Lazar Saryan (1920-1988); ARM   

Lazar Saryan was born in 1920 in Rostov-on-Don, in Southern Russia near the Sea of Azov, the son of the great Armenian painter Martiros Saryan. After showing musical talent as a child, young Lazar entered the local conservatory, studying composition with V.Talyan. Following his service in WWII, where he directed his regiment's musical activities, Saryan entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1945, studying composition with the great Dimitri Shostakovich. Upon graduating, he moved to Yerevan and became Professor of Composition at the Yerevan State Komitas Conservatory - where his students included such important Armenian figures as Tigran Mansurian and Rouben Sarkissian; from 1960 to 1986 he was the director of the Conservatory. He likewise held great influence upon Armenian music through his brief tenure as President of the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Armenia (1955-56).

Saryan's music blends traditional and modern modes of expression, and is characterized by a dignified style and a rich sense of musical timbre. His greatest output was in the realms of symphonic and chamber music, though he also wrote songs and music for cinema. The works found here at the Classical Archives represent some of his greatest accomplishments, especially the "symphonic panel" Armenia - inspired by his father's paintings, and his Symphony from 1980. Wider recognition came in the 1980s, when his music was performed in numerous European cities, including at the Modern Music Concert Hall in Mets, France, in a concert conducted by Pierre Boulez; and at the Athens Music Festival, where the work Armenia was conducted by Kosmos Galilis. Lazar Saryan passed away in 1998. We are very pleased to present the works of this distinguished figure in the history of Armenian music.