The Fateful Choice (Concerning the Directions of the Development of Armenian Music in the 20th Century and the Problem of Its Conceptualization)

Abstract

The author of the article has made an attempt to revalue the role of the so-called “postkhachaturyan generation” of Armenian composers from the point of view of their adherence to the traditions of Aram Khachaturyan. Taking as an example the String Quartet (Theme and Variations) of Eduard Mirzoyan (1947) and on the basis of the factual evidence (letters, reports), it has been shown that during the traineeship in the House of Armenian Culture in Moscow a group of young composers under the leadership of Henry Litinsky was consciously aimed at a veer towards Komitas principles of musical thought which were opposed to Khachaturyan approach. The spirit of the generation of the sixties in many ways planted seeds, in particular, in the oeuvre of E. Mirzoyan who radically changed the orienting points in the development of Armenian art.