14 replies to this topic

[Vigil]

Djivian Gasparyan

Famous Duduk player actually hes the best their is.

Edited by Vigil, 31 May 2004 - 03:38 AM.

[MosJan]

Vigiel jan Sorry but no

[Vigil]

Vigiel jan Sorry but no

Edited by Vigil, 31 May 2004 - 03:38 AM.

[marsuvan]

he is very popular in turkey.

[Nakharar]

Popular Armenians in Turkey? That must be a novelty then.

[aliendj]

his music is gr8 & passionant.
I believe that he made the Armenian Doudouk international instrument.
I wish there was any doudouk player in Lebanon. I need some in my music

[armenjc]

I believe that he made the Armenian Doudouk international instrument.

Peter Gabriel was the one resonsible for making the duduk internationally known when he used Levon Minassian's duduk tracks for the music to the movie The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. A couple years later, Gabriel released his CD Passion which was an album that contained completed versions of the music cues from the film score. Before 1988, no one but Armenians really knew what the duduk was.

It was after all this that Gasparyan became popular and you started hearing duduk on film scores and other non-Armenian artists' CDs.

[MosJan]

Peter Gabriel was the one resonsible for making the duduk internationally known when he used Levon Minassian's duduk tracks for the music to the movie The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988.  A couple years later, Gabriel released his CD Passion which was an album that contained completed versions of the music cues from the film score.  Before 1988, no one but Armenians really knew what the duduk was.

It was after all this that Gasparyan became popular and you started hearing duduk on film scores and other non-Armenian artists' CDs.

HI & Welcome to HyeForum

i was told that Peter Gabriel used Vatche Hovsepyans recording in 1986 - music was used in 1986 FigureSkating championship
then in 87~88 Jivan has played the music one more time for him,
duduk in the movie is played by Vache

Jivan is well known duduk master - not necessary the best that we have to offer or the most recorded in western music “market”
If I’m not wrong Jivan was in USA in 91~93 – this is wan he start recording for western “market”


Duduk by Levon Minasian is A+ I love it

[SoniaM123]

I think that Djivan Gasparyan is the greatest duduk player of all time. There is nobody better.

[MosJan]

ok if you say so

[vava]

Have you guys heard Souren Baronian play duduk? His music is definately non-taditional and he does play clarinate and other reed instruments on his jazz albums... but I think he's pretty good

LINK

[MosJan]

Yes Vavajan i know Suren
Suren is not in to Armenia music - his in to Tasqim en Mid east Music - and Armenian Duduk is not his Specialty -

This days if your looking for Armenia duduk master
Best Known Duduk Master Vache & Jivan - Charchurlyan Karo ( CharchOghlu ) - Levon Madoyan - Marqar Marqarian - Gevorg MInasyan ( MInasoF )

in Movies Vardanyan Albert & Dabaghyan Gevorg
Harutyunyan Ruben & Vardan
Levon Minasyan
Ararat Petrosyan
M@gel Malxasyan
Yeghish
Norik
Kostik

[Aratta-Kingdom]

NIGHT OF THE DUDUK
By Natalie Nichols

LA City Beat, CA
Aug 1 2007

Master at work: Djivan Gasparyan

I'm a sucker for a little mind-expansion under the stars, especially
when it's accompanied by a delicious homemade meal and copious
amounts of wine. So it was that I spent last Sunday evening at the
Hollywood Bowl with two friends, soaking up the culture and scarfing
incredible farmer's casserole and honey-apricot cake during the
"Spirit of Armenia!" concert.

It was a Bowl first: three-plus hours of folk music, pop sounds, and
traditional dance, all from that faraway land east of Turkey and north
of Iran. But for many of the half-million Armenians living in SoCal,
my late stepmother's ancestral homeland is just a heartbeat away. Her
parents escaped the Turkish genocide at the turn of the last century;
I grew up hearing the sort of harrowing tales of narrow survival that
many descendents know too well. Mom, who would've turned 83 last month,
always encouraged us to learn about our Armenian "roots," so I pretty
much had to attend this show, part of the KCRW-FM/L.A. Philharmonic's
"World Festival" series.

"This is like a big reunion," exclaimed a little old lady ahead of us
on the people-mover to the bench seats. Indeed, the crowd contained
families, older folks, and young couples - many, if not most, of them
Armenian, who applauded appreciatively when KCRW host Tom Schnabel
gamely greeted them in the native tongue. The bill offered a number of
vocal and instrumental acts, from enthusiastically cheered pop singers
Adiss, Andy, Silva Hakobyan, and Sako to tenor Hovhannes Shahbazyan,
classical pianist Vatche Mankerian, and L.A.'s own "folk-fusion"
group Element Band.

But, in a way, the true star of the show was the duduk, the double-reed
woodwind that has for centuries been the centerpiece of Armenian
music. There was scarcely a moment when you did not hear it - played
by duduk ensemble Winds of Passion, by master of the instrument Djivan
Gasparyan, and during the performances by Zvartnots Dance Ensemble
and Vartan & Siranoush Gevorkian Dance Ensemble. It makes a mournful,
keening sound that seems to capture all the suffering and hope in
the entire history of Armenia - a sound so human, so suffused with
meaningful sadness, that the duduk is a natural for poignant moments
on movie soundtracks. I hear it often on TV's Battlestar Galactica,
where it injects vulnerable melody into a score filled with stark,
battle-rattling percussion and the hard-edged minimalism befitting
a program about humans hunted nearly to extinction.

As the full moon rose over the hills, Gasparyan took his too-brief
turn, making his duduk warble, cry, and wail into the fast-approaching
night. Here, clearly, was a man who knew his craft.

His eyes closed, cheeks puffing out from the effort of forcing air into
the thin, dark wood tube, he wove a transporting spell. He created,
not an overwhelming sadness, but an almost conversational sense of
sober reflection. Earlier, a mesh of Winds of Passion duduks had
fleetingly reminded me of the modal antics rocker Jeff Beck gets up
to with his guitar, and now Gasparyan brought to mind another quality
shared by great musicians - the ability to channel their voices,
maybe even their souls, through their instruments.

My friends and I also noted occasional similarities between some of
the Armenian folk songs and Celtic music, as well as that the dancing
at times reminded us of an Irish jig. When the video screens flashed
the Armenian coat of arms, decorated with an eagle and a lion, one
of my pals, who's still suffering Harry Potter withdrawal, hollered
"Gryffindor!" Which must qualify as the loopiest cross-cultural
connection made all night. It was silly but had some logic: Gryffindor
is Harry's house at wizard boarding school, symbolized by a lion and
distinguished by members noted for their bravery and heart.

It's weird how things come together like that. I'd read that Galactica
composer Bear McCreary, a graduate of USC's Thornton School of Music,
used the duduk as a way to reflect his Armenian heritage.

I'd considered that cool and appropriate, but the simple wisdom of it
hit me again on Sunday: how the music of a people who survived genocide
in the real world so poignantly reflects the sorrow and resilience
of fictional survivors in similar dire straits. And how, in turn,
that musical thread of truth reminds us that Armenia is indeed alive.

[vahegyan]

[Yervant1]

SUNKEN TREASURE: AWESOME MUSIC FROM THE ACHIVES. THIS WEEK, DJIVAN GASPARYAN

The Irish Times
Dec 12 2014

Donal Dineen digs through his music collection and explains why The
Moon Shines at Night deserves another listen

The duduk, a woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia, is a small,
double reed flute carved from aged apricot wood. The rich tonal colour
and sweetness of the sound it makes is no coincidence.

The ancient duduk's mournful, oboe-like sound is due to the width
of the reed, which require remarkable breathing techniques by the
player.It is most commonly played with another duduk, where the
soloist plays over the accompanying drone or foundation. This is
what gives the sound its uniquely touching sonic atmosphere, with
the scales changing harmoniously between both instruments.

It's a captivating and free- flowing sound. There is an intimacy to
it that invites contemplation. In its gentleness it resides close to
silence and its whispering tones appear not to disturb quietness very
much at all.

>From the breath of the great Djivan Gasparyan, the duduk, once
regarded as a poor person's instrument, has reached high places and
western ears. In 1989 Gasparyan released an album on his own Opal label
called I Will Not Be Sad in This World. A subsequent collaboration
with the producer Michael Brook resulted in Moon Shines at Night.

This is Gasparyan's masterpiece. Brook works his magic in the most
subtle of ways, manufacturing a warm, acoustical setting in order to
bring the sound even closer to the listener.

Gasparyan's playing is heartfelt and graceful. There's a tenderness in
every note, phrase and song. The two tracks on which he sings, Mother
of Mine and 7th of December 1988, are powerful and highly evocative.

The similarity of his singing voice and his instrument is a mesmerising
combination.

It renders tangible the most elusive of things: A quiet, peaceful
dream.

http://www.irishtime...aryan-1.2034242