6.8.10

Duduk 2

...I think Gevorg Dabaghyan is the best Duduk player around...

T. says: Hello Miguel nice to hear that. Many experts believe the best duduk player was Vache Hovsepyan (1925 -1978). If you have not listened yet...
 
  
Vatche Hovsepian
Duduk

1998

Tracks:

01 - Sireci yars taran
02 - Uxt kertai
03 - Machkal
04 - Otar champeki vra
05 - Taran, taran
06 - Overn Inkan
07 - Indz mi xndri
08 - Karlosi prken
09 - Knir im balik
10 - Dun en glxen
  
♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫
        
        
♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫

Before Jivan Gasparyan there was Vatche Hovsepian who set the standard by which all duduk virtuoso's are judged. This album is a collection of his best pieces.

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Vatche Hovsepian (sometimes credited as Vatche Housepian) is a duduk player. With Antranik Askarian, he performed the duduk parts on "The Feeling Begins," the first track of Peter Gabriel's Passion, the soundtrack album from Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ. The duduk recording is actually an excerpt from a song titled "The Wind Subsides," originally recorded for a collection of Armenian music released by Radio France's Ocora label.

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The breeze blew. The national melody that sounded for the first time in the performance of Vache Hovsepyan, became the touchstone of presenting the master duduk playing. His recordings sounds in every part of the world as an exclusive interpretation of emotionality and. His high-class art admired everyone. Renowned dudukist was an authority not only in Armenian but also out of its borders. His compositions were very popular among everyone. Lets mention the most popular of them "Come Back Again", (Lyrics by V. Teryan), "In the Evening", (Lyrics by Silva Kaputikyan), "Clover", (lyrics by Pruyr Sevak). Hovsepyan, arguably is the best dudukist of the past fifty years, on stage.

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The duduk accompanies popular Armenian traditional songs and dances of the various regions and is played at social events, such as weddings, festivities and funerals. It is impossible to imagine the past, the present as well as the future of the musical culture of Armenia without the admirable sonority of duduk and without its magic musical modulation. It has accompanied Armenians on the roads of relocation, in Siberian deportation camps, in cathedrals and modern concert halls.

The prototypes of the duduk are met in the national cultures of Transcaucasia, North Caucasus, Middle Asia and Iran. However, they greatly differ from the structure of the Armenian duduk which brings to the differences also in sound and technical possibilities. Armenian duduk which is also called tsiranapokh (apricot tree pipe), has a warm, soft, slightly nasal timbre. The sound peculiarities of the Armenian slang are noticeable in the sonority of the duduk.

In a course of centuries and with the development of technical means, the instrument has got better and now it has ten holes, eight of which are on the front face and two are on the opposite side.

The duduk is mainly played by two musicians. One player creates the musical environment for the lead melody by playing a continual drone that is held by circular breathing, while the other player develops complex melodies and improvisations.

In 1920-30s a new performing school founded by Margar Margaryan, Levon Madoyan, Khachik Khachatryan and Vache Hovsepyan was established in Armenia. The latter and Jivan Gasparyan, continuer of Hovsepyan’s traditions, created a new repertoire based on Armenian folklore and dance melodies which is performed mainly during festive occasions.
  

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