Article

Name: Yerevan in the Musical and Verbal Text of the Song Art of the Second Half of the 20th Century

Authors: Yervand H. Margaryan, Gayane S. Margaryan

Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, Yerevan, Armenia; Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia; Yerevan State Conservatory named after Komitas, Yerevan, Armenia

Abstract:

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the verbal and musical texts of two cult songs dedicated to Yerevan of the postmodern era “My Yerevan” to the music of Arno Babajanyan, to the words of Nora Adamyan and Harold Registan (1958), first performed in the film directed by Yuri Erzinkyan and Laert Vagharshyan “Songs of First Love” and “Erebuni-Yerevan” (1968) by Edgar Oganesyan, in the words of Paruyr Sevak. The first of these songs became the brand of postmodern Yerevan, the second – its official anthem. The article identifies the main stylistic and expressive means, melodic and verbal components of songs; the connections of the songs with the basic concepts of the Armenian linguistic culture and the traditions of urban song folklore are revealed. Comparative and interpretative analysis of verbal texts allowed us to identify the main stylistic techniques (visual and expressive means) that “humanize” the song, to consider ways of reflecting the songwriters and their audience, to understand what people lived, appreciated and loved in that era, what phenomena and trends were relevant in that historical period, what cultural trends they were dominant, and which social forces acted as customers, what goals they pursued. The article shows how the transformation of tastes and preferences took place with the change of generations, and how this was reflected in the songs about Yerevan.

Keywords: Yerevan, verbal and musical analysis, Arno Babajanyan, Edgar Oganesyan, Paruyr Sevak, reflection of songwriters and audience

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