Artemi (Harutyun) Ayvazyan (, ; June 26, 1902 – November 14, 1975) was a

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

n composer, conductor, founder of the Armenian State Jazz Orchestra, and People's Artist of Armenia (1962).

Biography

Ayvazyan was born in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

to a musical family. Many famous musicians including

Fyodor Shalyapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɨˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; 12 April 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass voic ...

and

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

visited the family apartment on Merkurievskaya Street. Ayvazyan graduated from the

Tbilisi State Conservatory Tbilisi State Conservatoire ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო კონსერვატორია, ''Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria'') is the State Conservatoire of Georgia (country), Georgia, located in t ...

in 1923 and studied at the studio of Alexander Spendiarian. He then attended the

Moscow State Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

, completing his post-graduate research in 1935. In 1933 Ayvazyan won the First Prize of All-Soviet musical competition. In 1938 he founded the Armenian State Estrada (Jazz) Orchestra in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, one of the most popular in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the only one that survived during the

stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

repressions of the 1940s. Among his well-known songs are "Jan Yerevan", "Karine", "Get Arax" and "Im Karavan", a melody which became the unofficial anthem of the

Karabakh movement The Karabakh movement (), also known as the Artsakh movement (), was a national mass movement in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1991 that advocated for the transfer of the mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in 1988. He is also the author of the Armenian operetta "The Eastern Dentist," (featuring the popular 'Taparnikos's Song') and soundtracks ("Inchu e aghmkum getn?", "Mor sirtn" Armenian films, "The Snow Queen" Soviet cartoon animation). In 1939 Ayvazyan was awarded by the ''Renowned Master of Armenian SSR Arts'' title. He headed the Armenian State Estrada (Jazz) Orchestra until 1956, from 1943 to 1945 he was also the artistic head of Yerevan Musical Comedy Theater. Ayvazyan was the first professor of

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

class at the

Yerevan State Conservatory Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan (), also known as Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YKSC) or Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC), is a state-owned college of music located in Yerevan, Armenia. The institute was founded in 1921 as a music st ...

Discography

*"Государственный эстрадный оркестр Армянской ССР" (1948)

Filmography

*1939 - The Priest and the Goat, animation *1957 - Mother's Heart *1957 - ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

'' *1958 - What's All the Noise of the River About? *1960 - A Poem about Armenia, doc. *1961 - Before the Dawn *1967 - Alexander Myasnikyan, doc. *1967 - Suren Spandaryan, doc.

Sources

Biography
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080430050147/http://www.nv.am/3nov/lica.htm Biography (in Russian)br>НЕЗАБЫВАЕМЫЕ МЕЛОДИИ АРТЕМИЯ АЙВАЗЯНА, ArmTown

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayvazyan 1902 births Armenian composers Musicians from Baku People from Baku Governorate Soviet Armenians People's Artists of Armenia 1975 deaths Tbilisi State Conservatoire alumni Moscow Conservatory alumni Armenian conductors (music) Armenian jazz musicians Soviet conductors (music) Soviet composers