Five Centuries Ago - Arthur Meschian

Arthur Meschian is often referred to as one of the greatest Armenian musicians, artists and poets of our time.

Many still hold memories of live recordings of Meschian and "Apostles" in the late 60's and 70's recorded on boom-boxes. They began as three architecture students at Yerevan Institute of Technology -- the "Apostles" quickly rose to become the voice of a generation. Amalgamating Armenian gospel with rock rhythms, the band left an unforgettable impression on their audience. Those were the times of suppression and Soviet censorship. The voices of the "Apostles", like many in that era, were heavily muffled and even banned. Yet repetitive attempts of the governing powers to ban or sabotage the band's concerts by shutting down the electricity, or blocking entrances of the concert venues, were in vain. Some still remember the candlelit concerts where Arthur's voice soared over his acoustic guitar and reached every person in the back row clear as day. Nor will they ever forget the sight of thousands of students breaking though police barricades to get into concert halls where the "Apostles" were performing.

Still the band managed to find ways to avoid the red tape. In 1970, the "Apostles" performed a theatrical piece "The Insane Asylum", which quickly became recognized as the first Armenian rock opera. Then they went on to tour a number of Soviet Republics, playing at college campuses across the USSR.

In 1975, while still with the "Apostles", Meschian was commissioned by the great Catolicos Vazken I to write a requiem dedicated to those fallen in 1915, bringing together the pioneering style of his rock band and the classical sounds of the Armenian Chamber Orchestra. In search of the lyrical content for this piece, Meschian turned to a book called "The Suffering" (Tarapank) by the great Armenian poet Mushegh Ishkhan, who had experienced the Genocide of 1915 as a child fleeing death with his remaining family. Through Ishkhan's words, Meschian and the "Apostles" delivered the true essence of the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

1978 - Even though the "Apostles'" music was banned from the media, Meschian managed to get the band onto a national television network by scoring the music for a televised play called "The Cannibal" (Martaker). Although the play had a political undertone it somehow managed to slip through the cracks of censorship, and the "Apostles" managed to appear live on national television.

None of the details of the "Apostles'" disappearance from the scene in the late 70's ever became public. The void that followed was being filled by quickly emerging singer/songwriters trying to recreate what was lost. Then in 1984 Meschian emerged on his own with a new lineup. The lineup included two of his protégés - Vahan Artsruni and Gourgen Melikian. This marked the beginning of Meschian's flourishing musical career.

Though the doors to main concert halls were still closed for Meschian's concerts, he continued packing auditoriums of every type possible. The "Apostles" fans, now as mature adults, continued to show. Also new faces began to appear. A new wave of college students caught wind of what was happening in the underground and with every show their numbers increased. The dates were announced by word of mouth one or two days prior to the concerts, so as to prevent the local authorities from seizing the chance to interfere.

Meschian's charisma won the attention of a number of Armenian film makers. Meschian was hounded with multiple offers to appear in films. He continuously declined every single offer that came his way. Then in 1984, film director Rouben Kevorkiants made him an offer he could not refuse. Kevorkiants was preparing to shoot a film about the life of the great Armenian poet Michael Nalbandian. He promised Meschian full creative control over the music if he would agree to appear in the lead role as Michael Nalbandian. Meschian agreed. This was his first and last opportunity to professionally record his music while still living in Soviet Armenia. The film included three instrumental pieces and the song "Ancient Land" (Yerkir Hnamya), written especially for the film.

In 1988 a new political movement started. The Armenian region of Artsakh (Karabakh) decided to declare autonomy from the republic of Azerbaijan. A giant wave of supporters began gathering in front of Yerevan Opera House in demonstration of their support for the struggling region. This is the kind of movement Meschian had been waiting for. New faces began to emerge as leaders of this political movement. They soon became known as the Pan Armenian Movement Committee (PAMC). During this time Meschian, along with singer/songwriter Rouben Hakhverdian, staged a concert to uplift the spirits of the protesters who would sleep on the steps of the Opera House. The concert caused an unexpected controversy. PAMC saw this concert as a threat. Still, they could not stop the concert from happening. Imagine the look on Arthur's face when the electricity went off after his second song. His first thought was "the communists?" -- imagine his surprise when a representative of the Pan Armenian Movement Committee claimed the responsibility for shutting down the electricity...

In 1989 Meschian moved to the US seeking the opportunity to record and document twenty years worth of material he had written. In 1990 he emerged with his first full length album "Catharsis". In 1992 he released the "Monologue of the Crazed Violinist." In 1996 he released "Catharsis II", "Wander", and "Communion". Then in December of 2001, this four volume box-set including all of Meschian's musical work was released which includes two new tracks. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.