Kurken Alemshah

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Alemshah

KURKEN ALEMSHAH (Գուրգէն Ալէմշահ), the Armenian composer, was born on May 22, 1907 in Bardizag (now Bahçecik, near Izmit, Turkey). He began schooling in his own hometown. But during the 1915 Ottoman atrocities, his parents sent the young boy to Italy to continue his education in the Murat-Raphaelian Armenian school in Venice. In 1923, when his teachers there became aware of his striking musical gifts, they registered him at the Milan Conservatory to study music.

Following his graduation, Alemshah joined the faculty of the Paris branch of the Murat-Raphaelian school, where he organized the Giligia choir, performing not only in Paris, but also traveling to Venice, directing the choir in an all-Komitas program at St. Mark's Square. Alemshah continued to introduce the Armenian song to all music lovers: he presented Tchouhadjian's popular operetta, “Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha,” (The Chickpea Vendor) and the “Haygagan harsanik” (Armenian Wedding), a composition put together by combining popular songs and Alemshah's own melodies. In 1937, “Haygagan harsanik” received second prize in an international competition to which twenty nations participated.

Concurrently, Alemshah conducted the Alakyaz choir on a number of occasions, initially to mark the establishment of the Soviet regime in Armenia, and later to benefit the Armenian War Relief efforts. In 1939, he was appointed conductor of the Sipan-Komitas chorus. He conducted Tigranian's opera Anush and performed the Armenian Divine Liturgy in a number of French cathedrals.

Alemshah died in Detroit (USA) of a heart attack on October 3, 1947, a day before he was scheduled to perform in the city.

Alemshah sang with an individual voice. His music exhibits fluid and elegant melodies, exquisite refinement and poise. His feeling for poetic atmosphere -- and the craftsmanship he used to communicate it -- was unique, giving his songs a rare musical substance and emotional intensity.

Some of his scores were published in Paris in 1947 and his manuscripts are reposited in the Charentz State Museum of Literature and Arts in Armenia. A CD of Alemshah's complete solo songs, performed by Elisabeth Pehlivanian, is available through www.cdrama.com.

His works include: Solo vocal: “Bukharig” (Stovepipe), “Im yerke” (My Song), “Yes siretsi” (I Loved), “Im yare” (My Beloved), “Aghvornerun” (To the Beautiful), “Nazerov” (Of Coyness), “Dzaghig ei” (I Was a Flower), "Ights" (Desire), "Sirelis" (My Love) and "Bjingo" (A Coquette). Choral: “Hayasdan” (Armenia), "Anushig yar jan” (Beautiful Sweatheart), “Mer bardizum” (In Our Garden), “Huntsk” (Harvest) and “Blbuln Avarayri” (The Nightingale of Avarayr). Instrumental: Lamento et dance arménienne (Lament and Armenian Dance) for vn & pn. Orchestral “Arevelyan kisherner” (Oriental Nights, 1931), “Hekyat” (A Tale) and “Yergu badmvadzk hazar u meg kisherneren” (Two Stories from 'The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'). Vocal-Orchestral: “Avarayri baderazme” (The Battle of Avarayr, 1934). Incidental music: “Vartavar” (Transfiguration, 1932) and “Dzovinar.”