Edgar Hovhannisyan, Hovhannisian or Oganesian (,; January 14, 1930,

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 ...

– December 28, 1998,

) was an

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 ...

n composer, Professor of Composition 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 ...

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

(1986). He graduated from the

in 1953, then pursued post-graduate work at the

Moscow 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 ...

, where he worked under famed Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. He was the director of the State Opera and Ballet Theater in Yerevan from 1962–1968, and Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Union of Composers of the Armenian SSR from 1956–1973. He was the rector of the

from 1986 to 1991. Hovhannisyan is widely considered among the most influential Armenian composers of the 20th century. He is the author of ballets, including ''Joan of Arc'', ''Sulamif (Shulamith)'' and ''Marmar''. He experimented with various musical styles, including neo-classical, folk-based styles, and even jazz — such as in the ''Concert Variations for Saxophone and Jazz Orchestra'' — opera (''Journey to Arzrum''), various vocal-orchestral works (e.g. the oratorio ''Grigor Narekatsi'', the hymn of

), and numerous film scores.

Awards

State Prize of the USSR The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

(1979) *State Prize of Armenian SSR (1967) *

(1986) *Honorary citizenship of Yerevan (1998)

Works

''Ballets:'' *Marmar (1957) *Blue Nocturne (1964) *Eternal Idol (1966) *Antuni (ballet-oratorio, 1969) *David of Sasun (opera-ballet, 1976) *Masquerade (to music by

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

, 1982) *Joan of Arc *Shulamith ''Opera:'' *Journey to Arzrum (after

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...

, 1987) ''Cantatas and oratorios:'' *Peace to the world! (1950) *Native country (1960) *Erebuni (on ancient cuneiform texts, 1968) *In the Armenian mountains (1969) *Monument to the Heroes (choreographic, 1975) *Glory to Lenin's Party (1977) *Grigor Narekatsi (oratorio, 1995) ''For orchestra:'' *Ballet Suite (1953) *Symphony No.1 (1958) *Concert Variations for saxophone & jazz orchestra (1965) *Chamber Concerto (1968) *Symphony No.2 (1983) *Baroque Concerto (1983) *Symphony No.3 (1984) *Symphonic poem ''Golgotha'' (1993) "Chamber music:" *Nocturne for cello & piano (1947) *String Quartet No.1 (1950) *Piano Quintet (1955) *String Quartet No.2 (1958) *String Quartet No.3 (1964) *Sonata for solo cello (1969) *cello sonata ''Epitaph'' (1975) *Rondo-Sonata for cello & piano (1977) *String Quartet No.4 (1981) ''Choral music:'' *The Communist Party (1952) *''Two shores'' (1952) *Vitosha-Ararat (1967) *Sardarapat (1968) *Arpa-Sevan (1969) *''Rest'' (1969) Additionally, many songs, arrangements of Armenian folk songs and dances, incidental music, piano pieces etc.

Filmography

*1956 – ''For Honor (Patvi hamar)'' *1960 – ''Northern Rainbow'' *1960 – ''Sponge Catchers'' *1960 – ''Born to Live'' *1961 – ''The Road'' *1961 – ''Night Passenger'' *1965 – ''Extraordinary assignment'' *1966 – ''Avdo's car'' (within the documentary ''People of our city'') *1968 – ''There lived a man (Aprum er mi mard'') *1969 – ''Explosion after midnight'' *1970 – ''Shot on the border "'' *1972 – ''Armenian frescoes'' *1973 – ''The last feat of Kamo'' *1978 – ''Star of Hope (Huso astgh) *1993 – ''Catastrophe'' (jointly with Yuri Harutyunyan).

Sources

BiographyBiography (in Russian)Brief worklist (in Russian)
* *Shakhnazarova N., ''The composer in the context of national culture (about Edgar Oganesyan)'', "Soviet Music", 1987, No. 5. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hovhannisyan, Edgar 1930 births 1998 deaths Musicians from Yerevan 20th-century Armenian composers Moscow Conservatory alumni 20th-century male composers Armenian ballet composers