em ("Oh Beautiful Dear, I'm Burning") / Ախ Մարալ Ջան… էրվում Եմ
7. Kele Kele ("Come, Come") / Քելե Քելե
8. Goujn Ara ("Bring The Pitcher") / Կուժն Առա
9. Yerguinken Ambel E ("The Sky Is Cloudy") / Երկինքն Ամպել Է
10. Karoun A ("It's Spring") / Գարուն Ա

Adaptation/Arrangements: Harouth Bezdjian
Voice, Acoustic Guitar: Harouth Bezdjian
Synthesizer: Hervé Le Duc
Bass Guitar: Philippe Paris
Sound Engineer: Gérard Chiron
Photography/Design: George Meguerditchian
English Translations: John Strand
Artistic Direction: Gérard Chiron

All songs transcribed by Komitas

Translated From French:

"I thank everyone who helped and encouraged me to finish this album, particularly Messieurs Nourhan Fringhian, Garo Poladian, Vahé Berberian, Gérard Chiron, Nazareth Hékimian, Hervé Le Duc, Georges Meguerditchian, Hagop Papazian, Philippe Paris, John Strand, the Gamk Journal, as well as all my fellow expatriates and diasporans around the world.

This album has seen the light of day thanks to the exceptional support from Messieurs Nourhan Fringhian and Garo Poladian.

I dedicate this album to my parents, [my wife] Myriam and my son Nareg."

Harouth Bezdjian

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