Alexander Spendiaryan was an Armenian

Armenians

Armenian 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....

 music composer, conductor, founder of Armenian national symphonic music and one of the patriarchs of Armenian classical music

Music of Armenia

Armenia is situated close to the Caucasus Mountains, and its music is a mix of indigenous folk music, perhaps best-represented by Djivan Gasparyan's well-known duduk music, as well as light pop, and extensive Christian music, due to Armenia's status as the oldest Christian nation in the...

. His compositions include the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 Almast

Almast

Almast is the only opera by the Armenian composer Alexander Spendiaryan.-History:In 1916 Spendiarian met Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanian, who suggested three of his poems "Anush", "Parvana" and "The Siege of the Tmbouk Castle" as themes for a national Armenian opera. Spendiaryan listened to the...

and the Yerevan Etudes among others. He studied with the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...

, who greatly admired his music and encouraged him to turn deeper into his people's folklore.

On December 10, 1924, Spendiarian, newly arrived in Yerevan

Yerevan

Yerevan 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...

 from Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, conducted an 18-member orchestra consisting of conservatory professors and students. This inaugural concert proved that Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

 had the potential to sustain a symphony orchestra. The following year, on March 20, 1925, Professor Arshak Adamian, Rector of the Yerevan Conservatory

Yerevan State Musical Conservatory

Yerevan State Musical Conservatory or Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, is a conservatory located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1921 as a music studio, and re-founded two years later as a higher musical education institution.-History:...

, led the first concert of the then newly founded symphony orchestra. At the time, Spendiarian accurately predicted,
Spendiaryan died in Yerevan in 1928.

Museum

In 1967, the Alexander Spendiarian House Museum was established in the house where the composer lived during the last years of his life. The museum has recreated the genuine atmosphere of the composer's study and presents the composer's personal belongings, numerous documents and other belongings.

Romances and songs

• Your Black Eyes Fascinated Me (P. Kozlov), 1888–1889
• No Question For Many A Day (V. Soloviov), 1892
• You Are the Bright Sun - The Sun of My Soul (anon.), serenade, 1892
• Song of the Drowned Woman (A. Podolinsky), 1895
• I Don't Know Why (L. May), 1895
• The Same Night (A. Borovikovsky), 1895
• Oh, Rose of My Youth (anon.), date unknown
• And Profound is Their Love (Lermontov, Heine), opus 1, No 1, 1895
• I Have Dreamed of your Love (Natson), opus 1, No. 2, 1898
• Ah, Rose (A. Tsaturian), opus 1, No. 3, 1894

Opera

• "Almast". Libretto by S. Parnok based on Hovhannes Tumanyan
  Hovhannes Tumanyan
  Hovhannes Tumanyan , is considered to be one of the greatest Armenian poets and writers. His work was mostly written in tragic form, often centering on the harsh lives of villagers in the Lori region.-Biography:...
  
  's "The Siege of Tmbka Castle" poem. 1918-1928. Transl. into Armenian by P. Mikaelian

Other

• Vals, 1892–93;
• Menuet, 1895;
• Crimean esquizes, 1903, 1912;
• The Diviner, for piano four hands, Ed. and annotated by Haig Avakian, Cairo, Dream Press, 2000.

External links

• The memorial museum of Alexander Spendiaryan