Pianist Şahan Arzruni performs world premiere recordings of unpublished works
110th anniversary of Hovhaness's birth is March 8, 2021
The pianist Şahan Arzruni has stacks of handwritten manuscripts from his longtime friendship with the American-Armenian composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000). On the album Alan Hovhaness: Selected piano compositions (Kalan Music) Arzruni recorded a collection of these works, nearly all world premiere recordings of unpublished scores.
Although Hovhaness has a vast catalogue of 500+ works, including 67 symphonies and music for chorus, chamber music and solo piano, few of his works receive regular performances. Influenced by the music of his Armenian father’s homeland, his style is trademarked with the nationalistic music he incorporated into his compositions.
The Armenian pianist Şahan Arzruni says the compositions date from the 1940s and early 1950s. Arzruni writes in the liner notes, "Alan Hovhaness was a musician-mystic who rejected the materialistic values of the Machine Age. He explored, instead, the transcendental realm—using music as a link between the physical and metaphysical worlds. Hovhaness took non-Western cultures as his point of departure, while employing the tools of Western music as his frame of reference."
The liner notes booklet contains extensive photos, historical information, and analysis in English, Armenian and Turkish, written by Arzruni. Although the album was released in 2019, it was not distributed in the United States. It is available for purchase on Amazon. Contact ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com to request a physical or digital copy.
Alan Hovhaness: Selected Piano Compositions
Şahan Arzruni, piano
(Kalan Music, 2019)
View Şahan Arzruni's
Digital Press Kit
Şahan Arzruni (shah-HAN ards-roo-nee) is an Armenian classical pianist, ethnomusicologist, lecturer, composer, writer and producer, residing in New York City. He has toured throughout the world and has given command performances at the White House and the British, Danish, Swedish and Icelandic courts.
Motivated by ethnic awareness in the United States, Arzruni continuously researches the musical roots of his Armenian heritage. He recorded a three-record anthology of Armenian piano music and co-produced an eight-disc set of instrumental and vocal Armenian music. He also delivered papers and organized symposia for Harvard University, Columbia University and University of Michigan. Şahan Arzruni is the author of scholarly books and is a contributor of articles for academic journals, The New Grove Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Middle Ages.
In 2015, the president of the Republic of Armenia awarded him the Movses Khorenatsi Medal for exceptional achievement in cultural development. Mr. Arzruni holds degrees from The Juilliard School and has pursued doctoral studies at New York University. He has made dozens of recordings for Philips, New World Records, Musical Heritage Society and other labels.