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→ The "Sayat Nova Armenian Traditional Instrumental Ensemble" ←



"Sayat Nova Armenian Traditional Instrumental Ensemble".
Extract from the video "The Armenians" filmed
at the "Yar" restaurant in Paris on June 7, 1969.
Posted on YouTube by Traditions-Rencontre.
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@ Link towards the "Sayat Nova Armenian Traditional Instrumental Ensemble" page @
Posters, Photos and List of Musicians
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→ Presentation of the Ensemble ←
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SAYAT NOVA ARMENIAN TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE

THE SAYAT NOVA ARMENIAN TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE,
named after the great Armenian minstrel of the 18th century
Harutiun SAYATIAN, known as "SAYAT NOVA", was founded in
Paris in 1964 on the initiative of the music composer
Avedis K. MESSOUMENTZ by three young friends, Jean-Pierre
NERGARARIAN on the Kamancha and musical direction,
Gerard SOURENIAN on the Tar, and Ardaches GUEDIKIAN on the Oud.
For many years, Mr. MESSOUMENTZ continued to contribute
as artistic director to the development of the Ensemble.

Alone in Western Europe during the first years of its creation,
the Ensemble exclusively used authentic and original traditional
Armenian instruments, some of which are very old, and on which it
interpreted traditional music and dances, and the songs of
Armenian minstrels, characterized by ancient modes and
very rich composed rhythms (6/8, 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 12/8).

It performed for the first time at the Sorbonne in Paris
in March 1965, on the occasion of the "Gala des Peuples qui
Chantent" organized annually by Madame Hayganuch TOROSSIAN.

He subsequently participated in many Armenian events in Paris,
in the provinces and in several European countries.

In February 1967, he participated in a gala in Brussels.

On June 7, 1969, he appeared for the first time on French
Television in Albert RAISNER's show "Samedi et Compagnie",
recorded in April at the Yar restaurant in Paris.

In August 1972, he participated in the television show
"Epinettes et Guimbardes" with Lionel ROCHEMAN, and in another,
shortly after, in regional news in Nancy, also with Lionel ROCHEMAN.

The same year, in November, he won the First Prize
for Traditional Music at the 6th Festival of Arts
and Culture of the J.A.F. (Armenian Youth of France).

The Ensemble also recorded in November 1972 a 33⅓
rpm 30cm record which was very quickly sold out.

On June 18, 1973, the Ensemble played at the OLYMPIA,
on the occasion of an exceptional Musicorama-Hootenanny
by Lionel ROCHEMAN, then, still with Lionel ROCHEMAN
the same year, in October at an evening of the
Pop-Club of José ARTHUR, and on December 18 at
a Hootenanny at the Tavern of the Olympia.

In February 1975, it participated in a gala of the "Lions
Club International" in Courbevoie (Paris region).

In June, it played at a reception, televised by Gerard
STEPHANESCO, of His Holiness the Catolicos of All Armenians
VAZGEN the lst, at the Château de Bourseaux in Champagne.

The Ensemble also participated in several other television
programs by Gérard STEPHANESCO, notably at the Armenian
Catholic Church of rue du Perche in Paris.

In August 1975, it participated for four days in the
"Rencontres Musicales de la Vallée de l'Ubaye" in
Barcelonnette in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

Finally, after another television appearance in November 1982, the
Ensemble participated with 12 musicians in a concert recorded
by Radio France at the RANELAGH theater in Paris in 1983.

Here are the main characteristics of the instruments that were most
commonly used by the Ensemble (you can also see these characteristics
in more detail in the cited below book by Gerard Madilian
"Traditional Armenian Instrumental Music" which can be consulted
on the ArmenTrad website by pressing the button "Digital
Consultation" at the address "ArmenTrad.org/LivresEn.htm").

- The "KAMANCHA", is a spike viol, with a spherical body hollowed
out in the mass and covered on its front face with fish skin
(catfish) or calf pericardium, and a round neck without frets.
Its four metal strings are rubbed using a manually stretched bow.
The instrument is played vertically, placed on
the thigh by means of its metal spike.
It is a solo or trio instrument in formation with a Tar and a Dap,
or is most used by Armenian minstrels to accompany songs.

- The "TAR" is a long-necked lute of Persian origin fretted
with ligatures, some of which form boxes allowing the notes
to be varied by commas in order to play in oriental modes.
It has a body in the shape of an 8 as deep as it is wide,
hollowed out in the mass, and whose front faces are
covered with fish skin (catfish) or calf pericardium.
The number of its metal strings is six in Iran, but its
Caucasian version has eleven strings (six melodic and
five drones) including ten coupled and a single bass.
The instrument, still in its Caucasian version, is held
in the arms and not placed on the thigh as in Iran,
and is played using a small horn or ebony pick.
It is also a solo or trio instrument in formation with a Kamancha
and a Dap, and it is widely used by minstrels to accompany songs.

- The "UD", is a short-necked lute without frets ending with a
right-angled pegbox, with a voluminous semi-pear-shaped body.
It has eleven nylon strings (originally gut),
ten of which are coupled and one bass alone.
The instrument is played using a flattened and
trimmed eagle feather serving as a plectrum.
It is mainly used in traditional Armenian
ensembles as a melodic or rhythmic bass.

- The "KANON", related to the zither, has the shape of a rectangular
trapezoid, and its bridge rests on a rectangular skin.
It has between seventy-two and seventy-five nylon strings
(formerly gut) generally grouped three per note.
The tone can be changed thanks to small tilting nuts allowing the
note to be raised or lowered by a semitone, and which can even allow
on certain Kanon by their multiplication on each group of
strings a modal music by varying the note by commas.
It is played flat on the knees using two horn or tortoise
shell picks attached to each index finger by a metal ring.
It is a solo or accompaniment instrument that can be played
in two voices, and which is widely used, (up to more
than four or five), in traditional ensembles in Armenia.

- The "SAZ", is a long-necked lute fretted with ligatures, related to
the Buzuki, and which has a semi-pear-shaped body as deep as it is wide.
It has six coupled metal strings, and is played using a flexible flat pick.

It is an instrument for accompanying songs also widely used by minstrels.

The "DUDUK", is an Armenian kind of oboe made of apricot wood with a cylindrical
bore and a large reed flattened at one end and hollow forming a double reed.

It is pierced with eight or nine holes above, and one below.
The sound is deep and warm, somewhat reminiscent of the English horn
or the low register of the clarinet, but much more velvety.
It is a very popular solo instrument common in the regions
of Armenia, as well as in traditional ensembles.
It is most often accompanied by the drone of a second Duduk and by a Dhol.

- The "TUTAK" or "SHVI", is an Armenian recorder, with a metal ring
regulating the tuning, and a timbre with two registers: high and super-high.
This solo instrument brings a lot of coloring to the melodies, and is therefore
very important for the general sound of traditional instrumental ensembles.

- The "DHOL", is a Caucasian percussion in the form of a two-sided drum
covered with calf or goat skin, with a depth almost equal to the diameter.
The skins, sewn on two metal circles, are stretched by cords, and are struck
with fingers or with both hands, or with two sticks (one thin and one
thicker) particularly when accompanying the Zurna in the countryside.
The importance of the Dhol is primordial from a rhythmic point of view
in traditional ensembles where it is often present in pairs or even more.

The ensemble has also intermittently used other traditional instruments such as:

- The "ZURNA", which is an oboe related to a large bombard, and has a conical bore
and a small hollow reed made of flattened reed at one end and forming a double reed.
It is very powerful, with two registers (high and super-high), and is almost always
accompanied by the drone of a second Zurna and the rhythm of the Dhol often struck
with sticks, particularly during festivals or weddings in villages.

- The "SRING", and the "BLUL", which are open flutes with a velvety sound.

- The "PKU", which is a straight oboe with a small single reed.

- The "PARKAPZUK" or "TIK", which is an Armenian bagpipe
mainly used in the countryside during festivals.

- The "SANTUR", which is related to the cymbalum, and is flat like
the Kanon, but in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid.
It has between forty-eight and seventy-two metal strings struck using two small
wooden sticks curved at one end and matching the shape of the fingers at the
other, and grouped in twos, threes, or even fours on small mobile supports
forming bridges and thus allowing changes in tone or oriental mode by moving them.
It is played flat on the knees or on a small table.
It is mainly an instrument for accompanying songs used most of the time by minstrels.

- The "KAMANI", which is a small, narrow viol with straight sides used
in the countryside, in traditional ensembles, or by minstrels.

- The "DAP", is a flat, single skined tambourine of large diameter, which
often accompanies the formations composed of the Tar and the Kamancha.

- The "NAGHARA" or "DIPLIPITO", which is a small drum with two
juxtaposed ceramic pots with single skin struck with two sticks,
and mainly used in the countryside during festivals.

The SAYAT NOVA ARMENIAN TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE
had thus contributed to making Armenian instruments music,
and traditional and courtly songs known for almost 20 years.

After its dissolution in the 80s, several of its musicians have continued
until today, under the direction of Jean- Pierre NERGARARIAN, to broadcast
Armenian music with the same traditional instruments in an ensemble
bearing the name of another great Armenian minstrel, Gusan JIVANI:
"Jivani, Armenian ensemble of music from the Caucasus and Anatolia" (Djivani.fr).

For his part, in order to perpetuate music, dance and other areas of Armenian
tradition, Gerard SOURENIAN created with Gerard MADILIAN, a Duduk player
who also participated in the Sayat Nova ensemble and author of a 232-page work,
"Traditional Armenian Instrumental Music", also published in French under the title
"La Musique Instrumentale Traditionnelle Arménienne", the ArmenTrad.org website
in three languages, French, English and Armenian, consulted throughout the
world and which they manage with a constant concern for new additions.


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