Aram Khachaturian

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Aram Khachaturian was born on 6 June (24 May Old Style) 1903 in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) into an Armenian family; some sources indicate Kojori, a village near Tiflis, as his birthplace, and Khachaturian himself said he was born in Kojori. His father, Yeghia (Ilya), was born in Upper Aza near Ordubad in Nakhichevan and moved to Tiflis at 13, owning a bookbinding shop by 25. His mother, Kumash Sarkisovna, was from Lower Aza. They had five children, of whom Aram was the youngest. From 1906 to 1922 he lived at 93 Uznadze Street in Tbilisi. He received primary education at the commercial school of Tiflis and considered a career in medicine or engineering. In 1921, the eighteen-year-old Khachaturian moved to Moscow to join his oldest brother, Suren, a stage director at the Moscow Art Theatre. He enrolled at the Gnessin Musical Institute in 1922, simultaneously studying biology at Moscow State University. He initially studied cello under Sergei Bychkov and later Andrey Borysyak. In 1925, Mikhail Gnessin started a composition class, which Khachaturian joined, writing his first works: the Dance Suite for violin and piano (1926) and the Poem in C Sharp Minor (1927). In 1929 he entered the Moscow Conservatory to study composition under Nikolai Myaskovsky and orchestration under Sergei Vasilenko, finishing in 1934 and completing graduate work in 1936. His Armenian-influenced First Symphony (1935) as a graduation work "drew the attention of prominent conductors and was soon performed by the best Soviet orchestras" and was admired by Shostakovich. His first major work, the Piano Concerto (1936), established him as a respected composer in the Soviet Union and was "played and acclaimed far beyond the borders of the Soviet Union". The Violin Concerto (1940) won a Stalin Prize, second class, and "gained international recognition", first performed by David Oistrakh. In 1942, at the height of World War II, Khachaturian reworked his first ballet Happiness into Gayane, first performed by the Kirov Ballet in Perm while Leningrad was under siege; it earned him his second Stalin Prize, first-class, and he returned the prize money to the state to build a tank for the Red Army. He composed the Second Symphony (1943) for the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution and incidental music to Masquerade (1944). In 1944 he composed the Anthem of the Armenian SSR. Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was officially denounced as a "formalist" and his music dubbed "anti-people" in 1948 but was restored later that year. After 1950 he taught at the Gnessin Institute and the Moscow Conservatory and turned to conducting. In 1957 he became Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, a position he held until his death.

Reader's Guide

Aram Khachaturian is significant as the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century and a leading Soviet composer. He composed the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score. While following the established musical traditions of Russia, he broadly incorporated Armenian and, to a lesser extent, Caucasian, Eastern and Central European, and Middle Eastern peoples' folk music into his works. His most popular piece, the "Sabre Dance" from Gayane, has been used extensively in popular culture and performed by many musicians worldwide. He is highly regarded in Armenia, where he is considered a "national treasure". His career illustrates the complex relationship between Soviet composers and state approval: he held high posts in the Union of Soviet Composers from the late 1930s, joined the Communist Party only in 1943, and was denounced as a "formalist" in 1948 alongside Prokofiev and Shostakovich, but was restored later that year. His concertos—Piano (1936), Violin (1940), and Cello (1946)—are "often considered a kind of a grand cycle", and his ballets Gayane (1942) and Spartacus (1954) remain part of the international repertory.

Did You Know?

• Khachaturian's parents were betrothed when Kumash was 9 and Yeghia was 19, before they knew each other.
• He initially studied biology at Moscow State University while enrolled at the Gnessin Musical Institute.
• His First Symphony (1935) was a graduation work from the Moscow Conservatory and was admired by Shostakovich.
• He returned the prize money from his second Stalin Prize to the state to build a tank for the Red Army.
• Khachaturian composed the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score.