Musicians - Aram Khachaturian

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	Musicians - Aram Khachaturian

Aram Ilich Khachaturian (Armenian: Արամ Խաչատրյան, Aram Xačatryan; Russian: Аpaм Ильич Xaчaтypян, Aram Il'ič Hačaturjan) (June 6, 1903 – May 1, 1978) was a composer of classical music.

Life

Khachaturian was born in Tiflis, Georgia, then a part of Imperial Russia (now Tbilisi, Georgia) to a poor Armenian family (the influence of Armenian folk music is prominent in his work). In his youth, he was fascinated by the music he heard around him, but at first he did not study music or learn to read it. In 1921, he traveled to Moscow all on his own in order to begin his musical studies, having almost no musical education and unable to speak a word of Russian. However, he showed such great musical talent that he was admitted to the Gnesin Institute where he studied cello under Mikhail Gnesin and entered a composition class (1925). In 1929, he transferred to the Moscow Conservatory where he studied under Nikolai Myaskovsky. In the 1930s, he married the composer Nina Makarova, a fellow student from Myaskovsky's class. In 1951, he became professor at the Gnesiny State Musical and Pedagogical Institute (Moscow) and the Moscow Conservatory. He also held important posts at the composers union, which would later severely denounce some of his works as being "formalistic" music, along with those of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. However these three composers became the so called "titans" of Soviet Music, enjoying world-wide reputation as the leading composers of the century.

Works

Khachaturian's works include concertos for violin, cello and piano (the latter originally including an early part for the flexatone), concerto-rhapsodies for the same instruments, three symphonies the third containing parts for fifteen trumpets and organ, and the ballets Spartak (Spartacus) and Gayane, the latter featuring in its final act what is probably his most famous movement, the "Sabre Dance". He also composed some film music and incidental music for plays such as the 1941 production of Lermontov's Masquerade. The cinematic quality of his music for Spartacus was clearly seen when it was used as the theme for a popular BBC drama series, The Onedin Line, during the 1970s. Since then, it has become one of the most popular of all classical pieces for UK audiences.

He died in Moscow on March 25, 1978, short of his 75th birthday. He was buried in Yerevan, Armenia, along with other distinguished Armenians who made Armenian art accessible for the whole world.

Selected List of Works

Symphonies

Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3

Works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra

Piano Concerto
Violin Concerto
Cello Concerto
Concerto-Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
Concerto-Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra
Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra
Masquerade Suite
Lermontov Suite

Ballets

Spartacus
Gayane, which includes the famous Sabre Dance

Chamber works

Trio in G minor for Clarinet, Violin and Piano (1932)

Works for solo piano

Toccata
Etudie

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Aram Khachaturian ]

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