This is the fourth piano solo release of 2024 by Hovig Nassanian. He explains: “Ask any Armenian which landmark symbolises the very soul of being an Armenian, and the answer you are likely to get is Mount Ararat. Every Armenian home is bound to have framed pictures or artwork of this historic twin-peaked mountain. It is a powerful and mystical emblem of our people’s history…and sufferings.
I remember when I first visited Armenian back in the 1990’s. We arrived late at night in the capital Yerevan, so we couldn’t see much. The next morning, when I opened the shutters of my bedroom window, there it was – bigger and more majestic than I had imagined it would look like. That first sight of Ararat has never left me. It was so near…and yet so inaccessible.
Recently, I read Franz Werfel’s The 40 Days of Musa Dagh and Philip Marsden’s The Crossing Place. Neither would I recommend if you want a good night’s sleep! But both books took me back to that first sighting of Ararat and stirred in me a new sense of reverence, mourning and, surprisingly, hope! This then is a short piano tribute to put these feelings into music.
Ararat released on 24 April 2024 on all online music platforms. You can find the links to listen to it on your preferred music service here.
Cover photo by Nyree Abrahamian. She is part of a podcast about life in Armenia called Country of Dust.