REQUIEM APRIL 24 BY LORIS OHANNES CHOBANIAN Part 1

BW College Choir and Chamber Orchestra Conducted by Dirk Garner. Videographer - Dr. FRANK L. TOTH In 1976 Chobanians composition Soliloquy Testament of a Madman for Voice and Orchestra was commissioned and was premiered by the Ohio Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dwight Oltman with Melvin Hakola, baritone. The text is from Hitlers Mein Kampf and the Bible. Hitlers character is set against that of Job in the Bible. The motivating idea, influenced by the writings of Bacon, Schopenhauer and Voltaire, among others, deals with mans propensity to justify evil, especially in acts of genocide and mass murder; for example, in Mein Kampf Hitler claims that he was doing the work of the Almighty Creator. When planning the extermination of the Jewish people, Hitler referred to the Armenian Genocide as a workable precedent. For more than thirty years Chobanian has intentionally avoided the subject of Genocide in his compositions. No people who are unjustly treated would want only to be identified with the fact that they were victimized. After the premiere of Soliloquy Testament of a Madman there were those who approached the composer saying: Why do we still have to dwell on the subject of Genocide and Hitler? These were generally good people similar to those good Germen people who during the Nazi era, had a similar attitude and preferred to avoid the subject and to look the other way. The subject has been revisited in Chobanians most recent composition REQUIEM APRIL 24, for SATB Voices, Organ, Timpani and Chamber Ensemble. The text is in Armenian Tadh Hayoon, from a collection of poems by Haigouhi Seropian, a long time friend of the composer. The Armenian language, a direct descendant of the ancient Phrygian, belongs to a separate and independent branch of the Indo-European languages. The Armenian alphabet invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots enhanced the possibility and made it more convenient for the Bible to be translated to Armenian. The renowned American anthropologist Margaret Mead advocated the use of Armenian as a universal language to be used in the United Nations. REQUIEM APRIL 24 has strongly contrasting instrumental and choral passages. In the introduction there is a tribute to the celibate priest, composer Komitas Vartabed who was among the many Armenian intellectuals in Istanbul, Turkey, who were victimized on April 24, 1915. Chobanian has set the vocal parts in the Armenian choral tradition. It is powerful as well as practical, making it appropriate for a good Armenian Choral group to perform.