Armenian Piano Trios

With its own alphabet since the fifth century and its own musical notation since the eight, Armenian culture is undoubtedly among the oldest cultures in Eastern Europe. However, geopolitical and religious circumstances were such that, despite the country's rich literary tradition and its abundance of folk songs and Christian hymns, it was not until the 19th century that Armenia would seek contact with the rest of European and Western culture. Soghomon Soghomonia, (1869-1935), an Armenian priest of Turkish origin better known by his religious name of Komitas, played a determining role in this process. In particular with his ethnic/musicological studies of the Armenian folk and religious music repertoire and promotion thereof through the International Musicological Society, he made a minor breakthrough. And yet Armenian music continues to remain in the background of international music events today. Only a personage such as Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) has ever managed to gain any kind of international recognition. Recent attempts to bring the music of one Alan Hovhannes (1911-2000), for example, an Armenian composer who lived in the United States, into the international repertoire have met with relatively little success.