Ghazaros Saryan

Ghazaros (Lazarus) Saryan (, ; 30 September 1920 – 27 May 1998) was an Armenian composer and educator.

Life and career Ghazaros Saryan was born into a family of distinguished Armenian artists. He was the son of renowned painter Martiros Saryan and the grandson of the prominent writer Ghazaros Aghayan. Musically gifted, Ghazaros attended the Yerevan State Conservatory from 1934 to 1938, where he studied composition with Sargis Barkhudaryan and Vardges Talyan. Afterwards, he travelled to Moscow and enrolled in the composition class of Vissarion Shebalin at the Gnessin State Musical College.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1941, Ghazaros was drafted into the Soviet army and served actively until 1945. Subsequently, he entered the Moscow Conservatory. Among his composition teachers were Dmitri Kabalevsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Anatoly Nikolayevich Alexandrov. Saryan graduated in 1950.

Upon his return to Armenia, Saryan joined the faculty of the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory where he taught orchestration. During 1955–56, he was chairman of the Armenian Composers' Union. In 1960, he was appointed rector of the Conservatory, a position he retained until 1986. Saryan taught composition as well, training such Armenian composers as Tigran Mansurian, Rober Altunyan, Vardan Adjemyan and Ruben Sargsyan.

Ghazaros Saryan was essentially a composer of symphonic oeuvre. He also wrote works for chamber music, as well as several film scores.

Saryan received many awards, including the honorary titles People's Artist of the Armenian SSR in 1972 and People's Artist of the USSR in 1991. For his military service he was decorated with the Order of the Red Star.

Saryan's Armenia: Symphonic Panels was performed in 1991 at the Pierre Boulez Contemporary Music Center in Metz, France, and his Passacaglia was presented in 1995 during the Athens Music Festival.

Ghazaros Saryan's manuscripts are deposited at the Martiros Saryan Museum, in Yerevan, Armenia.

Compositions

Orchestra Symphonic Poem, 1950 Symphonic Images, 1956 Հանդիսավոր նախերգանք [Festive Overture], 1957 Adagio and Dance, string orch, 1957 Serenade, 1959 Armenia: Symphonic Panels on motifs by Martiros Saryan, 1966 Vn Concerto, 1972 Symphony, 1980 Choreographic Composition, 1987 Passacaglia, 1994 Fanfares, 1996 Andante and Presto, vn, chm orch, 1997

Vocal Սովետական Հայաստան [Soviet Armenia], vocal soloists and chorus, 1950 Երգ խաղաղության [Peace Song], voice, pf, 1951 Խաղաղության օրը [Day of Peace] (vocal-symphonic suite), chorus and orch, 1953 Քեզ եմ երգում, Հայրենիք [Fatherland, I Am Singing of You], voice, pf, 1955

Instrumental Theme with Variations, pf, 1947 Sonata no. 1, vc, pf, 1948 String Quartet no. 1, 1949 Dance, pf, 1955 Concert Piece, trp, pf, 1962 Aria and Toccata, vn, pf, 1966 Պապիկի ժամացույցը [Grandfather's Clock], pf, 1970 String Quartet no. 2, 1986 Sonata no. 2, vc, pf, 1989 3 Postludes, pf, 1990

Romances Ինչու՞ ուշացար [Why Are You Late?], 1956 Հինգ քնարական երգեր [Five Lyrical Songs], 1960

Film Scores Փեսատես [Visiting the Groom], 1953 Մանրունք [Small Change], 1954 Հովազաձորի գերիները [The Captives of Hovazadzor], 1956 Առաջին սիրո երգը [The Song of First Love] (composed with Arno Babadjanian), 1958 01-99, 1959 Նրա երազանքը [Her Fantasy], 1959 Մեր թաղի ձայները [The Voices of Our Neighborhood], 1960 Մարտիրոս Սարյան [Martiros Saryan], 1965 Արևային գույների մեղեդին [Melodies of Sunshine], 1979