Bechtler Ensemble (Tanja Bechtler, cello; Joe Meyer, violin; Tatiana Karpova, violin; Vasily Gorkovoy, viola; Emily Urbanek piano).
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Dear Shoger
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: She’s Slender like a Plane-Tree
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Oh, Nazan…
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: The Crane
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: The Red Shawl
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Girl’s Dance
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Folk Song
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Echmiadzin Dance
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: March Along!
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Clouds
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Festive Song
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Haymaker’s Song
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Spring
KOMITAS, arr. Aslamazyan: Song of the Little Partridge
Armine GHULOYAN: Sing, Cello No. 1
Armine GHULOYAN: Sing, Cello No. 3
Armine GHULOYAN: Sing, Cello No. 5
Navona NV6753
Formats: CD, digital
Release Date: August 22, 2025
Total Duration: 46:37
Giorgio Koukl | 15 SEP 2025
The Charlotte, North Carolina–based Bechtler Ensemble has released a new album of Armenian folk-inspired music, The Destiny of Armenia is its Cross, on Navona Records.
NV6753 cover art (click to enlarge)
Any transcription of folk music carries the opportunity to revive forgotten cultural heritage, but also the peril of ill-treatment of the subtle variety of folk traditions, not always an easy task for non-native musicians.
Here, we encounter seventeen tracks that feature a diverse array of transcriptions made by Sergei Zakari Aslamazyan (1897-1978), as well as some original music written by Armine Ghuloyan for piano and cello, with pianist Emily Urbanek joining the group.
The Bechtler Ensemble often presents thematic chamber music programs that bring together classical repertoire, contemporary works, and thoughtfully chosen narratives, frequently highlighting social issues, cultural history, and the universal human experience. Beyond the concert stage, the ensemble actively engages in community outreach and educational initiatives, making music accessible to a wider audience and inspiring meaningful conversations through art.
Founded by Swiss-born North Carolina cellist Tanja Bechtler, the Bechtler Ensemble is dedicated to fostering unity and cultural understanding through the power of music. Blending performance with education, the ensemble creates spaces where people of all backgrounds can come together for reflection, dialogue, and peace. The musicians—violinists Joe Meyer and Tatiana Karpova, and violist Vasily Gorkovoy, with cellist Bechtler—are excellent, leaving little room for imprecision in their ensemble playing. They have a natural sense of dynamics and would be perfect for any classical score. What is missing is a touch of the Oriental, rather wild, and typically irregular flair of Armenian music.
This music has some very distinctive characteristics: Most melodies are single-line (monodic) but ride over a continuous drone (the dam), famously sustained by a second duduk or by voice/instrument in ensembles. Harmony (in the Western sense) is an arranged layer. Intonation often employs intervals between piano keys (“neutral” seconds, flattened thirds/sevenths). Urban/arranged versions may temper these toward Western tuning, as is the case with this album. Grace notes, mordents, slides, and long melismas carry expressive weight, especially in laments and ashugh songs.
Oral village traditions met urban ashugh culture; 19th–20th-century collectors, foremost among them the monk Komitas Vardapet, transcribed and arranged thousands of songs, shaping the modern understanding and choral/solo art-song settings.
And exactly here is the difficulty for the arranger.
Despite the occasional use of non-conventional playing techniques, it lacks a little of the characterization that could be called typically Armenian. What we can hear could be classical European music from the late 20th century, except for the beautiful melody, collected by the fundamental figure of Armenian folk music: the orthodox monk Komitas, a personality well worth mentioning.
Komitas (1869–1935), a monk, priest, composer, ethnomusicologist, and choirmaster, is regarded as the founder of modern Armenian classical music. Born Soghomon Soghomonian, he entered the priesthood and became known as “Komitas Vardapet.” He devoted his life to collecting, preserving, and arranging thousands of traditional Armenian folk songs, giving them new life in choral and classical settings. Tragically, he was arrested and deported during the Armenian Genocide of 1915, an experience that destroyed his health. He spent his final years in silence and psychiatric care in Paris. Despite this, his legacy endures as a central figure in Armenian cultural identity and the history of world music.
This album certainly deserves praise for its unusual content and for its sincere attempt to revive this rich tradition. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- The Bechtler Ensemble: bechtlerensemble.com
Read more by Giorgio Koukl.
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