Tsaghkats Baleni

Flute & Guitar Duo, Nuclear Okra (Larry Hammett & Miranda Arana) play Tsaghkats Baleni (Cherry Blossom). This composition is by Armenian 20th century composer Khachatur Avetisyan, who based his music on themes from Armenia's beloved priest composer and folklorist, Komitas. We learned this version from Hakob Jaghatspanyan and Emmanuel Hovhannisyan when we traveled to Armenia in the summer of 2019. We paired the music with film excerpts from “Winter Melody,” an art film by Ashot Mkrtchyan. The film captures a moment in history: In the early 1990’s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia suffered several years of hardship with no electricity, services, organized government, employment and more. During this time the people of Armenia's capital city, Yerevan, rallied together to survive, as you will see in the film excerpts included in our video.