Movses Pogossian - Tigran Mansurian Con anima (2020) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Conceived jointly by violinist Movses Pogossian and violist Kim Kashkashian on the occasion of Tigran Mansurian’s 80th birthday, the Con anima project brings together a dedicated cast of players to perform the Armenian composer’s chamber music. The emphasis is on newer pieces - only the Third String Quartet dates from the 20th century - but there is a timeless quality to Mansurian’s work, all of which resounds with the spirit of his homeland. “His works are full of signifiers that come from Armenian ornaments, paintings or stones, “ writes Elena Dubiunets in the CD notes. “His music itself feels as if it was carved out of stone.” Sonata da Chiesa is dedicated to the memory of priest-composer-folklorist Komitas, an enduring inspiration for Mansurian. Agnus Dei is influenced by Armenian sacred music, and Die Tänzerin is based upon an Armenian folk dance.

Conceived jointly by violinist Movses Pogossian and violist Kim Kashkashian on the occasion of Tigran Mansurian’s 80th birthday, the Con anima project brings together a dedicated cast of players to perform the chamber music of Armenia’s great contemporary composer. The emphasis is on newer pieces - only the Third String Quartet dates from the 20th century - but there is a timeless quality to Mansurian’s work, all of which resounds with the spirit of his homeland. “Mansurian’s works are full of signifiers that come from Armenian ornaments, paintings or stones,” writes Elena Dubinets in the CD notes. “His music itself feels as if it was carved out of stone.” It can seem both ancient and modern at once, as it carefully explores and reveals relationships between contemporary Western composition and Armenia’s sacred and secular music traditions. These characteristics are immediately evident in Agnus Dei, dedicated to the memory of Russian violinist Oleg Kagan. Here, violin, clarinet and cello sing against a sparse piano backdrop, in a piece whose form conveys the melos of Armenian spiritual music.

Mansurian, however, is a multifaceted composer, as Mark Swed has observed in the Los Angeles Times: “For all of his spiritual intensity, Tigran Mansurian achieved his mature voice the hard way, and he has always been of many sides. That late voice, the one Mansurian is known for, strives for a purity of sound and expression based on elements of traditional Armenian melody and the country’s traditional and liturgical music, its language and poetry, to say nothing of its landscape. But under it all is a highly cosmopolitan composer.” His compositions, effectively letters from Yerevan, also address the complexity of his country’s history.

TRACKLIST

01. Boris Allakhverdyan - 1. Agnus Dei
02. Boris Allakhverdyan - 2. Qui tollis peccata mundi
03. Boris Allakhverdyan - 3. Miserere nobis
04. Kim Kashkashian - 1. Tranquillo ma con moto
05. Kim Kashkashian - 2. Andante, leggiero
06. Movses Pogossian - Mansurian: Con Anima. Tranquillo e poco libero – Moderato con moto, semplice
07. Movses Pogossian - 1. Moderato, con moto
08. Movses Pogossian - 2. Vivacissimo, con fuoco
09. Movses Pogossian - 3. Grave
10. Movses Pogossian - 1. Grave
11. Movses Pogossian - 2. Scherzando
12. Movses Pogossian - 3. Adagio
13. Varty Manouelian - Mansurian: Die Tänzerin. Allegro energico



Thanks to the Original customer.