Babaian, Vahram Ohani

(b Yerevan, 19 Aug 1948). Armenian composer. He began

composing at the age of seven, then studied composition with
Bagdasarian at the Melikian Music College (19648) and later at the
Yerevan Conservatory under Yeghiazarian (196873). He joined the
Armenian Composers Union in 1973, and as a freelance composer
has received numerous prizes and commissions. His works have
been performed at festivals of contemporary music in Lithuania,
Finland, Georgia, Argentina and Hungary. He is prolific and has
written in all genres; his style has evolved from an expressionism
which makes use of serial techniques to a Romanticism in which
modality and tonality play a major role. He also makes use of
impressionist and sonoristic techniques (the ballet Pygmalion),
heterophony and micropolyphony (Fifth Symphony) and dense
textures involving chords and clusters. His preference for clearly
defined and logical relationships between form and content has led
to unusual assymetrical proportions within works, where the sense of
conflict or rhythmic gravitation overrides conventional formal
considerations. His symphonies continue the tradition of Mahler and
Shostakovich, with outer movements assuming the most
significance; his Second Symphony, for example, follows a
teleological design which culminates in the finale. Similar formal
resolutions can be found in the ballet Pan, the opera Hamlet and a
number of his concertos, lending a sense of coherence to his output
as a whole.
WORKS
(selective list)

Stage (all unstaged unless otherwise stated): Ltrange (op, 2, A. Babaian and V.
Babaian, after A. Camus), 1970; Pygmalion (ballet, 1, A. Babaian, after Gk. legend),
1975; Die Briefe von Beethoven (chbr op, after letters by L. van Beethoven), 1977;
Pan (ballet, 2, A. Babaian, after K. Hamsun), 1977; Hamlet (op, 3, V. Babaian, after
W. Shakespeare), 1990; Into the Light (ballet, R. Kharatian), staged Baltimore,
Peabody Institute, 7 Dec 1995
9 syms.: no.1, 1964; no.2, 1968; no.3 (A. Isahakian: Abu-Lala-Mahari), chorus, orch,
1972; no.4 Katharsis, 1977; Chbr Sym. no.1, 1979; Chbr Sym. no.2, 1981; no.5,
1981; no.6, 1985; no.7, 1988
Other orch: Pf Conc. [no.1], 1965; Org Conc., 1967; Antuni, sym. poem, 1969; Pf
Conc. [no.2], 1969; Utrenniye kokokola [Morning Bells], sym. poem, 1969;

Pentimento, chbr orch, 1975; Conc., str qt, orch, 1978; Gishere Garnium [A Night in
Garni], sym. poem, 1978; Conc., vn, vc, chbr orch, 1981; Conc., sax qt, orch, 1982;
Conc., fl, ob, chbr orch, 1983; Requiem, str orch, 1983; Pf Conc. [no.3], 1984; Vc
Conc., 1992; Db Conc., 1997
Vocal: 4 zhyoltye ballad [4 Yellow Ballads] (F. Garca Lorca), S, pf, 1968; Sonata
(Garca Lorca), S, pf, 1969; Poeti tznunde [The Birth of the Poet] (E. Charents), S,
B, pf, 1977; Ashnanain yerger [Autumn Songs] (Jap. poems), S, pf, 1979; Serenada
no.1 (A. Babaian), S, 2 fl, vn, vc, pf, 1985; Ashune Kiso lernerum [Autumn in the
Kiso Mountains] (M. Basho), S, pf, 1987; Sym.-Requiem Armenii skorbyashchey
[For a Grieving Armenia] (V. Batashov), chorus, 1989; Jsus parle (orat, C. Pguy),
S, B, chorus, orch, 1992; Serenada no.2, vocalise, S, vn, vc, pf, 1992; From the Life
of Christ (orat, Armenian spiritual texts), 4 solo vv, chorus, orch, 1995; Komitasiana
suite (trad.), S, Bar, chorus, orch, 1995; Tikhiye pesni [Quiet Songs] (aphorisms by
Confucius), S, fl, ob, hn, perc, pf, 1996
Chbr and solo inst: Sonata, vn, vc, 1967; Str Qt [no.1], 1968; Str Qt [no.2], 1969; 6
Fugues, pf, 1970; Sonata, 2 pf, 1970; Sonata, pf, kettle drums, 1970; Str Qt [no.3],
1970; Collages, 2 pf, perc, 1971; Pf Sonata [no.1], 1972; Sonata no.1, vn, pf, 1972;
Pf Sonata [no.2], 1973; 2 Pieces, vc, pf, 1973; Sonata no.1, vn, 1975; Sonata no.1,
vc, 1975; Pf Sonata [no.3], 1976; 3 Retrospective Pieces, vn, pf, 1977; Pf Sonata
[no.4], 1978; Sonata no.2, vn, 1978; Sonata no.2, vc, 1978; Pf Sonata [no.5], 1979;
Sonata, ob, pf, 1979; Sonata no.2, vn, pf, 1980; Str Qt [no.4], 1981; Org Sonata,
1982; Sonata, fl, pf, 1982; Mantra, sax, pf, 1983; Str Qt [no.5], 1984; Pf Sonata
[no.6], 1985; Sonata, va, pf, 1985; Sonata, cl, pf, 1986; Wind Qnt, 1986; Conc., fl, cl,
vn, vc, pf, 1988; 3 Introspective Pieces, vn, pf, 1992; Monada, fl, ob, pf, 1995;
Sonata, vn, pf, 1995; Pro et contra, pf, 1996

MSS in Armenian Ministry of Culture; Armenian Composers Union

Principal publishers: Sovetakan Grokh, Sovetsky Kompozitor, Leduc

BIBLIOGRAPHY
S. Sarkisian: O tvorchestve molodkh kompozitorov Armenii [On
the work of the young composers of Armenia], Muzkal'naya
kul'tura bratskikh respublik SSSR, ed. G. Kon'kova (Kiev, 1982),
15460
V. Babaian: A Synthesis of New and Old Elements, Sovetakan
arvest (1985), no.9, pp.45
L. Berger: Hasunutyun [Maturity], Sovetakan arvest (1988),
no.7, pp.368
G. Tigranov: Armyanskiy muzkal'ny teatr [The Armenian
musical theatre], iv (1988), 1049
SVETLANA SARKISYAN