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The Naghash Ensemble (New Release)
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“East meets West and antiquity meets modernity in this collection of ruminations, lamentations, and incantations. Highly intriguing yet accessible.” — NPR   

 

“Composer John Hodian brings the poems of the 15th-century Armenian priest Mkrtich Naghash to life. These songs are unmistakably Armenian, but out of this world.”
— Armenisch-Deutsche Korrespondenz

The Ensemble Members

Notes from the Composer — John Hodian
  • To me Hasmik has one of the most hauntingly beautiful voices in all of Armenia, if not the world! When I first heard her singing in the ancient temple of Garni, I was mesmerized. My determination to use this exquisite sound in a new way is what eventually gave birth to The Naghash Ensemble.

  • One of Armenia’s foremost interpreters of new music, Tatev is a brilliant singer with unerring musicianship and aesthetic sensibility. I always ask her to read the poems to me before I set them to music. Her dramatic impulses and keen sense of timing in these reads become the roadmap in creating new music for the ensemble.

  • A divinely gifted natural talent with an astounding voice, Arpi can sing lower than any female I have ever encountered. One of the great joys of our recording sessions is asking Arpi to try a part “an octave lower”. Invariably, I end up using both!

  • The duduk is the instrument that most epitomizes the sound and soul of Armenian music. In my opinion, Emmanuel is Armenia’s greatest living duduk player. In the recording studio Emmanuel loves to experiment, spontaneously creating harmony parts and improvisations that add a whole new dimension to the music.

  • If ever there was a living embodiment of the word “virtuoso” Aram is it. I delight in writing fiendishly difficult things to play on the oud and he takes pride in making it look easy. Aram is almost single-handedly keeping the Armenian tradition of oud playing alive in Yerevan.

  • Tigran is a rhythmic genius! The music of the ensemble is mostly notated, but what Tigran plays spontaneously is far superior to anything I could compose. Tigran is endlessly inventive and an amazingly musical percussionist.


The Genesis of The Naghash Ensemble

The idea for The Naghash Ensemble came when I first heard Hasmik Baghdasaryan singing in an ancient pagan temple outside of Yerevan, Armenia. She was singing medieval Armenian spiritual music, and her voice was astounding. Adding to the magic was the unique acoustics of the temple. The sound haunted me for days afterward, and I became determined to write something that would use this sound in a new way.

 

I had a clear picture of the type of music I wanted to create for Hasmik's voice, but it took years to discover the right text. I spent months researching in the libraries of Yerevan, New York, and Berlin. When I finally came across a small fragment of the medieval Armenian poet Mkrtich Naghash, the words leaped off the page and into my soul. I knew I had found my text. Being in Yerevan at the time, I was able to track down the remaining 14 poems. After agonizing over which of these texts to use, I resolved that I would set all of them to music.

  

Naghash was a priest first and foremost, and his poetry was an outgrowth of his sermons. Of particular interest to me were Naghash's beautiful texts having to do with the plight of the "Ghareeb" or exile, someone without a homeland. Being of Armenian descent and the grandson of genocide survivors, the sad state of the Ghareeb was something I can relate to. Though written in the 1500s, it is amazing how timeless Naghash's texts are in light of these troubling times.

 

Through perseverance and good luck, I was able to assemble some of the finest musicians and singers in Armenia. All of them have a deep knowledge of Armenian folk and spiritual music, but they were trained at the conservatory and can play or sing anything. Together we have spent countless hours rehearsing, performing and traveling throughout Europe. Each member brings something truly unique to the sound of The Naghash Ensemble and I continue to be amazed by their transcendent abilities as musicians and human beings.  — John Hodian

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The Naghash Ensemble of Armenia

+49 15204131894 | info@naghashensemble.com 

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“To me, Hasmik has one of the most hauntingly beautiful voices in all of Armenia, if not the world! When I first heard her singing in the ancient temple of Garni, I was mesmerized. My determination to use this exquisite sound in a new way is what eventually gave birth to The Naghash Ensemble.” — John Hodian

 

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