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All those who ask me "where are you from?" get "punished" by having to listen to a mini-lecture about Armenia. And I tell them if they do a search on YouTube for famous Armenians, they'll find out that even the green and black ink used in printing the U.S. currency was invented by an Armenian chemist.
At the shop, I mostly play music composed by Aram Khachaturian. Just music, no words. Some who walk in, comment on how much they like it. I'll use this blog for posting links to some of his music and links to other songs and music that I like.
In this link, The Masquerade Waltz, by Khachaturian, is being performed outdoors in Yerevan: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=2bMH932HaxA&list=PLRn-Czy7YfPEVh1yGgOnjQAuo0Cu7PmK (The background of the orchestra is the Opera House.)Ayshe’s Dance, by Khachaturian, is being performed in front of the ruins of Garni Temple in Armenia--the only temple left from Armenia’s pagan times. All others were destroyed when Armenia adopted Christianity. (Armenia is the first country in the world that adopted Christianity as its national religion in 301 AD.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kbMkoXdRcDance of the Rose Maidens, by Khachaturian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRO-BPmc0UgI enjoyed watching the conductor as much as listening to this piece, Lezginka, by Khachaturian. I can tell music flows in the conductor's blood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cECWCDhBHKEAnother composer I love is Komitas. I hear Komitas in my head, in my mind’s ears, whenever all is quiet around me. What a musical genius he was. And I often think of how he must have suffered during the Armenian Genocide. What a loss that half of his music was lost during the Genocide. Even though he died in an asylum in France, he is considered to be one of the victims of the Armenian Genocide as it was witnessing those horrors that drove him into madness.The Crane (violin), by Komitas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYtv0YryUMEThe Swallow, by Komitas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk3WOjAwEtsCloudy Sky, by Komitas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYM7fIFBNosMy Red Handkerchief, by Komitas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLuPc8Q_dSsLiturgy for the Armenian church service, by Komitas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oErAnzogksA&t=301s (This is an hour long, and I listen to it on some Sundays. The church service is held at Etchmiadzin, which is the oldest church in the world and is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.)Dle Yaman, by Komitas (played with duduk, an ancient Armenian instrument): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDwffiTgzKA(This was said to be one of Charles Aznavour's favorites, and it was played at his funeral.)Even Yanni uses duduk for his orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKVzm0SBYtQ (Over 160 million views!!! and almost 100 of which are mine.)And The Gladiator soundtrack, by German composer Hans Zimmer, is played with duduk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INHDEMP652EArmenian spiritual music from the 10th century, by Saint Krikor Naregatsi, who was a monk, a poet, a mystical philosopher, and a theologian (whom Pope Francis recently named “Doctor of the Church”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHY8W7LCjlQI sooooooo admire the violinist Sergey Khachatryan. Whether he plays Khachaturyan or Beethoven--doesn't look at a single note--music is in his head-- and heart--and soul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qY6GFKwhDI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqAMHSmvFGUOne can spend an inexpensive beautiful evening at the Opera House in downtown Yerevan. The Opera House is huge, but when they expect attendance more than capacity, the concerts are held outside, as this one. This is a montage (a mix of scenes from several songs). I see the President of Armenia and the head of the Armenian Church, His Holiness the Catholicos, in the center of the crowd—they don’t have front seats :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afdvJr5Wh3QAnd here, everyone (young and old) enjoying a patriotic song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LroyK43WCfk And another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBtRA2WWFCo And another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4CKvPNi4RA The enthusiasm of the crowd makes me want to be there...I’m not into heavy metal, but I like most of System of a Down's songs. (The hard music grows on you.) And sometimes I hear myself humming “the toxicity of our city, of our city...”)Aerials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-iepu3EtyE (over 500 million views!!!)Toxicity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iywaBOMvYLI (over a billion views!!!)Chop Suey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSvFpBOe8eY (over a billion views!!)I can listen to Charles Aznavour all day. I play his music at my shop when my door is locked and I'm working inside. I was very saddened when he died in 2018. And yes, I cried. By a CNN poll, he was named “Entertainer of the Century.” In this clip, he is singing with his daughter, in Armenian, a piece by Sayat Nova: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZdf3CTPcus Sayat Nova was an Armenian troubadour who lived in the 1700’s. He worked in the court of the King of Georgia and was fired after he fell in love with the king’s sister. He then married someone else, was ordained as a priest, and was beheaded in a monastery in Armenia when Armenia was invaded by Iran, after he refused to convert from Christianity.This is one of Aznavour’s concerts in France. I’ve watched the full concert many-many-many times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4F5KfPRIsIt never fails. This one always brings tears to my eyes. Each and every time. It’s a clip from Aznavour’s performance in Yerevan (in 2015) to commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. Aznavour was 91 years old then. Hearing the same song doesn’t move me as much when I listen to him perform it in his younger years. But at 91 !!!... Aznavour’s last concert was in Japan in 2018, less than two weeks before he died at the age of 94. The title of this song is Hier Encore (only yesterday). Many famous singers (from Willie Nelson to Shirley Bassey to Julio Iglesias to Andy Williams...) have performed his song in English with the title Yesterday, When I Was Young. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWs_gSx-taII’m posting La Boheme because it has English subtitles. The correct translation of the title should be “the Bohemian times” instead of “the Bohemian.” (And as always, a lot gets lost in translation, especially in translating poetry): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmrUeGogRbIAnd my favorite non-Armenian female singer is the immortal Edith Piaf. She was only in her forties when she died, but she gave so much to the world. And no words can describe her songs. Three of my favorites are:Je Ne Regrette Rien (I regret nothing): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YGXsw3XK9IA Quoi Ca Sert l’Amour (what’s the purpose of love): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnTaUcMLjAMon Dieu (my God): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgvEV9B-IEwI could go on and on with my list, but that would take pages and pages... I love YouTube. Everything is on YouTube—and not just music !!! I have even learned how to refinish a bathtub, how to grow ginger...all on YouTube.On YouTube also, I was listening to an interview with Charles Aznavour, and when asked whether he feels being more French or more Armenian, he replied, “I am 100% French and 100% Armenian.” At his state funeral in Paris, both countries’ national anthems were played and both countries’ leaders spoke. My husband (an American) knew I’m 100% American and also 100% Armenian. He knew my weak point. He was a journalist, and he knew how happy I would be when he brought home any news article he came across on the wire about anything Armenian. Many of my friends had not even heard of Armenia before they met me :) because it is such a small "unimportant" country. But Armenia has given so much to the world and has a very rich history. Just ask YouTube :)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-XeraUMqeIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HnziuQE2Zohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phUIxjCo5dAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m05R06M_w4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97HDyvlIGV4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S6aPPW9uukI don’t know if I could ever live without Google and YouTube (and one day I’ll say Facebook also). But I can live without television. When my husband and I moved to Bedford, we chose not to get cable service, and there’s no television reception here in the mountains without cable. I believe in the saying “you get used to everything,” and so I am used to living without television. For news, I read the paper and news.google.com, and if I want to watch a movie, I put on a tape. And my favorite hobbies these days? Doing lots and lots of walking, reading, listening to music, and playing my own version of solitaire MahJongg where I always make myself win. And hobbies I used to love and my heart is not in them anymore? Crafting, gardening/yard work, construction work, and cooking.
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