Today marks Arno Babajanian’s 103rd anniversary

Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the outstanding Armenian and Soviet composer, pianist and teacher, People’s Artist of the USSR Arno Babajanian.

Arno Babajanian was born on January 22, 1921, in Yerevan, in a family of teachers. In 1928, he joined the group of gifted children at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.
At the age of 9, Babajanian wrote his first composition, ‘Pioneer’s March’. He was noticed by Aram Khachaturian, who recommended that Babajanian study music seriously.

In 1938, 17-year-old Arno moved to Moscow, where he was admitted to the graduate level at the Gnesin School of Music. Later, he entered the Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied piano under the famous concert pianist Konstantin Igumnov.

After the outbreak of the war, he participated in the construction of defensive lines near Moscow, then was evacuated to Saratov, where he led an amateur ensemble of the military school of communications.

In 1942, he returned to Yerevan and continued his studies at the Conservatory. He joined the Union of Composers of the USSR.

Babajanian graduated from the Yerevan Conservatory in 1947 and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1948.

In 1947, he was awarded the first prize at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Prague for three piano pieces: ‘Prelude’, ‘Vagharshapat Dance’, and ‘Toccata’.

He was a professor at the Yerevan Conservatory from 1950 to 1956. In 1952, he was awarded the title, Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR. In 1955, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Since 1956, the composer has lived and worked in Moscow, where he gained great popularity as a songwriter (‘Beauty Queen’, ‘The Blue Taiga’, ‘Make a Wish’, ‘Grateful to You’, ‘Wedding’, ‘Ferris Wheel’, ‘Year of Love’, ‘Bring Me Back the Music’, ‘Best City in the World’, ‘The Song of First Love’). His ‘Nocturne’ received the widest recognition.

Much has been done by the composer in the field of instrumental jazz, musical and theatrical genres. He wrote the musicals ‘Uncle Baghdasar’, ‘A Bride from the North’, and ‘My Heart is in the Highlands’.

At the World Song Contest in Tokyo in 1973, Babajanian was awarded the best composer’s award for his song ‘Ferris Wheel’, overtaking his famous rival, the French composer Francis Lai and his world-renowned music for the films ‘Love Story’ and ‘A Man and A Woman’.

The composer died on November 11, 1983, in Yerevan. A special memorial foundation has been created in Babajanian’s honor, which helps talented musicians and organizes music festivals.