Arno Babajanian

Born: January 22, 1921, Yerevan, Armenia.
Died: November 11, 1983, Moscow.

Piano Trio

• Composed: 1952
  
• Premiere: Unknown
  
• Duration: approx. 22 minutes

Among the national cultures that have become better known in the West since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 is that of Armenia, Turkey’s eastern neighbor, and one of that country’s leading 20th-century musical figures was Arno Babajanian. Babajanian was born in 1921 into the family of an accomplished folk musician in Yerevan, the capital and one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities; he showed such musical promise that he was admitted to the Yerevan Conservatory at the age of seven, and he premiered his Symphony No. 1 six years later. His teacher, Vardkes Talian, trained him not only in the Western classics but also in the folk and concert traditions of Armenia, and the interaction of those influences provided the foundation of Babajanian’s musical style. Babajanian entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1948 to study piano, composition and ethnomusicology, and two years later he returned to Armenia to join the faculty of the Yerevan Conservatory. 

He quickly established a reputation among the country’s leading composers, pianists and teachers, writing works in a folk-inflected style for orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, voice and jazz band; performing throughout the Soviet Union and Europe; receiving the Stalin State Prize, Armenia State Prize and Order of the Red Banner of Labor; and being recognized as a People’s Artist of the Armenian SSR and the Soviet Union. Following Babajanian’s death, the celebrated Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom he had written a concerto in 1959, said, “A brilliant composer, fiery pianist, beloved neighbor, and devoted friend for many years—this was for me the wonderful Arno Babajanian, who despite his early death, made a significant contribution to the music of our time.”

Babajanian’s Piano Trio of 1952 is reminiscent of the style, sonority and scale of Rachmaninoff’s works but with a distinctly nationalist tone and spirit. The Trio opens with a slow, doleful melody in the unison strings that returns as a unifying device throughout the work. The cello launches without pause into the movement’s main theme, which continues the mood of the introduction with greater animation and more ardent expression. The second theme, introduced by the piano, is brighter in character and colored with the piquant melodic leadings of Armenian folksong. The development section skillfully elaborates both themes, often simultaneously. A recall of the doleful introduction provides a bridge to the recapitulation, which recounts the events of the exposition before the movement closes with one final traversal of the slow opening melody. The Andante is built around an exquisitely lyrical theme, balanced by a more intense passage at its center that culminates in another reference to the doleful theme of the first movement. The finale is based on two contrasting themes—one in driving, angular rhythms that nearly turns into a frenzied dance, the other more gentle and regularly phrased. A development section dealing with the angular motive leads to a final, powerful iteration of the first movement’s doleful theme before the Trio closes with a stormy coda.

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda