Tigran Mansurian

Tigran Mansurian in San Francisco, 2015. Photo by Wikipedia user Canticle

Tigran Yeghiayi Mansurian (Armenian: Տիգրան Եղիայի Մանսուրյան; born 27 January 1939) is a leading Armenian composer of classical music and film scores, a National Artist of the Armenian SSR (1990) and honored art worker of the Armenian SSR (1984). He is the author of orchestral, chamber, choir and vocal works, which have been played across the world.[^1][2]

Biography

Tigran Mansurian was born in Beirut. His family moved to Armenia in 1947 and settled in Yerevan in 1956, where he was educated.^[3] He first studied at the Romanos Melikian Music School under Armenian composer Edvard Baghdasaryan and later at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory.^[4][5] He later taught modern music theory at the Conservatory from 1967 to 1986. He was the Rector of Conservatory from 1992 to 1995. His "Monodia" album was nominated for the 2005 Grammy Award for "Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra)" and "Best Classical Contemporary Composition."^[6] He received the Presidential award of Armenia for immortalizing the memory of the martyrs and for presenting the Armenian Genocide to the world through the album “Requiem". This was nominated in two categories, "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" and "Best Choral Performance", at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in 2018.

Recordings

Tigran Mansurian: String Quartets - Rosamunde Quartett (ECM 1905)
Tigran Mansurian: "…and then I was in time again", Lachrymae, Confessing with Faith – Kim Kashkashian, viola; Jan Garbarek, soprano saxophone; The Hilliard Ensemble; Christoph Poppen, conductor; Münchener Kammerorchester. (CD ECM 1850/51)
Tigran Mansurian: Havik, Duet for viola and percussion – Kim Kashkashian, viola; Robyn Schulkowsky, percussion; Tigran Mansurian, piano, voice. (CD ECM 1754)
Tigran Mansurian: Quasi parlando - Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin; Anja Anja Lechner, violonchello; Amsterdam sinfonietta; Candida Thompson. (ECM new series 2323)

Works

Mansurian's compositions range from large scale orchestral works to individual art songs. He also composed several film scores between 1968 and 1980.^[7] In 2017, Tigran Mansurian released an album entitled "Requiem", a collection of eight pieces "Dedicated to memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide."^[8] The composer’s works have been performed in the largest concert halls of London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, New York, Los Angeles and other cities.

Stage

The Snow Queen (ballet in two acts with a scenario by Vilen Galstyan, after the story by Hans Christian Andersen), 1989

Orchestral

Concerto, for organ and small orchestra, 1964
Partita, for large orchestra, 1965
Music for Twelve Strings, 1966
Preludes, for large orchestra, 1975
To the Memory of Dmitry Shostakovich, for cello and large orchestra, 1976
Canonical Ode, for harp, organ and 2 string orchestras, 1977
Concerto No. 2, for cello and string orchestra, 1978
Double Concerto, for violin, cello and string orchestra, 1978
Tovem, for small orchestra, 1979
Nachtmusik, for large orchestra, 1980
Because I Do Not Hope (in memory of Igor Stravinsky), for small orchestra, 1981
Concerto, for violin and string orchestra, 1981
Concerto No. 3, for cello and small orchestra, 1983
Postludio Concerto, for clarinet, cello, string orchestra, 1993
Concerto, for viola, and string orchestra, 1995
Fantasy, for piano, string orchestra, 2003
Ubi est Abel frater tuus? Concerto No.4, for cello and small orchestra, 2010

Chamber music

Sonata, for viola and piano, 1962
Sonata, for flute and piano, 1963
Sonata No. 1, for violin, piano, 1964
Allegro barbaro, for solo cello, 1964
Sonata No. 2, for violin and piano, 1965
Piano Trio, for violin, cello, and piano, 1965
Psalm, for two flutes and violin, 1966
Interior, for string quartet, 1972
Silhouette of a Bird, for harpsichord and percussion, 1971–73
Sonata No. 1, for cello and piano, 1973
Sonata No. 2, for cello and piano, 1974
Wind Quintet, for flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon, 1974
The Rhetorician, for flute, violin, double bass, and harpsichord, 1978
Capriccio, for solo cello, 1981
String Quartet No. 1, 1983–84
String Quartet No. 2, 1984
Five Bagatelles, for violin, cello, and piano, 1985
Tombeau, for cello and percussion, 1988
Postludio, for clarinet and cello, 1991-92 (also has a concerto version)
String Quartet No. 3, 1993
Concerto, for English horn, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets, and trombones, 1995
Hommage à Anna Akhmatova, for bass clarinet, qanun (zither), viola, and marimba, 1997
Duo, for viola and percussion, 1998
Dance, for viola and percussion, 1998
Lacrimae, for soprano saxophone and viola, 1999;
Lamento, for violin, 2002 (also has version for viola)
Three Medieval Taghs, for viola and percussion, 1998–2004
Testament, for string quartet, 2004
Ode an den Lotus (Ode to the Lotus) for viola solo, 2012

Piano

Sonatina No. 1, 1963
Petite Suite, 1963
Sonata No. 1, 1967
Miniatures, 1969
Three Pieces, 1970–71
Nostalgia, 1976
Three Pieces for the Low Keys, 1979
Sonatina No. 2, 1987

Choral

Three Poems, for mixed chorus, 1969 (text by Kostan Zaryan)
Spring Songs, for mixed chorus, 1996 (text by Hovhannes Tumanyan),
Confessing with Faith, for four male voices and viola, 1998 (text by Nerses Shnorhali)
Ars Poetica concerto for mixed chorus, 1996–2000 (text by Yeghishe Charents)
Motet, two mixed choruses, 2000 (text by Grigor Narekatsi),
On the Shores of Eternity, for mixed chorus, 2003 (text by Avetik Isahakyan)

Vocal

Three Romances, for mezzo-soprano and piano, 1966 (text by Federico García Lorca, translated into Armenian by Hamo Sahyan)
Four Hayrens for mezzo-soprano (or viola) and piano, 1967 (text by Nahapet Kuchak)
Intermezzo, for soprano and ensemble, 1972-73 (text by Vladimir Holan), score lost)
I am Giving You a Rose, for soprano, flute, cello, and piano, 1974 (text by Matevos Zarifyan)
Three Nairian Songs, for baritone and large orchestra, 1975–76 (text by Vahan Teryan)
Three Madrigals, for soprano, flute, cello, piano, 1974–81 (text by Razmik Davoyan),
Sunset Songs, for soprano and piano, 1984–85 (a song-cycle to text by Hamo Sahyan)
The Land of Nairi for soprano and piano, 1986 (a song-cycle to text by Vahan Teryan),
Miserere, for soprano and string orchestra, 1989 (texts by Saint Mesrob based on the Bible in Armenian translation)
Madrigal IV, for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and tubular bells, 1991 (text by Alicia Kirakosyan)
Requiem, for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and string orchestra, 2011

Film scores

The Color of Pomegranates, 1968 (directed by Sergei Parajanov)
The Color of Armenian Land, 1968 (directed by Mikhail Vartanov)
Autumn Pastoral, 1971 (directed by Mikhail Vartanov)
And So Every Day, 1972 (directed by Mikhail Vartanov)
We and Our Mountains, 1969 (directed by Henrik Malyan)
Autumn Sun, 1979 (directed by Bagrat Oganesyan)
Legend of the Clown, 1979 (directed by Levon Asatryan)
A Piece of Sky, 1980 (directed by Henrik Malyan)
The Tango of Our Childhood, 1984 (directed by Albert Mkrtchyan)

References

"Tigran Mansurian". ECM Records. Retrieved 17 March 2014. In only a few years he became one of Armenia’s leading composers.
Swed, Mark (19 January 2009). "Review: The Dilijan series premieres a new Tigran Mansurian work". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
"Los Angeles Times published article dedicated to Tigran Mansurian". Armenpress. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
Schott Music, Tigran Mansurian
Pasles, Chris, What stirs deep inside, Los Angeles Times, 20 April 2007
"Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles, Coupons and More". eBay. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
Works list compiled from The Living Composers Project, Mansurian, Tigran
Whitehouse, Richard (2017-08-09). "MANSURIAN Requiem". www.gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-17.

External links

Text adapted from Wikipedia