scene: london's new arts entertainment weekly

May 1-May 8, 1997

Terrestrial Adventures on Celestial Harmonies

Over the past number of years, the Celestial Harmonies record label and its affiliates have covered a lot of ground. One of the many impressive areas of focus, however, has been the label's dedication to the collection and diffusion of traditional music of various world cultures.

At the start of this century, most people were unable to dedicate large sums of money and chunks of time to traveling to exotic locations to absorb exotic cultural traditions. It has really been the advent of affordable air travel, combined with portable recording equipment and high fidelity audio systems, that has brought such cultural experiences to the living rooms of the average person.

During an assignment to collect and compile a set of recordings for The Music of Islam, New Zealand composer and musicologist David Parsons had his attention diverted to the culture of Armenia. He soon realized that little, if any of this music had been properly documented. So, with blessings from record label owner Eckart Rahn and recording equipment in hand, Parsons set out to compile the varied musical traditions of Armenia. The resultant recordings in The Music of Armenia series have been issued over the past eighteen months in six volumes encompassing seven discs of material. The series is now also available as a single–box set as well.

The first volume, Sacred Choral Music, features the talents of the Echmiadzin Cathedral Choir under the direction of Mihran Ghazellan. Those listeners familiar with the sound of a Gregorian Chant may quickly grow accustomed to this lush sound. The music is written in a "monophonic" style (i.e. all voices singing the same notes in unison), but the addition of drones bring a thickness to the sound.

Sharakan / Medieval Music is the title of the second volume. Here, the Shakaran Early Music Ensemble performs music from the Middle Ages, starting at a point around the fifth century. While the music is quite obviously medieval in nature, the ancient Armenian tradition gives it a further exotic quality.

Volume Three, Duduk, features the sound of this flute/recorder–style instrument. Virtuoso Gevorg Dabagian is the featured soloist, with two other duduk players and a percussionist in the ensemble. Again, the effect is haunting and other–worldly in nature.

Many cultures have an instrument in their musical vocabulary which is based around the zither. In the fourth volume of the series, Kanon /Traditional Zither Music, the Armenian version of the instrument is featured. As with other cultures, the kanon can be plucked like a harp or struck like a percussion instrument. This is one of the instruments which links the cultural sound of such diverse places as the Orient or Scandinavia.

As could be expected, an exploration of a country's folk music would take the longest time. Therefore it's not surprising the Volume Five, Folk Music, performed by the Shoghaken Ensemble, would fill two disks by itself. Over the course of this set, the similarities and differences to other musics are well demonstrated.

The concluding volume of the set, Nagorno–Karabakh, has a wide assortment of musical endeavors, from vocal folk music to choral works to instrumental pieces. All these works are performed by amateur musicians, but that is certainly not evidenced in the quality of the music.

For the world music traveler, this latest collection of traditional recordings from Armenia would make an excellent investment—either in individual volumes or as a complete set.

• Chris Meloche