Djivan Gasparyan - Duduk (2014)

The duduk is an ancient woodwind instrument. Its distinctive sound gives a special flavor to any celebration where music is played on the duduk. The instrument is played in the countries of the Caucasus, Middle East and Balkans, and made of different types of wood – mulberry, plum and walnut. The Armenian duduk or, as it is also called, tsiranapogh is cut out of apricot tree, which has an ability to resound with more force than any other materials. The Armenian duduk is notable for its specially soft sound, which is sometimes compared with human voice. This album features recordings of the outstanding duduk player Jivan Gasparyan whose name has been known across the world for a long time. The musician's repertoire includes sad melodies like Dle Yaman (3) and energetic dance ones like The Kazakhs (9). Jivan Gasparyan tours around the globe, often accompanied by a big line-up of Armenian instruments. However, traditionally, duduk music, both folk and professional, is performed by two musicians: the soloist leads a melody accompanied by the other musician who sustains the main modal tones. The Armenian for his part is dam. Dance music is also performed by two musicians: the soloist plays the duduk, and the accompanying musician plays a percussion instrument called dhol. Our programme "The Duduk" features these two styles. They call Jivan Gasparyan the soul of Armenia, and his duduk is called the soul of the apricot tree.