the former soviet folk ensemble
TRANSCRIPT
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A Look at the Emergence of the Concept of National Culture in Armenia: The Former SovietFolk EnsembleAuthor(s): Andy NercessianSource: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jun., 2000
), pp. 79-94Published by: Croatian Musicological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3108426Accessed: 09-03-2015 01:36 UTC
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A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE
SOVIET
FOLK ENSEMBLE IN
ARMENIA,
IRASM 31
(2000)
1,
79-94
79
A
LOOK
AT
THE
EMERGENCE
OF
THE
CONCEPT
OF
NATIONAL CULTURE
N
ARMENIA:
THE
FORMER
OVIETFOLK
ENSEMBLE
ANDY NERCESSIAN
St.
Edmund's
College,
University
of
Cambridge,
CAMBRIDGE,
B3
OBN,
United
Kingdom
UDC: 785.1:78.085.7(919.81)"19"
Original
Scientific
Paper
Izvorniznanstveni lanak
Received:
March
29,
2000
Primljeno:
9.
ozujka
2000.
Accepted:
May
15,
000
Prihvaeeno:
5.
svibnja
2000.
Abstract
-
R6sum6
This
article
attempts
to trace
a
history
of
the Soviet folk orchestra in Armenia from its birth
in
the 1920's to
the
present day.
Attitudes to-
wards the
orchestra are
representative
of
atti-
tudes
towards
folk music
in
general,
and
high-
light
the
degree
of its
symbolic
and
more
gener-
ally
communicative
capacity.
The numerous
lay-
ers of
meaning
created
in
the
diverse contexts of
performance all coagulate around the orchestra
as medium of
enactment of national
identity.
Pre-
senting
the
parallel
histories of
nationalism
in
Armenia
and the
folk orchestra
bring
to
light
the
factors
that
contributed
to
the
strengthening
of
this link
between
nation
and
music.
In a much cited
article,
Martin Stokes has shown how
ethnomusicology
has
finally
emerged
from an
epoch
in
which
it
viewed its
object
of
study
as
music
regarded
through
its
larger
cultural
context.
If,
previously,
research was moti-
vated
by
an interest
in
how social forces mould and
shape
music,
its central con-
cern now revolves around
how music has become one
of these
social
forces.
>>Mu-
sic does not
simply
provide
a
marker
in
a
prestructured
social
space,
but the means
by
which
this
space
can
be
transformed
-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
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80
A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE SOVIET FOLK ENSEMBLE IN
ARMENIA,
IRASM 31 (2000) 1, 79-94
In
highly
centralised
states,
there is a
tendency
to locate the state as
the
single
most influential factor
in
determining
the nature of such
processes.
That
policy
impositions
by governments
can effect enormous
changes
in the
way
musics are
performed,
heard and
perceived
has
repeatedly
been demonstrated.
Such
changes
are
usually necessary
first
steps
in
introducing
an
ideological
dimension to musi-
cal
expression.
Nowhere is this
'ideological
dimension' more
visible
than in the
case
of
na-
tionalist movements. The rise of national
conflict
that we have
witnessed follow-
ing
the
collapse
of the Soviet Union has
attracted much
scholarly
attention
to
this
intriguing yet strangely
elusive
phenomenon
of
'nation'.
It has
perhaps
been
the
centrality
of
'culture'
in
the
emergence
of
this
phenomenon
that has ensured its
survival
in
ethnomusicologicalwritings.
The
attempt
made
by
ideologues
to
'shape'
this culture has therefore unsurprisingly been a focal point in studies concerned
with
the
complex
web
of
relationships
between
music and
nation.
There can
be
no
doubt
that in
those cases
where
nation
building
relies
on the
effective
manipulation
of certain
powerful
cultural
forces,
ideologues'
awareness
of music as
a
precious
tool
in
their
possession
is of
great
interest.
Why
invest
such
considerable resources
in
music? Is
it
obvious
that music
is an effective
means
of
facilitating
the attainment of their
aspirations?'
More
often than
not,
however,
the formation
of so-called
national cultures
is
governed by
a
multiplicity
of factors
(rather
than a
single
central
all-embracing
one,
as much
state-centric
writing
has
implied),
all of
which
combine
in
dense
concatenations,
making
the
locating
of
one or
other
determinant
factor an exhaust-
ing
and fruitless exercise. No matter how
powerful
the state's influence on musi-
cal institutions
and
activity,
it remains
in
the
majority
of
cases,
just
one
of a number
of
equally
or
unequally
effective forces.
Objections
to
state-centric
theories become
most visible
when
music acts as
a
social demarcator
without some distinct form
of
political
instigation,
or
where
the intentions
of
the state or
governing
parties
have
ideological
bases far removed
from that of
nation-constructing.
The
case
of the Soviet
Union
furnishes us
with
just
such
an
example.
The state's
goals
may
be
thought
of as
intending
to elimi-
nate,
or
at
any
rate
mitigate,
the conventional social boundaries
of
class
and
na-
tion,
the
former,
by trying
to
'equalise'
the musics
of different
classes,
by
some-
how attempting an elevation of the status of 'folk' music, and the latter, by mak-
ing
musics of
all nations accessible
to one another
and
'equal'.
The
results,
how-
ever,
indicate the
inadequacy
of the
hypothesis
that the
state was
the central
agent
governing
the nature
of
social
uses
of
music. The
government
was
responsible
for
increased communications and
awarenesses
of 'other'
nations
creating perceptions
of
unequal
access to resources and social
differences. The awareness
of
'other'
inspired
not an assimilation
of
cultures,
but rather a construction
of self.
1
An
example
is the
case
of the
Ministry
of Culture
in
Turkey
initiating
the
collection
of Turkish
folk
songs
in
1920
(STOKES,
1992:
39).
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
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A.
NERCESSIAN,
HE
SOVIET OLKENSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM
1
(2000)
1,
79--94 81
In
this
paper,
I will
examine the case of
the
folk orchestra2
in
Armenia,
the
political
aims of
the
Soviet authorities who introduced
it,
and how
it
was a vital
but not exclusive factor in the rise of nationalism in the 1960's, after a
period
of
some
40
years
in
which Armenian
nationalism
was
suppressed
or at
any
rate
re-
mained dormant.
'Folk tunes' which were
able
to
adapt
to the new and
changing
context
of
the folk orchestra
formed
part
of the idea of a
homogeneous
national
culture.
The
folk
orchestra facilitated
the identification
of distinctive and
palpa-
ble
elements of
this so-called 'national
culture',
giving
it a
visual,
acoustical
and
aesthetic substance.
In
effect,
it
helped
define
it. The
large
number of
tours
which
were funded
by
the
Soviet
state,
backed
by
the
strictly
government
controlled
media of radio and
television
helped
make
this 'standardised'
form
of
national
culture
available to a far
larger segment
of
the
population
than had hitherto had
access to
'professional' renderings
of
folk music.
The folk
ensemble
however,
outlived
its
creators
and
purpose.
The
collapse
of
the Soviet Union and Marxist-Leninist
ideology by
no means
challenged
its
raison
d'etre,
which found
backing
in
its new
capitalist
environs
in
the West and
the
Armenians
of the
diaspora.
The Western enthusiasm
for
the exotic
sounds,
sights
and culture of
'obscure
places',
as
well
as the
new
found
attention Armenia
received
in
the
eyes
of
diasporan
Armenians
through
the
juxtaposition
of
a
number
of
incidents
(including
a
devastating earthquake
in
1988,
war
with
Azerbaijan
over a
predominantly
Armenian
enclave,
known as
Nagorno Karabagh,
and
a
newly
found
political
and
symbolic independence following
the
collapse
of the
Soviet
Union)
could all feed on the rich
fruits
presented
by
the
very
attractive
genre of folk ensemble music. It was in this context that the Europeanised form
and
character of the folk
ensemble saw
its
possible
future
path.
Armenia is situated
in
the most central of three
plateaus,
which
together
form
the Anatolian
highlands.
The
land
which now
geographically
defines
the
repub-
lic
of Armenia
occupies
only
about one tenth of the
area which is known
accord-
ing
to most scholars as
'historical
Armenia',
that
is,
the area
where
Armenians
lived,
over
the
past
two and a half
millennia,
whether
self-governed
or under
foreign
rule. The Armenians
are
described
in
surprising
detail
by Xenophon,
who
encountered them on
his
way
to Persia in
the
fourth
century
B.C.
In
404
AD a
certain
Mesrop
Mashtots
provided
the
language
with a
literary
basis
by
inventing
a
script
for
it. Armenia
grew
in
size as its
independent
kingdoms gained
in
power
in the 10th and 11th
centuries,
but has been
subjugated
by Mongol,
Arab, Otto-
man,
Russian and Persian
rules since.
In
1828,
much
of
Eastern
Armenia
(includ-
ing
what
is
at
present
the
Republic
of
Armenia)
came
under Russian
rule. This
2
Although
I
use
the terms 'folk orchestra'
and 'folk
ensemble'
interchangeably,
should
note
that the former
s
preferredby
Western
scholars
such as
Levin,
Djumaev
or
Rice,
while the
latter s
used
by
members themselves
in
Armenia
(I
am not certain
to
what
extent
the term
is
applicable
outside
Armenia).
Playersprefer
his
term,
as
it
helps
them
to differentiate
hemselves
fromWestern
classical
orchestras
uch as the Armenian
Philharmonic.
On the other
hand,
ethnomusicologists
who
are
used to
using
the
term
'ensemble'
to refer to
other,
especially
smaller
sized,
folk ensembles
will
find
'orchestra'
more useful.
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
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82
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HESOVIET OLKENSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM
1 (2000)
1,
79--94
period
saw
the
beginnings
of a Westernisation
process,
which was later
catalysed
by
the
onset
of
Soviet
ascendancy.
A
notable
impact
was
made
by
the
import
of
the Western idea of
nation,
which also
spread
to the Ottoman
Empire
and Turk-
ish
Armenia,
assisting
to
a
certain extent
in
the
large-scale
massacres which cul-
minated
in
a
genocide
in 1915.
Much of the
nationalist literature
of
the
19th
century
was
to
pave
its
way
to
20th
century
nationalist
movements.
The Turkish atrocities
provided
the frame-
work and fuel
for Armenian
unity
and
nationalism
in the
20th
century,
in
and
outside Armenia. Armenian terrorist activities
directed
against
Turks,
who
have
on
their
part
not
accepted responsibility
for the
genocides,
have resulted
in
some
136 attacks
against
Turks
from
1975
to 1981 claimed
by
the
Armenian
Secret
Army
demonstrating
the virile
presence
of nationalist attitudes
(SNYDER,
1990:
18).
The emergence of the folk orchestra may be understood as a product of
Marxist-Leninist
ideology,
the social climate under
which
it
found its
beginnings,
and
the
possibilities
the state
perceived
in
the effective
use
of
the latest
instru-
ment of
propagation
-
the radio.
Perhaps
not
surprisingly,
the
formation
of
the
folk orchestra and the installation of
the first radio station
in the Armenian
capital
took
place
in
the
same
year
(1926).
One
of the earliest
policies
employed by
the Soviet
state,
which was
probably
regarded
as a vital instrument
for the creation of
the
'Soviet man',
and
which
constitutes an
important
element of
Soviet
policy,
was
korenizatsiia
or
nativisation.
What
is
perhaps
unusual about this
policy
was that
it
seems
so
obviously
to
clash
with
Marxist
thinking.Marx did not ascribe much
importance
to nations and
nationalism,
consider-
ing
men to
be
fundamentally
the same across
nations,
claiming
that
the
only
truly
fundamental differences were
class
differences. There should be
no national con-
flicts,
just
class
conflicts.
Lenin, however,
placed
in a different
temporal
milieu,
was far more aware of the
potency
of
nations,
and of the
strength
of
nationalism
as
a social force.
If
Soviet
policy
had
always
aimed
at
removing
nationalism as an
active
political
element,
as most scholars believe
(and
there seem to be no
grounds
for
believing anything
different),
then the causes for the
appearance
of korenizatsiia
need
to be
examined
more
closely.
Lenin had the
considerable task
of
imposing
a socialist order on
a vast
em-
pire with more than 100 ethnic groups. He needed the backing and support of at
least the
more sizable of these
groups.
He
assumed
that
to obtain their
co-opera-
tion,
he
needed at least
temporarily
to allow them to
freely
assert their nation-
hood.
That
is,
he
assumed that nationalist
aspirations
did
exist,
and
that
if
they
were
satisfied,
these nations
might
more
easily
welcome the
imposition
of Soviet
rule.
A
second
important
factor
in
the
appearance
of korenizatsiia
was
the convic-
tion that
1)
it
was
possible
to
eliminate
any
national differences
between different
peoples,
and
2)
the
elimination of these differences would
wipe away any
nation-
alistic
sentiments.
Asserting
one's nationhood
would
be sufficient.
In this it was
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
6/17
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HE
SOVIET OLKENSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM 1
(2000)
1,
79-94
83
assumed that the
relative
deprivation
of a nation
with
respect
to anotherone
with
which
it
has some
contact,
was the
underlying
cause of nationalism.
Finally,
the close associationof the old
'bourgeois'
Russian
Empire
with eth-
nic
oppression
and
inequality
was all too
present.
The new Soviet state ruled
in
a
different
and
fairer
way.
In
the newSoviet
Union,
ethnic
inequalities
would
have
to be
eliminated,
not
encouraged.3
What
is crucial
is
that in
each of
the
factors,
it
was assumed that nations
already
existed,
that
the members
of
the nations had distinct national
identities,
and that
these
members viewed
their nations as
roughly homogeneous
units,
whether
on
cultural,
racial or
other
grounds.
Korenizatsiia
as
not
an
attempt
at
nation-building
because
it
assumed
that
nations and national
differences
already
existed.
To make up for the highly visible nationaldifferencesalready present, the
'backward'
nations
would
have to
be
modernised,
hey
would all have to be raised
to the
level
of
the
most
progressive
nations
in
the Soviet Union.
Needless
to
say,
such
lofty
goals
were
never
completely
realised,
although
some of the
institutions
which
were set
up
for
this
purpose
remained
and
are still
alive
today.
Modernisa-
tion
in
the arts
was
closely
linked to the
Marxist-Leninist
dea that human
society
was
to learn from
history
and build
on
knowledge previously
attained
and that
art
was to
have a social
function,
not a
purely
aesthetic one.
For
the
genre
of
folk
music,
this meant
using
classical
techniques, employed
by
the most
'advanced'
states
of
Europe
and
raising
folk
music
to
the level of
classical
music.
In
the first two or
three
years
of Soviet
rule,
there
was
an
attempt
to removefunding foroperacompletelyand even to forbid t (onthegroundsthat
it
was
a
symbol
of
'bourgeois'
culture),
but this
policy
was soon reversed. The
funding
into
the
development
of
professional
folk
ensembles and their
mainte-
nance remained
throughout
Soviet rule.
In the
twenties,
the first folk
orchestraswere set
up.
The
history
of the folk
orchestra
can
be dated
within
the Soviet Union as far back as
the
1870's,
when
the
first
Russian
folk
instruments orchestra
appeared.
This
was the
Vladimir
Horn
Players
orchestra,
ollowed
later
by
V.V.
Andreev'sGreat
RussianOrchestra
Great
Soviet
Encyclopedia:
8,
513).
The first folk orchestra
appeared
n
Armenia
n
1926.
It
was named the
Aram
Merangulian
orchestra after its
first
conductor/composer,
and
was based
in
Yerevan.The most
popular
folk instrumentswere chosen and reconstructedus-
ing
Western nstrument
construction
echniques.
An
example
s the
duduk,
highly
popular
instrument
among shepherds
and
peasants
of
the
time,
which
was recon-
structed
by
a certainV.G.
Buni,
and soon became standardised
n
three different
registers,
the
lowest
of these
-
the
Bunifon.
The
Bunifon
was a
digression
from
the 'idea' of the
duduk
known until
then,
since as
we know
from
older
recordings,
the duduk'ssound
resembled
that of a
zurna,
a
high pitched
and loud
shawm,
3
To
this
end,
Pipes
asserts
that
'perhaps
he
most
important ingle
element
which
keeps
ethnic
feelings
alive
in
multinational
states is
competition
for resources
and
services'
(PIPES,
975:
3).
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
7/17
84
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HESOVIET OLKENSEMBLEN
ARMENIA,
RASM 1 (2000)
1,
79-94
and
was
played
at a
higher
register
than the duduk we
know
today.
Buni
helped
reintroduce
it
as a more
'serious'
instrument,
which
was
capable
of
deeper
emo-
tion and a
finer,
more
sophisticated
sound. The standardisation of the three dif-
ferent duduks
was sufficient
for
Robert
Atayan
to describe
it in
Grove's
Dictionary
as
existing
in
three distinct
sizes,
ranging
from 28
to
40cm
in
length.
The sound
too,
continued to
develop
as
great
masters of the
instrument
appeared,
who
created
a
distinctive school
of
playing,
demonstrating
what the duduk was
capa-
ble of.
Some of the
finest
players
of these instruments
were chosen
and the
orches-
tra was
put together
in no
previously
developed
order. These
instruments
were
never known
to have been
performed
in the same ensemble
before and
although
these ensembles
developed
according
to the models set
by
the Western
classical
orchestras in Europe, complete with their wind, stringed and percussion instru-
ment
sections,
they
were
only approximate
imitations,
since
folk instruments
clearly
differed
from their
classical
counterparts.
Moreover,
duduk
players
had
never
previously
played
with
knar
(a
sort
of
lyre)
or
davough
(a
type
of
harp)
be-
fore,
and more
importantly, they
had
never
played
under the
guidance
of
a
lead-
ing
figure,
the conductor. As
most of these
players
were also
musically
illiterate,
they
had to be
taught
notation
(this
did not occur
until some
years
later)
to facili-
tate the
learning
of new
pieces,
or old
pieces
in
new
forms.
Players
now
had to
play
parts,
their role
being
dependent
on their
seemingly fragmentary participa-
tion and increased
co-operation
with
fellow
players.
Such
contexts
were new and
required consistency,
a new form of
accuracy
and
a
suppression
of the
improvisatory
instinct.
For all this to
be
achieved,
a
whole
system
of musical
education,
again,
modeled on the Western
system
was
necessary
and therefore
set
up.
The
first
conservatory
set
up
in
1923
in
Yerevan was
so
poor
that
musical
instruments,
accessories and
printed
music had
to
be sent
from abroad
by
Arme-
nians of the
diaspora,
to
keep
it
open.
Although
the
conservatory
did not offer
specialised
courses
in
folk instrument
performance
until the
seventies,
by
the fif-
ties,
technicums
(low
status conservatories
where
notation
and
performance
on
a
number of folk instruments were
taught,
and which were intended
primarily
for
folk
players
who
were
preparing
for
entry
into
folk
orchestras)
were
established
throughout the Soviet Union. By this time, folk orchestras were also well-estab-
lished
institutions,
and most
professional
folk
musicians
could
assert some
form
of
membership
in
a folk
orchestra
or
other.
The music
performed by
folk
orchestras were
essentially
folk
tunes
which
were collected
and
'harmonised'
by
a
classically
trained
composer
who also acted
as
the conductor
of
his
pieces
and
the
orchestra.
Although
Armenian
music,
it is
believed,
was
traditionally
monophonic,
it
was
richly
harmonised,
and
this
with
probably greater
freedom
than
in
say, neighbouring Georgia,
a
country
blessed
with a rich
polyphonic
tradition.
Thus,
folk tunes became
standardised and
re-
ceived
a 'standard'
harmony
which
may
have varied over the
years
with
new
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-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
8/17
A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE SOVIET
FOLK ENSEMBLE
IN
ARMENIA,
IRASM 31
(2000)
1,
79--94
85
arrangers,4
but their standardised tunes
and
harmonies
were
essentially
adhered
to once
they
were
established.
Another
significant
contribution was
provided
for
by
the advent of radio
technology.
The
development
of
the
radio found
great
support
in
the
Soviet
ideologues
who
very early
discovered
its
potential
as an instrument
of
propa-
ganda.
As
Zeltser
claims,
Lenin
>>viewed
radio
broadcasting
as
a
method
of
social
control
of
the
masses,
a
practical
and the most effective
way
of
communicating
with
the
people<
(ZELTSER,
1995).
In
a
Soviet
Union with
its
ethnic
and
linguistic
diversity,
its
largely
illiterate
population,
the
poor
conditions
of
roads
and rail-
ways,
and
its sheer
size,
radio
broadcasting development quickly
attracted
great
sums of
money
in
the earliest
days
of Soviet
government.
Between 1917
and
1920,
radio
developed
from
an
instrument
capable
of
trans-
mitting
and
receiving
Morse
code,
to one
capable
of
communicating
live
voices,
thanks to the
great
number
of
laboratories
set
up
for research.
Indeed,
the
Soviets
were
among
the
first
to
note the
propagative
potential
of radio.
With
state
back-
ing,
broadcasting
and
receiving techniques
were enhanced
and
by
1920,
the
hu-
man
voice was first transferred via radio
waves,
in
the Soviet
Union.
In
1921,
this
new
technology
was
put
into
operation,
as
a
powerful
station was
set
up
to
broad-
cast news
and
political messages every day
for a few hours.
However,
whereas
in
America
broadcasting
took
place
to
improve
sales
of
receivers,
in
the Soviet Union the
broadcasting
and the sale of receivers
were
un-
related.
The Americans broadcast
music to attract
the
consumer.
The
Soviet
con-
sumer was
in no
financial
position
to
buy
receivers,
and
the
State
had in
any
case
no interest in broadcasting music over the radio at this stage.
But
if
the radio
was to
succeed
as a medium
of
propaganda,
the
number of
receivers
would have to be increased.
In
Lenin's
words:
Every
village
should
have radio
Every government
office,
as well as
every
club
in
our factories
should
be
aware that at a
certain
hour
they
will hear
political
news
and
major
events
of the
day.
This
way
our
country
will
lead
a life of
highest
political
awareness,
constantly knowing
actions of
the
government
and views of the
people
(as
quoted
in
ZELTSER,
995).1
4
It seems somewhat
strange
to call
composers
who
effectively
wrote all
aspects
of
the music
other than the basic 'tune' arrangers. In the 19th century, when it became the fashion to write the so-
called nationalistic
music
basing compositions
on 'authentic'
folk tunes
from one's own
nation,
the
composer's creativity
was
judged
on
his
ability
to use these
tunes. Variations
on themes
were also
a
common
aspect
of
'composition',
not
arrangement.
However
paradoxical
it
may
seem,
the
Soviet
folk
orchestras
were never
regarded
in
the same
way
as classical orchestras.
The work
of the com-
poser/arranger
was intended
merely
to do
justice
to
the
art
of
the
people.
He
simply
raised
it to the
desired
level. This music was never
regarded
as
anything
other than folk
music.
It was not the
crea-
tion of an individual.
Therefore,
the title
'arranger' may
be more
suitable,
since
it
helps
us
under-
stand the
way
this
figure
was
regarded,
although
even here
the
subject
is
open
to criticism.
Until
today,
this mere
arranger
is
regarded
as the authoritative
figure,
and leader
of the
orchestra,
and
his
knowledge
is
respected
as
superior.
It is also
likely
that he
will
have
graduated
from a
conservatory
as
opposed
to most
players
who
will
have
only
received
a
technicumeducation.
s
The translation
is Zeltser's
(1995).
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-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
9/17
86
A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE SOVIET FOLK ENSEMBLEIN
ARMENIA,
IRASM
31 (2000)
1, 79--94
Sets
of
loudspeakers
were
installed
in
places
of
public
gathering
to make the
spoken newspaper
accessible to the
people.
There could be no doubt that the
huge
financial
support
that research into
the
development
of the radio
received,
was
never
intended as
a medium for mu-
sic
by
the Soviet
ideologues.
But
by
1925,
experimenting began
as
to how
best to
program
radio
time,
and
public approval
or
disapproval
became
a
significant
fac-
tor.
Party
officials who had so far been
interested
only
in
the
content of
non-mu-
sical
programming began
turning
their attention
to music.
Thus
the
first
steps
towards
standardization
of culture
prompted
by
a
standardization
through
large
scale dissemination of a
music
were
effected.
The
policy
of korenizatsiia which was
pre-eminent
in
the
early
days
of
the
Soviet
regime,
was soon
reversed,
although
many
of its institutions remained.
By
1938, for instance, Stalin had, in the face of a need for greater unity
in
the Soviet
Union,
made
Russian
compulsory
in
all
secondary
schools
in
Armenia. The
Rus-
sian
language,
which was
more
'progressive'
could
act as a
lingua franca.
Similar
policies
and
changes
affected the entire
USSR.
Folk
music, too,
reached
its
post-revolutionary
nadir
in
the 1930's.
The
Rus-
sian for
folk
song,
narodnaia
pesnia,
could
also be translated
as
'people's
music',
and it
was now decided that
people's
music,
that
is,
the
music of the masses
did
not
have to
be
folk
music,
it could
be
progressive
music.6
The
collecting,
use,
and
promulgation
of folk
song
was
highly
discouraged
on the
grounds
that it
was a
'backward'
element
of
culture.'
The
1938
policy
was not reinforced
and made no
impact.
There was no decline
in
the
performance
and dissemination
of
folk
music.
In the 1930's, an aesthetic theory called 'Socialist Realism' was created and
its canons influenced
all
aspects
of artistic life
in
the Soviet Union.
Perhaps
the
most notable
consequences,
in
addition to a
'moving
away
from the folk
idiom',
were
the need to eliminate
negative
aspects
of
Soviet
life.
Melancholy
music
was
highly discouraged,
because
the
Soviet
people
were a
happy
people,
and
they
were
proud
of
their
music
and their art. Socialist
realism was the
placing
of art in
the
servile
position
of
being
one of
many
methods of
configuring
a
socialist
order,
or
to
paraphrase,
it
gave
the
working
man
inspiration
to
work more.
With
the
exception
of
the
four
years
of
world
war
(where
a
cultural relaxa-
tion acted as
a
means of
mobilising
public opinion
of the
regime8)
socialist
real-
6
Likewise the Armenian term
used to refer to folk music
is azkain
yerajishdoutioun
meaning
at
once,
national
music,
and
people's
music.
7
This was not
regarded
as
being contradictory
in
any
way
to the Stalinist
policy
advertised
as
'national in
form,
socialist in content'.
The 'socialist'
in
this
phrase
was
meant
to
imply
'progressive'.
The
folk
ensemble was national
in
form,
that is
it
used national
(asgain
in
Armenian,
for
instance)
instruments,
but was socialist
in
content,
that
is it
served the needs
of
socialism.
It was at once for the
masses,
and
progressive.
Earlier,
it was
attempted
to
educate
the masses in the realm of classical
music,
but it
was
soon discovered that the folk ensemble
playing
music
composed
in a
classical
style,
was far
more
successful.
In
the
name of
progress,
however,
the folk
aspects
were
increasingly
discouraged
in
favour of
the classical
aspects.
8
Armenians
were not
homogeneously loyal
to
their
Soviet
'nation'
during
the
war.
Many
of
them
sided
with
the Germans.
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-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
10/17
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HE
SOVIET
OLKENSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM
1
(2000)
1,
79--94
87
ism remained an
unwavering
attribute of the
Stalinist
years.
With the death
of
Stalin in
1953, however,
a 'thaw'
began
in which the rise of
a
new nationalism
would
pave
its
way
to a number of
surprising
events.
The
movement
towards
a
federal structure
encouraged by
Khruschev and
the
very
much
alive
policy
of korenizatsiia
which
ensured that the
personnel
of all
institutions in
Armenia
would be
Armenian,
and which was followed
systemati-
cally)
encouraged
ethnic distinction and cultural
diversity
and furthered still the
much-awaited
acculturation,
which would
eventually
create
the
culturally
ho-
mogeneous
Soviet nation.
The rise of
nationalism which was made
possible
by
the
post-Stalinist
thaw-
ing process
was enforced
by
the
formation of
the
idea
of
a
national
culture.
The
formation of
such
notions
were
not
discouraged
for several
reasons,
the
most im-
portant of which was the peculiar nature of Armenian nationalism. If nationalism
can
be
considered to have a
direction,
i.e.
inspired
by
some
form
of
hatred,
the
case of
Armenian nationalism was not a threat to the
unity
of the Soviet
Union,
because
it
was
directed
towards the Turks.
For
this
reason
there was a
degree
of
tolerance where Armenia was
concerned which
was not
granted
to
say
the
Geor-
gians,
or the
Estonians.
If
we use
musical
processes
as
a
metonym
for
cultural
ones as
prompted
by
Armenian
views,
the folk ensemble
can
provide
us
with
some
insights
into
the
formation of national
attitudes. In the 1950's the Aram
Merangulian
ensemble
went on a number
of tours outside the Soviet
Union.
It was in this
context
that we
may
address the
emergence
of the notion of a national culture as
expressed through
the folk ensemble. Arsen
Grigorian,
a member of the ensemble with whom I
spent
much
time
explained
his devotion to this institution
thus:
The folk
ensemble
gives
us the chance
to show
the world that we have our own
culture,
our own
traditions,
our own music.
At
another moment he
pointed
out that
The Turkswill
say, they
don't
have their
own
music,
their own art
[...]
what do
they have, the Armenians?
Indeed,
these
views
probably
emerged
with
the
growing
awareness of
'being
Armenian'
that
the extensive tours
provided
members of the ensemble
with.
The
Middle East and
Europe,
and
later America were all on the ensemble's
agenda.
A
member of the
audience
at one of these
concerts
in Beirut
in
1956 recalls:
When
they
came to
perform
in
the UNESCO
building,
which
has three floors
and seats more than a
1000,
people
were
queuing
up
for ticketsas
far
as
the
eye
could
see,
and
they
had
three concertson
three consecutive
days.
But
it
wasn't
just
Armeni-
ans
who were there.
All
the Arab members of
parliament
and
important
officials
were there. We were
truly
proud
of
being
Armenian,
hen.
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-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
11/17
88
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HESOVIET
OLKENSEMBLEN
ARMENIA,
RASM 1
(2000)
1,
79-94
It comes
as no
surprise
that this
ambassadorship
of Armenian
culture,
as-
sisted not
only
members,
but also the
ensemble
in
attaining
a
distinctly
national
identity,
and
encouraged
the association between the sounds of the folk ensemble
as heard on radio and in
concerts,
its visual
representation
as seen
on television
and
the notion of a
'national culture'.
In
addition,
the association
forged
by
the
use of the word
azkain,
(which
may
be translated as either
'folk' or
'national')
was
used
equally
to refer to the 'folk music'
played by
the ensemble and the
national
culture which it
represented.
Growing
contact with the
outside world also
forged
a
new
fear for
players,
that of
losing
the
national culture. Fear of
foreign
elements,
in
other
words as-
similation,
ensured
the
survival of all forms of
representation
of the national cul-
ture. In
Suny's
words,
>the
conflict
in the
Soviet
Union between ethnic consolida-
tion,
on the
one
hand,
and
potential
acculturation
and
assimilation,
on the
other,
created fears
among
small
nationalities
that their national
distinctiveness
might
be lost
in
the near
future>solve
the Armenian issue for the
next
fifty
years
-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
12/17
A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE
SOVIET
FOLK ENSEMBLE
IN
ARMENIA,
IRASM
31
(2000)
1,
79--94 89
as
opposed
to
violence
or
other orms
of
violence-provoking
emonstrations,
which
are
regarded
as
negative
and
extreme.
A
demonstration
which
incorporates
olk
music and danceseems to have less
implications
politically speaking(despitethe
fact
that
this
may
not be the
case)
and is therefore
tolerated. Such
events,
how-
ever,
become
responsible
for
the associations
between folk musics
and national
identities,
and therefore
help
define 'national
musics'
[azkain
erazhshdoutioun,
it.
national
music,
but refers
to
any
folk
music,
as
already
mentioned].
The
shaping
and
defining
of national cultures are the
logical
next
steps.
The
association between folk ensemble
and national identities
were not
lim-
ited to acoustical
elements.
In
1956,
Armenia
acquired
ts
own
broadcasting
chan-
nel,
which was thanks
to
the
subsequent
federalisation
of the
Soviet
Union in-
creasingly
locally
controlled. This
provided
the folk ensemble with a much
more
powerful
medium
forpresentinga visual element.
A
consequence
of
this was
the
importance
of dress.
As
already
noted,
from its
outset,
the folk
ensemble
was fashioned in such a
way
that it
would raise the
status
of folk music to that of classical music.
Natu-
rally,
to
achieve
such
an
image,
it
would
be
necessary
not
only
to use concert
halls,
conductors and a
spatial
organisation
n
the form
of
seating arrangements
for
players,
similar to that of
classical
music
but
the
dress code had to be altered.
Black
suits and
bowties
characterised
his
recodification.9
However,
when
in
the
fifties,
the folk ensemble
began
touring
internation-
ally,
the dress
code underwent a
new
change.
A
record,
now
produced
on CD of
the
Taloul
Altunian
ensemble and
folk
dance
group
performing
in
1965
at the
Balbeck festival of Lebanon,for instance,shows both musicians and dancers in
the
so-called 'traditional Armenian dress'.
In
the 1980's
and
90's,
the
growing
world music
industry
and the
increasedcontact
between Armeniansof
the
diaspora
and
those of the homeland
enforced
this visual
image.
Quite
clearly,
aspects
of
the
folk ensemble
are
increasingly being
shaped
in
accordance
with
what
members,
organisers
of concerts
and
producers
believe
is
being expected
of them.
This,
in
turn,
is
very
much influenced
by
the Western
ideological
concerns where
authenticity
and the
rich
cultural
expression
(which
is
that
of
the
age-old
national traditions of
a
country)
are
highly
valued.
Every-
thing
is
required
to
be authentic.The music
and the instruments
are
seen
as au-
thentic,
since the limited
knowledge
of
pre-Soviet
folk
music,
instruments and
dress
may easily
be
manipulated
to conformto this
requirement.
The
romantic idea of a
distant and
glorious past
is
increasingly
stressed to-
day,
as a
development
is
envisaged
which
is
free from
external and
'corrupting'
influences. CD
covers
present
Mediaeval
churches,
ancient
sculptures,
photo-
graphs
of ancient
engravings
and 'old' art.
With
the
collapse
of
the
Soviet
Union,
markets have assumed control
of
the
appearance,
design
or
presentation
of CDs
and
tapes,
and the
largest
of
these markets
s
to be found
in
the
diaspora,
where
9
Note the case
of
the
debate over
Chinese
folk music
and the seminal
importance
of
'quality'
attached
to it.
(KUN,
1981:
3)
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
13/17
90
A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE SOVIET FOLK ENSEMBLE
IN
ARMENIA,
IRASM
31 (2000)
1,
79-94
the
'past'
has
even
greater
sanctity
than in the
homeland.
The
diasporan
consum-
ers
feel
they
are
buying
the
older
purer
culture of their
homeland,
not some
So-
viet construct. Thus, associations between the folk ensemble and folk music in
general
and
the
perception
of
Armenia's
culturally
rich
past
are
reinforced,
in-
creasingly assigning
music
the
role of
a
proud
representative
of national culture.
Theoretical ossibilities
for Explanation
nd
Conclusion
As
evidenced
by
the results
of
a
large
scale
ethnosociology
research
conducted
in
the
Soviet
Union
in
the
mid
1980's,
>in
general,
folk
music
of
one's
own nation-
ality occupies
a
leading
place among
the musical interests of
most of
the
popula-
tion
-
8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
14/17
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HE
SOVIET
OLK NSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM
1
(2000)
,
79-94
91
creasingly
to fulfil
a function
comparatively
new
for
it
-
that of
serving
as
a
symbol
of
ethnicity.
However
paradoxical
t
may
seem,
this function
is
especially
evident
among highly urbanisedpeoples, those who have departedmost fromtheway of life
of a
traditional folk
culture,
and
second,
among peoples
who have
been
relatively
little
affected
by
urbanisation
processes,
and
among
whom
the
traditional
culture
has remained most intact.
(1988,
36)
This
apparent paradox
is
easily
resolved
when one considers the function of
the
folk ensemble as an
attempt
to
reconcile
the
urban
identity
with the
national
identity
(which
depends
so
heavily
on the idea
of
an
'authentic'
culture,
lacking
in the
corrupted
urban
way
of
life).
The
'spirit'
of the
nation,
seen as
the
'spirit'
of
the
people,
that is the real
people,
effortlessly
equates
'national'
with
'rural'.
From
this
premise,
we are
in
a
position
to view the so-called
'function'
of
the
folk
en-
semble as a medium for the reconciliation of the two extremes of Arutunian and
Bromlei's
traditional/urbanized
binary opposition.
It
is
precisely
the role of
the
folk ensemble
in
reconciling
these
two cultures
that makes
it
an effective
medium
of ethnic
consolidation,
and
helps give
the idea of national culture some substance.
In
short,
the folk ensemble serves both the
requirements
of
the newfound
urban
identity
and the
attempt
to
keep
one's traditional culture
'intact'.
Arutunian and
Bromlei's
argument recognizes
the
importance
of
the
symbolicity
of the
folk
ensemble,
but
uses this more as a
justification
for
the 'need'
for a
folk
revival. Their thesis is
inadequate
because it omits certain seminal func-
tions
of folk music and its
significations.
By emphasizing
the 'revival'
perspec-
tive,
we run
the
danger
of
mitigating
three factors central to
the
role of
the
folk
ensemble in society: its position in nation constructing, its presence for nation
defining,
and
its
capacity
to
provide
a medium
for
peaceful
and
acceptable
ex-
pression
of national sentiment and enactment of
identity.
All
three
depend
to
some
extent
on the
folk
ensemble
perceived
as
representative
of
the
nation's
en-
tire culture. Each
of
these functions is
dependent
on
culture viewed as
the
very
foundations
of nationhood.
This final
ideological position
is
most
easily adopted
when it has been deter-
mined
in
a
society,
that culture is
the
principal
building
block of
a
nation.
The
word 'culture'
in
this context
has thus
increasingly
been
identified
with
repre-
sentative
forms
or
signifiers.
But
signifiers
are not chosen
arbitrarily,
and
depend
upon
foreign
models
whence
they
are derived.
This leads us to a
way
of
thinking
about the
growth
of national identities
through
associations
with elements
of
a
perceived
idea of
'culture',
which
is
often
downplayed
and
omitted
in
ethnomusicological
writing
as
well
as
elsewhere.
Namely,
that national
identities,
as
with all
identities,
are
deeply
rooted
in
an
awareness
of
other
identities
of the
same
form.
The notion
of the
Armenian na-
tion has
grown
in
contradistinction
to
the Turkish
nation,
the
Azeri
nation,
the
Russians,
the
Iranians,
nations
of Western
Europe
and
America,
so
on
and
so forth.
The
Armenian
viewpoint,
whether
we
consider
the
folk
ensemble
players,
or
any
member of
their vast
audience,
should
be understood
through
the outlook
and
understanding
of other
nations.
The
growth
and
dissemination
of nationalism
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
15/17
92
A.
NERCESSIAN,
THE SOVIET FOLK ENSEMBLE
IN
ARMENIA,
IRASM
31 (2000)
1,
79--94
has
depended
on increased communications
with 'other' countries.
I am not
re-
ferring
here
to
the
relationship
between
dominant
and
peripheral
cultures,
nor of
the
importation
of the Western
concept
of 'nation' (see for instance, DAVIS, 1997).
Rather,
on the
necessity
of
constructing
one's
identity
(no
matter how
that iden-
tity
takes
shape
and
form)
on
images
formed
and derived from other
identities.
If
constructions
of
identity depend
on
signifiers
and
representative
forms,
the above
perspective provides
the framework
for an
understanding
of
the
proc-
ess
of
'copying',
which takes
place
in the
attempt
at
self-representation.
The case
of the folk ensemble demonstrates how
musical forms
are
copied
as are
compositional
techniques,
instrument constructions
and
the like.
If
Soviet
ideology
had
attempted
the
permanent
elimination of
national
boundaries
through
large-scale
assimilation,
they
only
assisted
in
deepening
the
awareness
of
'other'
which led
to the
above-described
consequences.
The
Soviets,
through
a failure
of
their
'equalisation' policy,
created
the
very
prerequisites
of
nationalism,
a
plurality
of
melting pots.
We
may
thus
agree
with
Gellner
when he
eloquently
states
that
cultural
nuances in the
agrarian
world are
legion:
they
are like
raindrops
n
a
storm,
there is
no
counting
of
them. But when
they
all fall on
the
ground,
they
do
not,
as
it
were,
coagulate
nto
one
large
all-embracing
puddle
-
nor
do
they
remain
sepa-
rate: in
fact,
they aggregate
into a number of
distinct,
large,
often
mutually
hostile
puddles.
The
aggregation,
the
elimination
of
plurality
and
nuance
anticipated
by
the
internationalists,
does
indeed take
place,
but
it
leaves
behind
not one
large
universal
culture-puddle,
but a whole set of
them
(GELLNER,
997:
33).
Gellner's
explanation
depends
on the
assumption
that nationalism
is basi-
cally
instigated through
industrialisation
and
modernisation.
If we take this
stance,
we must also
agree
with
him
that
>the
tidal wave
of
industrialisation
and mod-
ernisation does not
hit
all
parts
of
the world at
the
same
time
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16/17
A.
NERCESSIAN,
HE
SOVIET
OLK
ENSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM
1
(2000)
1,
79--94
93
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARUTUNIAN, Y., and V. BROMLEI
1988 Sociocultural Profile of Soviet Nationalities
-
Ethnosociology
Research
Results,
in
Soviet
Anthropology
nd
Archaeology
7:
(1),
7-70
DAVIS,
Ruth
1997
Cultural
Policy
and
the
Tunisian Ma'luf:
Arabic
Songs:
Redefining
a
tradition,
Ethnomusicology
1:
(1),
1-21
GELLNER,
Ernest
1997
Nationalism,
London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson
Great
Soviet
Encyclopedia:
Translation
of
theThirdEdition
1978 New York: Macmillan
KUN,
Fang
1981
A
Discussion on Chinese
National
Musical
Tradition,
Asian Music
12:
(2),
3-11
PIPES,
Richard
1975
Introduction,
in Handbook
of Major
Soviet
Nationalities,
Zev
Katz
(ed.),
New
York:
Free
Press
SNYDER,
Louis
1990
Encyclopediaof
Nationalism,
New York:
Paragon
House
STOKES,
Martin
1992
The
ArabeskDebate:Musicand
Musicians
n Modern
Turkey,
Oxford:Clarendon
1994 Introduction:
Ethnicity, Identity
and
Music,
in
Ethnicity, Identity
and
Music:
The
Musical
Construction
of
Place,
Martin
Stokes, (ed.),
1-28
SUNY,
Ronald
Grigory
1997 Soviet
Armenia,
n TheArmenian
eople
romAncient
o ModernTimes
Vol.
I.,
Richard
G. Hovannisian
(ed.), 347-388,
London:
Macmillan
ZELTSER,
Lenny
1995
Early Stages
of Soviet
and American Radio
Broadcasting,
on the
internet at:
http://
www.zeltser.com/radio/
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8/8/2019 The Former Soviet Folk Ensemble
17/17
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A.
NERCESSIAN,
HE
SOVIET OLKENSEMBLE
N
ARMENIA,
RASM
1
(2000)
1,
79-94
Sa;etak
POGLED NA POJAVU IDEJEO NACIONALNOJ KULTURI U ARMENIJI:
BIVMI
OVJETSKI
FOLKLORNI
ANSAMBL
U
danku
se
pokuSava
ustanoviti
povijest sovjetskog
folklornog
orkestra
u
Armeniji
od
njegova
nastanka 1920-ih
do
danas. Stavovi
spram
orkestra
reprezentativni
su za stavove
spram
folklorne
glazbe opdenito
i
predstavljaju
najviSi stupanj njegovih
simbolikkih i
opdenitije komunikacijskih
sposobnosti.
Brojni
slojevi znadenja
stvoreni
u
razlikitim
kontekstima izvedbi
zgugnjavaju
se
oko
orkestra
kao
medija odredivanja nacionalnog
identiteta.
Pokazivanje
usporednih povijesti
nacionalizma
u
Armeniji
i
folklornog
orkestra
osvjetljava
6imbenike
koji
su
pridonijeli jaeanju
ove veze izmedu naroda
i
glazbe.
Sredignja
teza
rasprave je
da
je
nametanje sovjetske politike
u
umjetnosti
bilo
rado
prihvadeno
na
podrudju
folklorne
glazbe
kako
bi
se
postigli
ciljevi razliditi
od
onih
koji
su
le2ali u
namjeri
te
politike.
Vrlo
pojednostavljeno
receno, za
politiku
se mo2e smatrati da
je
bila sredstvo
uklanjanja
nacionalnih
razlika
putem paralelnog
cilja
>>napredovanja<
zaostalih naroda.
Medutim,
rezultat
je
bio
njegovanje
nacionalnih
identiteta
do
tocke
osna2ivanja
pojma
>>nacionalne
kultureodozdo< i na
na6in
na
koji
ga
se
bilo
oblikovalo
drugim
6imbenicima
osim
ideologije
>odozgo