It all began with a visit to our local Ukrainian and Eastern European market (a delightful store called Borderless European Market. Having never tried sturgeon, I purchased a sturgeon meal-in-a-can.
Due to push-back among the anti-piscatorial faction at the home office, I’ve had to delay the opening of the can.
Armenia
If we had to describe Armenia is one word, it would be “resilient.” This ancient country has had a complicated and often torturous history, but it strives for betterment: politically, economically, ecologically….
As we reflected on Armenia, we recalled that one of our favorite pieces of music, the Adagio from the Gayane Ballet Suite, was written by an Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian. Many of you are familiar with the famous “Saber Dance,” which comes from the same ballet. The Saber Dance is lively, spirited, raucous, while the Adagio is quiet and reflective.
St. Gayane, Aram Khachaturian, and a Beautiful Adagio
Aram Khachaturian’s Gayane ballet adagio has held an almost sacred place in the heart of WLBOTT. The haunting cellos evoke a sense of loneliness, but also of hope and internal strength. It signifies not triumph, not despair, but endurance.
You can feel Khachaturian’s grief shaped by genocide, exile, and endurance.
Elder G summarizes the ballet for us:
Gayane, the ballet Gayane premiered in 1942, at the height of World War II.
That date matters.
The Soviet Union was bleeding. Cities were under siege. Millions were dead or displaced. And yet a ballet was commissioned, not escapist fluff, but a story about:
loyalty
moral courage
homeland
sacrifice
Set on a collective farm in Armenia, the plot is simple. Almost naïve. But beneath it pulses something deeper: the idea that ordinary people carry heroism quietly.
Armen Press Review
The plot is summarized by Armen Press, in a review of the Armenia’s Opera Theatre’s production in St. Petersburg of July 23rd, 2014.
The ballet features many elements of interethnic love, betrayal and friendship in an Armenian setting. The central character is a young woman named Gayane, who works in a kolkhoz in a mountainous district near the national border.
In the kolkhoz[1], farmers are busy reaping cotton. Among them are heroine Gayane, her father Ovanes, brother Armen and younger sister Nune. They are all models of hard work with the only exception of Gayane’s husband Giko, a lazy drunkard. She admonishes Giko for his misconduct, and this escalates into a quarrel. Then arrives Kazakov, commander of the Soviet frontier guard, and a dance of welcome begins. Seeing Gayane present a bouquet to Kazakov, Giko violently snatches the bouquet from her and ignoring everybody’s reproach, disappears.
By Raffi Kojian / http://www.armeniapedia.org, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18151084
Gayane’s home. Everyone is consoling Gayane who is deploring her husband’s misconduct. The singing voices of carpet weavers is heard. As Giko returns, all go out. Gayane sings her child Ripsime to sleep. Three smugglers come to see Giko. They conspire to share the public money they have embezzled, to set fire to the cotton warehouse and to flee abroad. Overhearing their conspiracy, Gayane admonishes her husband, but he thrusts her into another room and locks her up.
By Raffi Kojian / http://www.armeniapedia.org, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18150978
Kurd’s settlement in a mountainous area near the kolkhoz. Many people are there, including Gayane’s brother Armen, a Kurdish girl Aishe, and a Kurdish young man Izmail who loves her. Then appear Giko and the three smugglers, who ask Armen their way. Wondering what they are after, he sends some Kurdish youths to fetch Kazakov. Noticing this, Giko and his gang try to kill Armen, but Kazakov arrives just in time, and arrests the three smugglers. However, Giko escapes and sets fire to the cotton warehouse. Trying to flee in the confusion of the moment, Giko is found by Gayane, who has managed to break out of the room in which she was imprisoned. Giko threatens Gayane that he will drop their child Ripsime from a cliff. As Gayane does not yield, Giko stabs her with a dagger. Hearing her shriek, Kazakov rushes in and arrests Giko, who will be brought to justice. Kazakov tends Gayane devotedly and she recovers. Love grows between the two.
The kolkhoz a year later. It is the day of the dedication ceremony of the reconstructed warehouse and the weddings of three couples – Gayane and Kazakov, Armen and Aishe, Karen and Nune. Folk dances rich in local color are performed one after another, and the ballet ends amid blessings by all.
The Adagio appears during the central dramatic turning point of the ballet.
Gayane, a young Armenian woman, who is loyal, principled, emotionally strong, has had it with Giko, her husband. He’s a lazy drunkard. He has sabotaged the collective farm, stolen grain, conspired with smugglers, and is preparing to flee.
Gayanediscovers all this, and she turns him in. When the Adagio begins, there is no romance or forgiveness. Gayane and Giko confront one another, both knowing that what was done cannot be undone.
The lonely reflection of Gayane the next morning….
The next morning, Gayane returns to the fields with the other women.
The ballet concludes a year later. Gayane has fallen in love with her rescuer, and the final scene is a triple wedding with folk dancing.
More Plot Details
The Wikipedia article on the Gayane ballet gives a more detailed account of the story.
Plot Many themes of interethnic love, betrayal and friendship interact in an Armenian setting. The central character is a young woman named Gayane, who works in a kolkhoz in a mountainous district near the national border.
Act I In the Armenian kolkhoz, farmers are busy reaping cotton. Among them are heroine Gayane, her father Ovanes, brother Armen and younger sister Nune. They are all models of hard work with the only exception of Gayane’s husband Giko, a lazy drunkard. She admonishes Giko for his misconduct and this escalates into a quarrel. Then arrives Kazakov, commander of the Soviet frontier guard, and a dance of welcome begins. Seeing Gayane present a bouquet to Kazakov, Giko violently snatches the bouquet from her and ignoring everybody’s reproach, disappears.
Act II At Gayane’s home, people console Gayane who is deploring her husband’s misconduct. The singing voices of carpet weavers are heard. As Giko returns, all go out. Gayane sings her child Ripsime to sleep. Three smugglers come to see Giko. They conspire to share the public money they have embezzled, to set fire to the cotton warehouse and to flee abroad. Overhearing their conspiracy, Gayane admonishes her husband, but he thrusts her into another room and locks her up.
Act III At a Kurdish settlement in a mountainous area near the kolkhoz are many people, including Gayane’s brother Armen, a Kurdish girl Aishe, and a Kurdish young man Izmail who loves her. Giko and the three smugglers arrive, asking Armen their way. Wondering about their intentions and activity, he sends some Kurdish youths to fetch Kazakov. Noticing this, Giko and his gang try to kill Armen, but Kazakov appears just in time and arrests the three smugglers. Giko escapes, however, and sets fire to the cotton warehouse. Trying to flee in the confusion of the moment, Giko is found by Gayane, who has managed to break out of the room in which she was imprisoned. Giko threatens Gayane that he will drop their child Ripsime from a cliff. As Gayane does not yield, Giko stabs her with a dagger. Hearing her shriek, Kazakov rushes in and arrests Giko, who will be brought to justice. Kazakov tends Gayane devotedly, and she recovers. Love grows between the two.
Act IV A year later, at the kolkhoz, a dedication ceremony of the reconstructed warehouse occurs, as well as three weddings: Gayane and Kazakov, Armen and Aishe, Karen and Nune. Folk dances, rich in local color, are performed one after another. The ballet ends amid blessings by all.
[ed. note: Although Wikipedia doesn’t have an entry specifically for St. Gayane, there is an article about the Saint Gayane Church, which gives a history of Gayane]
Saint Gayane Church sits on the site where the aforementioned saint was martyred during the time of the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in the year 301 AD. The fifth century Armenian historian Agathangelos wrote that the young and beautiful Hripsime, who at the time was a Christian nun in Rome, was to be forcefully married to the Roman emperor Diocletian. She and the abbess Gayane among other nuns fled the tyrant emperor and left to Armenia. The pagan Armenian King Trdat received a letter from Diocletian in which he described her beauty. Trdat discovered where the nuns were hiding, and fell in love with Hripsime and later Gayane. After her refusal of his advances, Hripsime was tortured and martyred at the location of Saint Hripsimé Church, while Gayane was tortured and martyred at this site where the church was later built.
By Beko – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62260218
The remaining group of thirty-eight unnamed nuns were martyred at the location of Shoghakat Church. During the time that Hripsime was being tortured, Gayane told her to “be of good cheer, and stand firm” in her faith. King Trdat was to be later converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of the kingdom.
A more detailed account of the legend of St. Hripsime and St. Gayane can be found on the Diocese of the Armenian Church web site.
Sts. Hripsime, Gayane, and the Christian Maidens
Above: The image of St. Hripsime painted on her tomb, flanked by the St. Hripsime Cathedral (left) and the St. Gayane Monastery (right), both built in the 7th century in Armenia.
Elder G created these icons of St. Gayane that reflected the moral arc of the ballet.
More on The Saint Gayane Church
The Saint Gayane Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Գայանե եկեղեցի) is a 7th-century Armenian church in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), the religious center of Armenia. It is located within walking distance from the Etchmiadzin Cathedral of 301. St. Gayane was built by Catholicos Ezra I in the year 630. Its design has remained unchanged despite partial renovations of the dome and some ceilings in 1652.
By Travis K. Witt – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40406108
By Vigen Hakhverdyan – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6579875
By Jossian – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19480596
By Jossian – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19480595
[ed. note: the following images are details from the photo by Yerevantsi – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=163474075]
