Sound recordings: In Armenian
Comprises a group of field materials documenting Aslanian's Armenian Orchestra performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish dance music on April 23, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California. Recordings include vocals and folk dance music played on the violin, qanun, clarinet, and oud, primarily from the mountains of the former Armenia, now located in Turkey.
Recordings:Sidney Robertson Cowell refers to the Armenian instruments of qanun as the "kanoon," the kemanche as the "kemancha," and the deff, daph, or def [frame drum] as the "defs."
"The violin plays as if a kemancha [kemanche]; the clarinet, as if the kirnata."
"Aslanian's orchestra . . is often invited to other cities, for instance to San Jose and San Francisco, and Turlock and Modesto, and all up and down the San Joaquin Valley, where there are a great many Armenians of course, to play for weddings and funerals and dances generally. . . It is interesting also to note than in recording these pieces in which the voice comes in occasionally, the feeling of the singer is much like that of the people who shout out in American Square Dance bands occasionally. They do not feel that the voice should be preeminent, but that it should be one of a whole group in instruments. Therefore, when I tried to bring out the voice in the interests of transcribing, that is always objected to."
Mr. Krotlian was born in Turkey ["Digrana Ghirt"] but left at the age of 13 to come to the US. He learned to play the oud after he came to America."
For recordings and photographs of Bedros Haroutunian performing alone on another occasion or technical drawings or photographs of his musical instruments, see: Bedros Haroutunian performing Armenian music, April 22, 1939
am Jun-27-97