Légende arménienne Akhtamar Quartet

• Komitas Vardapet (1869 - 1935): Miniatures:
• 1 Miniatures: I. Al aylughs 02:14
• 2 Miniatures: II. Yerkinkn ampel e 02:35
• 3 Miniatures: III. Oh, Nazan 02:26
• 4 Miniatures: IV. Krunk 04:40
• 5 Miniatures: V. Shogher jan 04:40
• 6 Miniatures: VI. Shushiki 03:13
• 7 Miniatures: VII. Khumar 01:27
• 8 Miniatures: VIII. Vagharshapat 02:12
• 9 Miniatures: IX. Kele, kele 01:41
• 10 Miniatures: X. Chinar es 03:48
• 11 Miniatures: XI. Habrban 01:21
• 12 Miniatures: XII. Keler, tsoler 03:00
• 13 Miniatures: XIII. Garun a 03:21
• 14 Miniatures: XIV. Kagavik 01:41
• Eugénie Alécian (b. 1952): Un quatuor arménien:
• 15 Un quatuor arménien: I. Allegro 05:21
• 16 Un quatuor arménien: II. Andante 05:58
• 17 Un quatuor arménien: III. Tarentelle 03:33
• 18 Un quatuor arménien: IV. Final 03:40
• Total Runtime 56:51

Info for Légende arménienne

The miniatures of Komitas have the merit of being able to condense in a few minutes all aspects of Armenian musical culture. Each of them is an invitation to travel, allowing us to discover the soul of a country through its music, both joyful and nostalgic.

Thanks to his arrangements for string quartet, Serguey Aslamazyan gives these miniatures their nobility and amplifies their emotional impact without distorting the message they convey. This message of peace and hope is also the one that Eugénie Alécian wishes to transmit to us with Un quatuor arménien, a powerful work narrating a country that never stops dancing and singing despite the intense pain.

Akhtamar Quartet

Akhtamar
an Armenian legend. The name of the quartet is based on the armenian pieces by Komitas/Aslamazyan, that the ensemble plays regularly since its foundation, and which became its signature.

The Akhtamar Quartet regularly performs in Belgium and in France, but also in Germany, Switzerland… The string quartet plays in well-known festivals such as Radio France in Montpellier, the festival van Vlaanderen, Voix Intimes, Quatuor à l’Ouest, Midis-Minimes, Musicancy, festival du Vigan, the Festival of MonteLeón…

Several composers have already asked the Akhtamar String Quartet to record and perform their works (Roger Boutry, Eugénie Alecian, Jan Kuijken…). In 2016, their first performance of un quatuor arménien written by Eugénie Alecian and dedicated to the Quartet, was the beginning of an international tour (France-salle Cortot, Germany, Armenia, Switzerland…).

The quartet is also committed to social projects. As a example, the quartet played several times in psychiatric institutes in Paris. They also regularly play in schools in Brussels. Since 2017, they perform their musical tale for primary schools and a show for 12 to 18 years old, as part as the Jeunesses Musicales Tours. The ensemble also works with the Papier Plum’ Company.

The Akhtamar Quartet was founded at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. The Quartet was tutored by Guy Danel and the Debussy String Quartet during its studies. It is also in a string quartet post-graduate at the Joseph Haydn Institut in Vienna University of Music, in the class of Johannes Meissl and Vida Vujic. The ensemble is also part of ProQuartet‘s and the ECMA (European Chamber Music Academy) training institutions, in which they have been taught by the Alban Berg Quartet, Natalia Prishepenko and Eberhard Feltz.

In 2014, the Akhtamar Quartet won the the Horlait-Dapsens Prize in Brussels, and in 2016, they were one of the six selected string quartets for musical springboard of the Philharmonie in Paris, and for the Supernova selection in Flanders. In July 2016, they recieved the second prize given by the belgian radio Musiq’3. The ensemble was invited on “France Culture” radio in 2017 and “France Musique” in 2018.

This album contains no booklet.