Arutiunian, Aleksandr Grigorevich

Arutiunian, Aleksandr Grigorevich

 

Born Sept. 23, 1920, in Yerevan. Soviet composer. People’s Artist of the USSR (1970). Member of the CPSU since 1952. Graduated from the Yerevan Conservatory with major studies in composition (studied under S. V. Barkhudarian) and piano. Perfected his talents in Moscow, where he studied with G. I. Litinskii.

Arutiunian has been the artistic director of the Armenian Philharmonic since 1954. His music is characterized by melodic richness and the creative use of folk intonational material. Among his compositions are Cantata of the Homeland (1948; State Prize of the USSR, 1949), Holiday Overture (1949), a concertino for piano and orchestra (1951), a symphony (1957), the vocal-symphonic poem Story of the Armenian People (1961), the opera Saiat-Nova (staged 1969), a short symphony (1966), and Ode to Lenin (1967). He has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

REFERENCE

Eolian, I. Aleksandr Arutiunian. Moscow, 1962.