Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (born in Tiflis, Georgia,
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
) was a prominent Soviet composer. Khachaturian's works were often influenced by classical Russian music and Armenian folk music. He is most famous for the
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from his ballet
SpartacusSpartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...
, and for "
Sabre Dance"The Sabre Dance" is a movement in the final act of the ballet Gayane , written by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian's and completed in 1942. It evokes a whirling war dance in an Armenian dance, where the dancers display their skill with sabres. Its middle section incorporates an Armenian folk...
" from his ballet
GayaneGayane is a four-act ballet with music by Aram Khachaturian. Originally composed in 1942, to a libretto by Konstantin Derzhavin and choreographed by his wife Nina Aleksandrovna Anisimova, the score was revised in 1952, and in 1957, with a new plot...
and the
adagio from the same ballet, much used in films since its first use in
Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's
2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
.
Life
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian was born in Tiflis,
Imperial RussiaThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Tbilisi,
GeorgiaGeorgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
) to a poor
ArmenianArmenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
family. In his youth, he was fascinated by the music he heard around him, but at first he did not study music or learn to read it.
In 1920, when Armenia was declared a Soviet republic, Khachaturian joined a propaganda train touring Armenia, populated by
GeorgianThe Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
-Armenian artists. The following year he travelled to Moscow to join his brother, the stage director of the Second Moscow Art Theatre. Although he had almost no musical education, Khachaturian showed such great talent that he was admitted to the
Gnessin InstituteThe Gnessin State Musical College and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music is a prominent music school in Moscow, Russia...
where he studied cello under Sergey Bychkov, and later Andrey Borysyak. In 1925
Mikhail GnessinMikhail Fabianovich Gnesin was a Russian Jewish composer and teacher.-Life:Gnesin was born in Rostov-on-Don and came from a musical family. His sisters founded the Gnessin State Musical College , in Moscow in 1895. He studied at the St...
started a composition class at the Gnessin Institute which Khachaturian joined.
In 1929, he transferred to the
Moscow ConservatoryThe Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
where he studied under
Nikolai MyaskovskyNikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of the Soviet symphony".-Early years and first important works:...
(composition) and Sergei Vasilenko (orchestration), graduating in 1934. In the 1930s, he married the composer
Nina MakarovaNina Vladimirovna Makarova was the wife of composer Aram Khachaturian and a composer in her own right who had great interest in Russian and Mari folksongs. She co-composed several pieces with her husband, including the Music to M. Aliger's Play "A Tale of Truth" and Music to Yu. Chepurin's Play...
, a fellow student from Myaskovsky’s class. In 1951, he became professor at the Gnessin State Musical and Pedagogical Institute (Moscow) and the Moscow Conservatory. He also held important posts at the Composers' Union, becoming deputy chairman of the Moscow branch in 1937, then appointed vice-chairman of the Organizing Committee of Soviet Composers in 1939. In 1939 he composed his ballet
Happiness, which was later reworked into the ballet Gayane.
The composer joined the
Communist Party of the Soviet UnionThe Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in 1943. However, he temporarily fell from official favour in 1948. It was the Symphonic Poem, later titled the Third Symphony, that officially earned Khachaturian the wrath of the Party. Ironically, Khachaturian wrote the work as a tribute to communism: “I wanted to write the kind of composition in which the public would feel my unwritten program without an announcement. I wanted this work to express the Soviet people’s joy and pride in their great and mighty country.” Perhaps because Khachaturian did not include a dedication or program notes, his intentions backfired.
Andrei ZhdanovAndrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician.-Life:Zhdanov enlisted with the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1915 and was promoted through the party ranks, becoming the All-Union Communist Party manager in Leningrad after the assassination of Sergei Kirov in 1934...
, secretary of the
Communist Party’s Central CommitteeThe Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
, delivered the so-called
Zhdanov decreeThe Zhdanov Doctrine was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by the Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. It proposed that the world was divided into two camps: the imperialistic, headed by the United States; and democratic, headed by the Soviet Union...
in 1948. The decree condemned Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and other Soviet composers as “formalist” and “anti-popular.” The three named composers had by then already become established as the so-called "titans" of
Soviet musicSoviet music is the music composed and produced in the USSR. It varied in many genres and epochs. Although the majority of it was written by Russians, it was also influenced by various national minorities in the Soviet Republic. The Soviet state supported musical institutions, but also carried out...
, enjoying worldwide reputation as some of the leading composers of the 20th century. Nonetheless, all three accused composers were forced to apologize publicly.
The decree affected Khachaturian profoundly: “Those were tragic days for me... I was clouted on the head so unjustly. My repenting speech at the First Congress was insincere. I was crushed, destroyed. I seriously considered changing professions.”
Despite this mortifying episode, Khachaturian returned to official favour. He received numerous state awards both before and after the Zhdanov decree: for example, four Stalin prizes (1941, 1943, 1946 and 1950), one
Lenin prizeThe Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...
(1959), a
USSR State PrizeThe USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
(1971), and the title of
Hero of Socialist LaborHero of Socialist Labour was an honorary title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. It was the highest degree of distinction for exceptional achievements in national economy and culture...
(1973). Khachaturian went on to serve again as Secretary of the Board of the Composers' Union, starting in 1957,
and was also a deputy in the fifth Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1958–1962).
Khachaturian died in Moscow on May 1, 1978, just short of his 75th birthday. He was buried in
YerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, Armenia, along with other distinguished Armenians who made Armenian art accessible for the whole world. In 1998, he was honored by appearing on Armenian paper money (50
dramThe dram is the monetary unit of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It is subdivided into 100 luma . The word "dram" translates into English as "money" and is cognate with the Greek drachma...
).
His nephew was
Karen KhachaturianKaren Surenovich Khachaturian, was a Soviet and Russian composer of Armenian ethnicity and the nephew of composer Aram Khachaturian.Khachaturian was born in Moscow, the son of Suren Khachaturian, a theatrical director...
(1920-2011).
Music
Khachaturian's works include concertos for
violinAram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor was completed in 1940 and dedicated to the great Russian violinist David Oistrakh, who premièred the concerto in Moscow on November 16, 1940. Oistrakh advised Khachaturian on the composition of the solo part and also wrote his own cadenza that markedly...
(sometimes heard in a composer-sanctioned arrangement for flute),
celloAram Khachaturian wrote his Cello Concerto in E minor in 1946 for Sviatoslav Knushevitsky. It was the last of the three concertos he wrote for the individual members of a renowned Soviet piano trio that performed together from 1941 until 1963...
and
pianoAram Khachaturian's Piano Concerto in D-flat major, Op. 38, was composed in 1936. It was his first work to bring him recognition in the West, and it immediately entered the repertoire of many notable pianists....
as well as concerto-rhapsodies for the same instruments. These three concertos were written for the members of a renowned Soviet piano trio that performed together from 1941 until 1963:
David OistrakhDavid Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
, violin;
Sviatoslav KnushevitskySviatoslav Nikolayevich Knushevitsky was a Russian classical cellist. He was particularly noted for his partnership with the violinist David Oistrakh and the pianist Lev Oborin in a renowned piano trio from 1940 until his death...
, cello;
Lev OborinLev Nikolayevich Oborin was a Russian pianist. He was the winner of the first International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927.The family moved a lot during his early childhood. When they settled down in Moscow in 1914, he was sent to music school. He studied with Yelena Gnessin, a pupil of...
, piano. The piano concerto originally included an early part for the
flexatoneThe flexatone is a modern percussion instrument consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. -History, construction and technique:...
, and was his first work to gain him recognition in the West. Khachaturians's three
symphoniesA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
are varied works, with the third containing parts for fifteen additional trumpets and
organThe organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
. The composer's largest scaled works are the
balletsBallet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a theatrical dance. It was not until the 19th century that...
SpartacusSpartacus, or Spartak, is a ballet by Aram Khachaturian . The work follows the exploits of Spartacus, the leader of the slave uprising against the Romans known as the Third Servile War, although the ballet's storyline takes considerable liberties with the historical record. Khachaturian composed...
and
Gayane, both of which contain Khachaturian's most well-known music, with Gayane featuring in its final act what is easily his most famous music, the "
Sabre Dance"The Sabre Dance" is a movement in the final act of the ballet Gayane , written by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian's and completed in 1942. It evokes a whirling war dance in an Armenian dance, where the dancers display their skill with sabres. Its middle section incorporates an Armenian folk...
".
He also wrote several solo piano works, including the
Toccata in E-flat minorThe Toccata in E-flat minor is a piece for solo piano written in 1932 by Aram Khachaturian. It is a favourite of piano students, and has been recorded many times.Khachaturian wrote this work as the first movement of a three-movement suite for piano:* Toccata...
, and two albums of music for children (Opp. 62 and 100).
Children's Album, Book 1, first published in 1947, contains a smooth and melodic
Andantino originally composed in 1926; this piece is commonly known as
Ivan Sings, which stems from eight of ten pieces originally being collected as
Adventures of Ivan.
Children's Album, Book 2, first published in 1964, includes a
fugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
composed in 1928, and a fast-paced
programmaticProgram music or programme music is a type of art music that attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music...
piece entitled
Two Funny Aunties Argued which is sometimes translated as
Two Ladies Gossiping. He also composed some film music and incidental music for plays such as the 1941 production of
Mikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
’s
Masquerade, the "Waltz" of which has been performed and recorded frequently.
The cinematic quality of his music for
Spartacus was clearly seen when the
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia was used as the theme for a popular
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama series,
The Onedin LineThe Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham.The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin...
, during the 1970s. Since then, it has become one of the most popular of all classical pieces for UK audiences.
Joel CoenJoel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
's
The Hudsucker ProxyThe Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director....
also prominently featured music from
Spartacus and
Gayane (the "Sabre Dance" included). Gayane's
adagioIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
was used in
Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's film
2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
among other films. He was also the composer for the
state anthemA national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, whose tune is one of the five current choices to become the next state anthem of Armenia. The climax of
Spartacus was also used in
Caligula (film)Caligula is a 1979 American-produced Italian biographical film directed by Tinto Brass, with additional scenes filmed by Giancarlo Lui and Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. The film concerns the rise and fall of Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Germanicus, better known as Caligula...
and
Ice Age: The MeltdownIce Age: The Meltdown, also known as Ice Age 2: The Meltdown or simply as Ice Age 2, is the 2006 sequel to the 2002 computer-animated film Ice Age. It was produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and premiered in Belgium on March 1, 2006...
.
Legacy and influence
Although he was born in what is now Georgia and lived most of his life in Russia, Aram Khachaturian has been an iconic figure for generations of Armenian composers. His works paved the way for new styles and daring explorations, although his own style was closely controlled by the regime. Khachaturian encouraged young composers to experiment with new sounds and find their own voices. His colorful orchestration technique, admired by Shostakovich and others in the past, is still noted for its freshness and vitality by modern composers. Khachaturian's influence can be traced in nearly all trends of Armenian classical traditions, whether in symphonic or chamber music.
Composers who were particularly influenced by Aram Khachaturian include:
- Alexander Arutiunian
Alexander Grigorevich Arutiunian , also known as Arutunian, Arutyunyan, Arutjunjan or Harutiunian Alexander Grigorevich Arutiunian (Arm. Ալեքսանդր Գրիգորի Հարությունյան), also known as Arutunian, Arutyunyan, Arutjunjan or Harutiunian Alexander Grigorevich Arutiunian (Arm. Ալեքսանդր Գրիգորի...
- Arno Babajanian
Arno Harutyuni Babajanian was a Soviet Armenian composer and pianist, People's Artist of the Armenian SSR and Soviet Union . He was a laureate of two Stalin State Prizes of the USSR and two Armenian SSR State Prizes ....
- Tigran Mansurian
Tigran Mansurian is an Armenian composer of classical music and film scores. He was born in Beirut and educated in Yerevan, Armenia, where his family had moved in 1947...
- Edgar Hovhannisyan
Edgar Hovhannisyan, Hovhannisian or Oganesian was an Armenian composer, Professor of Composition at the Yerevan State Conservatory, People's Artist of the USSR ....
- Edward Manukyan
Edward Manukyan is an Armenian-born composer residing in Southern California, United States...
- Loris Tjeknavorian
Loris Tjeknavorian is a contemporary Iranian-Armenian composer and conductor...
As a conductor, Khachaturian made several commercial recordings, including a 1953 recording of his second symphony with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, a 1963 recording of the symphony with the
Vienna Philharmonic OrchestraThe Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
, and
EMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
recordings of suites from
Gayane and
Masquerade and his violin concerto in 1954 (with
David OistrakhDavid Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
as soloist) with the
Philharmonia OrchestraThe Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
. He later made stereo recordings of the violin concerto (again with Oistrakh), the second symphony in 1977 on the Russian Disc label, and music from
Gayane. Some of his recordings have been reissued on CD.
Honours and awards
- Hero of Socialist Labour (1973)
- Three Orders of Lenin (1939, 1963, 1973)
- Order of the October Revolution
The Order of the October Revolution was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was awarded to individuals or groups for services furthering communism or the state, or in enhancing the defenses of the Soviet Union, military and civil...
(1971)
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...
, twice (1945, 1966)
- Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 Medal
The Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 Medal was a civilian award awarded in the USSR. It was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 6 June 1945. Its image was designed by the artists IK Andrianov and EM Romanov. There were approximately...
- 800th Anniversary of Moscow Medal
The 800th Anniversary of Moscow Medal was a medal in Russia. It was established by a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 20 September 1947 in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the first Russian reference to Moscow, dating to 1147 when Yuri Dolgorukiy called upon the prince of the...
- Medal for the Defence of the Caucasus
- Medal for the Defence of Moscow
The Medal for the Defence of Moscow was established on May 1, 1944. It was designed to commemorate the deeds of all the soldiers and civilians who had actively fought in the defence of Moscow from the Germans, in the Battle of Moscow....
- "For Valiant Labor. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin "
- People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to citizens of the Soviet Union.- Nomenclature and significance :...
(1954)
- People's Artist of RSFSR (1947)
- People's Artist of Armenian SSR (1955)
- People's Artist of Georgia (1963)
- People's Artist of Azerbaijan SSR (1973)
- Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1944)
- Honored Artist of Armenian SSR (1938)
- Honored Worker of Arts of the Uzbek SSR (1967)
- Lenin Prize
The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...
(1959) - for the ballet "Spartacus"
- USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
(1971) - music for Triad Concerto-Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra, Cello, Piano
- Stalin Prizes:
- second class (1941) - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
- first class (1943) - for the ballet "Gayane"
- first class (1946) - for the Second Symphony
- first class (1950) - for the music to two-part film "The Battle of Stalingrad"
- Order of "Science and Art", 1st degree (1961, United Arab Republic) - for his outstanding musical career
- Commemorative medal of the 25th anniversary of accession to the throne Shahin-Shah of Iran (1965)
- Honored Artist of the Polish People's Republic - for services to Polish culture
- Doctor of Fine Arts (1965)
- State Prize of the Armenian SSR (1965)
Notable students
- Aziz El-Shawan
Aziz El-Shawan was an Egyptian composer of classical music...
- Andrei Eshpai
Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai is an ethnic Mari composer.Eshpai was born at Kozmodemyansk, Mari El. A Red Army World War II veteran, he studied piano at Moscow Conservatory from 1948 to 1953 under Vladimir Sofronitsky, and composition under Nikolai Rakov, Nikolai Myaskovsky and Evgeny Golubev...
- Vyacheslav Grokhovsky
- Tolib Shakhidi
Tolib-khon Shakhidi or Tolib Shahidi is a Tajik, Russian, and Soviet composer who was born in the city of Dushanbe, Tajik SSR. He is a son of the founder of Professional Tajik Academic Music - Ziyodullo Shakhidi....
- Enrique Ubieta
- Anatol Vieru
Anatol Vieru was a music theoretician, influential pedagogue, and a leading Romanian-Jewish composer of the 20th century. A pupil of Aram Khachaturian, he composed seven symphonies, eight string quartets, numerous concertos, and much chamber music. He also wrote three operas: Iona , Praznicul...
Works
Khachaturian's works span a broad range of musical types, including ballets, symphonies, concertos, and numerous film scores.
External links