Bleep

Not many musicians have contributed to the canon and heritage of a single instrument as Djivan Gasparyan has. At the age of 6 he picked up the duduk, a double reed woodwind that can be traced back to ancient Armenia, and spent almost a century masterfully expressing its unique tones until he passed away in 2021, aged 92. Gasparyan had been awarded many accolades for his duduk playing, being cited as “master of the duduk” for one, but what are perhaps the true achievements of his career lie in the richly emotive discography he left behind, beginning with his debut album in 1983.

I Will Not Be Sad In This World was Gasparyan’s first solo endeavour, featuring traditional Armenian folk melodies accompanied by a “dam” drone that adds a stillness to the profoundly moving compositions. These recordings are highly intimate, often bare in their solitude. The apricot wood of the duduk is made tangible with every breath and whistle, its nasal quality evoking sighing or howling winds, deserts sands, or the mystery of the night under a full Moon.

The very first moments of ‘A Cool Wind Is Blowing’ introduce an entrancing quality to Gasparyan’s performance, his ornate melodies fluttering like the rapid wings of a hummingbird. While many songs may feel more solemn or lamenting, such as the intensely sorrowful wailing of ‘The Ploughman’, there is a brighter quality to the rippling, soaring notes of the title track (that is perhaps owed to the writing credit of 18th century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova), carrying an intention like lifting oneself out of strife.

With decades worth of stunningly evocative compositions, Djivan Gasparyan is undoubtedly written into the history of the duduk, and of Armenian music altogether.