Aram Khachaturian: biography, interesting facts, creativity

Aram Khachaturian

For centuries, there are legends about the musicality of the peoples of the Caucasus. Perhaps that is why the boy from the Armenian family, who lived on the outskirts of old Tiflis, had no other way than to become one of the most prominent composers and teachers of the 20th century. Aram Khachaturian - this name is well known to fans of classical music around the world. The maestro wrote such wonderful works that many of them immediately became popular after the premiere performance. Sparkling "Saber Dance" from the ballet "Gayane, delightful" Waltz "from the suite to the drama MU Lermontov" Masquerade ", brilliant" Violin Concerto "is a scanty list of works that won the hearts of the audience not only in our country, but also outside it.

A brief biography of Aram Khachaturian and many interesting facts about the composer can be found on our page.

Short biography Khachaturian

On May 24, 1903, a fourth son was born in the family of the bookbinder Ilya Vaskanovich Khachaturian. According to the memoirs of the mother, the baby was born in the "shirt". He was called Aram, which in Armenian means "merciful." In childhood, he was restless and mischievous.

From the age of eight, the boy is given study at the nearby SV Guest House. Arbutinskaya-Dolgorukoy. A child from a simple family was among the children of aristocrats and bourgeois only because Ilya Vaskanovich worked a lot with the hostess library. It was there that Aram learned to play the piano and sing. From Khachaturian’s biography, we learn that as a teenager, at the insistence of his father, he studies at the Tbilisi Commercial School, and in 1921 he comes to Moscow to continue education at the university, where he enters the biological department.

In the capital, he lives with his brother, a famous Moscow Art Theater director Suren Khachaturian, attends theaters and concerts, communicates with the creative elite. E.F. Gnesina was the first to see his musical abilities. And now, after a year at the university, Aram successfully passes the entrance exams to the Musical Technical School. Gnesinykh, in the class cello. For several years he studies in both institutions, but three years later he leaves biology for the sake of music. At the same time, he is transferred from the cello class to the composition class, where, under the guidance of M. Gnesin, he composes his first works.

In the late 20s, Aram was married, his daughter Nune was born. From 1929 he was a student at the Moscow Conservatory. He finished his graduate school with N.Ya. Myaskovsky, about which he kept warm memories for the rest of his life. In a class at Myaskovsky, he met Nina Makarova and decided to break his first marriage. In 1933, young composers got married, seven years later their son was born.

Works of Khachaturian were performed in the largest Soviet and foreign concert halls, he was absorbed by social activities and a large amount of work, and the first award in 1939 was the Order of Lenin. In the same year, Khachaturian became the deputy chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Union of Composers of the USSR. During the war, he was evacuated to Perm as part of a creative group, where he worked a lot, acutely perceiving separation from his family. After the Victory, the joy of reunion with loved ones and friends, inspired by creative enthusiasm overnight were destroyed on February 10, 1948. Khachaturian was mentioned in the notorious resolution "On the opera" The Great Friendship "by V. Muradeli."

In one fell swoop, the work of many Soviet composers was canceled out, Aram Ilyich was stopped publishing and at one time almost stopped performing. This unfair criticism struck him painfully also because the composing camp split into two parts - the "formalists" and the "correct" author. Among the first were Khachaturian, Muradeli, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Myaskovsky. Among the second, received positions and fame - Khrennikov, Asafiev, Zakharov. Aram Ilyich took these events as a betrayal of those with whom he worked for many years. The first desire was to finish writing music, but it was not in his power. He began to teach at the conservatory, stood at the conductor's console.

Despite the fact that the “compositional” resolution was canceled only in 1958, all these years, the official authorities could not but recognize Khachaturian’s merits. The Stalin Prize in 1950 and the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1954 testify to that. The last years of his life, Aram Ilyich fought cancer and underwent several operations. In 1976, he was widowed and grieved at the loss of his wife, to whom he was incredibly attached. He drew up the plan for his funeral himself, choosing the historical homeland, Armenia, as his last refuge. May 1, 1978, he died in a Moscow hospital.

Interesting facts about Khachaturian

• The composer’s parents, Ilya (Egia) Vaskanovich and Kumash Sarkisovna, were from the neighboring villages in Armenia. Ilya with 13 years went to work in Tiflis. With a bride who was younger than him by 10 years, they were betrothed by correspondence, and they got married when she was barely 16.
• Khachaturian’s biography states that Aram was the youngest, fifth child in the family. The first daughter of Khachaturian died in childhood, the composer had three brothers, the difference in age with the eldest of whom, Suren, was 14 years old.
• The famous "Saber Dance" appeared at the request of ballet directors "Gayane". Khachaturian recalled that he wrote it in just 11 hours. Ironically, it was thanks to this melody that the composer's name became known to the general public outside the Soviet Union. In the west, he was even called" Mr. "Saber Dance".
• Materials for his first ballet "Happiness" Khachaturian collected several months in Armenia, getting acquainted with folk art, motifs and traditional musical instruments.
• Igor Moiseev set "Spartacus“at the Bolshoi Theater a year and a half after the Leningrad premiere. In 1968 another version of the ballet came into being - in the choreography of Y. Grigorovich.

• Leningrad "Spartacus" Jacobson and Grigorovich Moscow - completely different productions - and choreography, and in spirit. Jacobson’s performance, scenes from Roman life, was innovative in both form and content. So, for example, the party of the antagonist of the main character - Crassus was created for the age dancer and solved pantomimically. Leonid Yakobson built memorable gladiator fights, epic crowd scenes. The theme of Yuri Grigorovich is the choreographic duel of Spartacus and Crassus, and in fact - two worlds: the world of gladiators and slaves, the world of Roman nobility and warriors. Grigorovich created the heroic male ballet, women's images in him are secondary, while in Jacobson’s version, Phrygia and Aegina play a significant role in the development of the plot.
• A reworked version of “Spartacus” by Jacobson was demonstrated for some time at the Bolshoi Theater.
• In the Kirov - Mariinsky Theater, there was always only one “Spartak” - L. Jacobson. Renewal of the play were in 1976, 1985 and 2010. The performance is included in the current repertoire.
• In 2008, the St. Petersburg Mikhailovsky Theater presented its version of “Spartacus” by libretto and choreography by George Kovtun. The staging was notable for its pomp and scope: several hundred extras, four-story decorations, the presence of live horses and even a tiger.

• The libretto of "Gayane" was altered for almost every production. The Kirov Theater in 1945 presented ballet on its historical scene. New characters appeared in it, storylines were edited, the prologue was removed, the set design was changed. In 1952, the ballet was reworked for a new production. The Bolshoi Theater turned to the work in 1957. And again the script was significantly reworked.
• The creative path of one of the most prominent choreographers of modernity Boris Eifman began with "Gayane". In 1972, he chose this ballet for his thesis. In agreement with Khachaturian, the plot was again changed. The performance was on the stage of the Maly Opera and Ballet Theater in Leningrad and withstood more than 170 performances.
• Today Gayane is a rare guest of the Russian stage. Fully with the work can be found only during the infrequent tour of the Armenian Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. A. Spendiaryan, whose card is this ballet.
• Even being sick, after two heavy operations, Aram Ilyich personally traveled around the country to participate in the productions of his ballets.
• Aram Khachaturian created his own school of composition, the most famous of his students were A. Eshpay, M. Tariverdiev, V. Dashkevich, A. Rybnikov, M. Minkov.
• M. Tariverdiev Khachaturian did not want to take to his class - he taught symphonists, and the young man showed him his chamber works. Mikael then met with the composer's niece Leyla, and her father, Vaginak, flew to Moscow specifically to ask for him. It came to a conflict between the brothers, Aram Ilyich gave up and took Tariverdiev to his course.
• The writer Mikhail Veller in his collection "The Legends of Nevsky Prospect" also included the scandalous story "The dance with sabers" about the meeting of A. Khachaturian and S. Dali. As the author later admitted, this story is the fruit of his imagination.

• The composer's favorite dish is dolma in grape leaves. Friends regularly brought him homemade dolma straight from Armenia.
• The characters of the ballet "Gayane" are called Nune and Karen - as well as the children of the composer.
• People who knew a couple of Khachaturian-Makarova, are unanimous that it was a union of two absolute opposites. Nina Vladimirovna needed silence and loneliness for work. Aram Ilyich could write anywhere and at any time. She was a more closed person, he was bright, cheerful and sociable. With these qualities they ideally complemented each other.
• Works N.V. Makarova, unfortunately, poorly known. But she - the creator of several operas, a variety of songs and romances. Staying in the creative shadow of her great husband, she managed for many years to support and inspire him, perhaps to the detriment of her talent.

• Among the nephews of Aram Ilyich there is a famous conductor and a composer. Conductor - Emin L. Khachaturian, who recorded with the State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography music for 150 films, including "I walk in Moscow", "The Diamond Arm", "Moscow does not believe in tears". Composer - Karen Surenovich Khachaturian, author of the ballet "Chipollino", professor of the Moscow Conservatory.
• Possessing Rubens' appearance, Aram Ilyich in a good way envied his elder brother Vaginak, whom nature rewarded with tall stature, slender figure and aristocratic features.

Creativity Aram Khachaturian

Even before the end of the conservatory, the composer declared himself a ballet, several chamber compositions, music for dramatic performances. In 1936, Khachaturian wrote Concert for piano and orchestrawhich has become popular all over the world. In 1939 his first ballet was written for the Yerevan Theater "Happiness"The plot is based on the life of ordinary collective farmers. The ballet had an imperfect dramaturgical basis, but the music had a bright, recognizable national flavor. In a few years, this composition will be completely reworked, already as part of the ballet Gayane. The graduation work was the First Symphony . "The First Armenian Symphony", as compatriot compatriots called it.

He worked a lot with the largest drama theaters of the capital - the Moscow Art Theater, the Central Theater of the Soviet Army, the Theater. Vakhtangov. Last to the centenary of M.Yu. Lermontov put the drama "Masquerade", the music for the play was ordered to Khachaturian. Despite the fact that the premiere took place on June 21, 1941, and the stage life of the production was short, the waltz from it was destined to become one of the most beautiful melodies of the 20th century.

While in Perm evacuation, he settled in a hotel, a small room of which also contained a piano. It took the maestro only half a year to write and fully orchestrate the ballet "Gayane". In 1943 he was staged by the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after Kirov, also taken to Perm. Among the works of the war years: Second Symphony, Suite for two pianos, suites from the music for Masquerade and Gayane, march for brass band, song, anthem of the Armenian SSR, music for theater and cinema. After the war, the Third Symphony was born, which, according to the composer's plan, became a hymn to the people who defeated fascism, Concerto for cello and orchestra, Lenin ". The 40s were fruitful and on works for the cinema. Khachaturian collaborated with directors M. Romm, J. Protazanov, V. Petrov. The music for the film" The Battle of Stalingrad "was awarded the Stalin Prize.

Idea ballet "Spartak" Aram Ilyich hatched the whole war. Already in 1941 the creative team was formed - the librettist N. Volkov, the artist F. Fedorovsky, the choreographer I. Moiseyev. All of them had long dreamed of staging a performance on this topic, and N. Volkov had been working on it since 1933, relying on historical sources from different periods, from ancient to modern. The war made its adjustments, postponing the beginning of the active process of creating ballet for a decade. Khachaturian began composing music in 1950. Coincidence or not, but the same year the maestro visited Rome, and perhaps the impressions of the trip to the scene gave him inspiration for creating a large work after a period of creative uncertainty. For 3.5 years the ballet was completed. The premiere took place in Leningrad on December 27, 1956. The ballet master was L. Yakobson, the artist was V. Khodasevich. The performance was a real sensation, everything in it was new - choreography (Jacobson did not put the ballet on pointe, but in sandals, on non-legged legs), the scale - a huge amount of corps de ballet and extras were employed. The premiere was marked by the scandal between the composer and the choreographer: Jacobson demanded to reduce the ballet and redo some scenes, Khachaturian - protested because of interference with his own composition. Fierce creative skirmishes were almost at every rehearsal, including general. They say it came even to the assault. Masters in the name of art still managed to come to a consensus, but the conflict between them persisted for many years.

According to Khachaturian’s biography from 1950, he became a professor of composition at the Moscow Conservatory, and since that time Aram Ilyich began touring the world, conducting his compositions at concerts. The first time I became a remote at random, the maestro became so fired up with this activity, direct communication with the public, that he subsequently traveled half the world, conducting his works. He said that often the conductor Khachaturian even criticizes the composer Khachaturian. In the 50s, he wrote a lot for the theater ("Macbeth" and "King Lear") and cinema ("Admiral Ushakov", "Othello"). The next decade was marked by three Rhapsody Concerts, which were awarded the State Prize, the Ballad of the Homeland for bass and orchestra, and compositions for piano. The last works of the composer were several sonatas.

Khachaturian's music in the cinema

Aram Ilyich wrote a lot for the cinema. The most famous films with his music:

• "Pepo", 1935, director A. Bek-Nazaryan, A. Gulakyan (symbolically, this is the first sound Armenian film);
• "Man number 217", 1945, director M. Romm;
• "Battle of Stalingrad", 1949, director V .; Petrov
• Admiral Ushakov and Ships Storm Bastions, 1953, director M. Romm;
• Othello, 1956, directed by S. Yutkevich;
• "Duel", 1957, director V. Petrov;
• "On the Eve", 1959, director V. Petrov.

As soundtracks, the composer's melodies were used in the films:

Aram Khachaturian combined the polyphony of Western classical music and the monodia of Eastern tunes, thus opening the traditional melody of the East to the Western audience and global recognition. At the same time, his music is unique and original, there are no borrowings and direct references to folk art. Even today, it amazes with its energy, emotionality and vitality, fully revealing the amazing talent of its creator.