MUSIC BY JOHN SARKISSIAN
SOLO INSTRUMENTAL
Gruesome Grey Pulp, Suite for Piano (2010)
“Grausamer Grauer Brei”
I.a.Introduction
b.Car Start
c.Promenade/Organisation
II.Scherzo/Energy
III.Fugue/Confines
IV.Intermezzo/Intermission
V.Meditation/Difference
VI.Gallop/Reconciliation
First Performance: June 5, 2011, Cafe’ Paradiso, Ottawa, Canada
Performer: John Sarkissian
Duration: 20 minutes
Sonata in F – solo piano (2009)
I.Allegro moderato
II.Nocturne
III.Rubato
IV.Vivo precipitoso
dedicated to Armen Babakhanian
Duration: 22 minutes
Theme and Variations for Solo Piano
(1990/revised 1995)
dedicated to Steven Harrison
First performance: November 16, 1995, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline Village, MA.
Performer: Esther Budiardjo
Duration: 16 minutes
My Weekly Adventure – solo piano (1997)
1.Sunday/Mothers’ Day
2.Monday/My Little Computer Mouse
3.Tuesday/What a Dream!
4.Wednesday/With Mom at the Supermarket
5.Thursday/Bouncing Off the Wall
6.Friday/Lullaby
7.Saturday/Riding in Dad’s New Car
First performance: March 26, 1998 at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Cambridge, MA
Performer: John Sarkissian
Duration: 10 minutes
Six Little Pieces – solo piano (2002)
1.Morning Prayer
2.Good Morning, Mr.Janitor
3.Hat on the Wind (Catch that Hat!)
4.After Bedtime
5.The Old Swiss Table-Clock
6.The Unfunny Clown
First Performance: November 8, 2002 at Follen Church, Lexington, MA
Performer: Student performer
Duration: 8 minutes
Memories of Childhood – solo piano (1996)
1.Andantino
2.The Little People
First Performance: May 21, 1996 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline Village, MA
Performer: Karine Bagdasarian
Duration: 7 minutes
Musical Passage “Tender Love”– solo piano (1991)
First Performance: May 27, 1992
Jan Popper Theater, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, Westwood, CA
Performer: Judy Huang
Duration: 6 minutes
CHAMBER MUSIC
Suite for Four – flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (1993)
I. Scherzo-Tarantella
II. A Little Song
III.Waltz
First Performance: December 5, 1993 at Brown Hall, New England Concervatory, Boston, MA
Performer: Student performance
Duration: 10 minutes
Three Christmas Carols – violin, viola, and cello (1994)
1.A Virgin Most Pure
2.Hajej Ninjej Jezecku
3.God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
First Performance: December 13, 1994 at Brown Hall, New England Concervatory, Boston, MA
Performer: Michael Yokas, violin, Jason Totzke, viola, Tahirah Whittington, cello
Duration: 9 minutes
Three Christmas Carols – version for brass quintet (2000)
1.A Virgin Most Pure
2.Hajej Ninjej Jezecku
3.God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
First Performance: January 19, 2001
Follen Church, Lexington, MA
Performers: Brass Domain
Daniel Duncan, trumpet, Karen Muenzinger, trumpet, Shelagh Abate, horn,
Walter Bostian, trombone, Michael S. Milnarik, tuba
Duration: 9 minutes
Overnight Drafts – clarinet in A and piano (1995)
I.A Celebratory Commission
II.Humoresque
III.Scherzo Diabolico
First Performance: February 14, 1995
Williams Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA
Performers: Oliver Schneller (on Saxophone), John Sarkissian, piano
Duration: 10 minutes
Toccata – for four left hands on two pianos (1992/1997)
First Performance: May 3, 2003
Steinway Hall, Vienna, Austria
Performers: Marianne Dobner, Katharina Dudas, Christoph Wimmer, Johannes Bigenzahn
Duration: 6 minutes
Toccata – piano duo version (1997)
*commissioned by Ms. Scarlet Saroyan
First Performance: March 26, 1998
Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Cambridge, MA
Performers: Aaron Jensen, John Sarkissian
Duration: 6 minutes
Cypriot Songs for Maria Jane – medium voice, flute, viola, cello, and harp (1997)
1. I Peyotissa (the Woman from Peyia)
2. Traghoudhi tis sousas (Song of the Swing)
3. Traghoudhi tou ghamou (Wedding Song)
4. Kotchini trandafiyia mou (My Red Rose Tree)
5. To Yasemin (the Jasmine)
6.Maroula mou (My Maroula)
7. Psintri vasilitcha mou (My Delicate Basil Plant)
8. Tillirkotissa (a Girl from Tillirka)
9. Aghapisa tin (I Loved Her)
First Performance: February 23, 1999
St. Cecilia’s Church, Boston, MA
Performers: Penelope Bitzas, mezzo-soprano, Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flute,
Nikita Pogrebnoy, viola, Emmanuel Feldman, cello
Juli Miller, harp David Pichadze, conductor
Duration: 30 minutes
Review of Cypriot Songs for Maria Jane in Journal of Singing by Judith Carman
String Quartet No.1 (2002)
I.Theme and Variations
Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
Excerpt 3
First Performance: February 14, 2003
Pickman Concert Hall, Cambridge, MA
Performers: The Arden Quartet
Duration: 25 minutes
Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano “Trio Rustico” (2003)
I. The Village Fair “Sunrise” – Andantino gioioso
II. Improvisation “Gazing into Sunset” – L’istesso tempo
Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
Excerpt 3
III. Rhapsody “Into the Night” – Molto energico
First Performance: November 2, 2003
St. Paul’s Church, Brookline, MA
Performers: Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flute, Luis Leguía,cello, Carmen Rodriguez-Peralta, piano
Dedicated to Doriot Anthony Dwyer
Duration: 24 minutes
*This trio is also available in the version for violin, cello, and piano.
My Weekly Adventure – version for flute, clarinet, horn, and piano (1997/2005)
*commissioned by Bettina Semrau
First Performance: Berlin
Performers:
Duration: 10 minutes
Iranian Songs and Dances I – high voice, cello, and piano (2008)
1.Do be Do (The Two of Us)
2.Láláyi (Lullaby)
3.Massom, Massom (I'm Drunk with Your Love)
Duration:
Iranian Songs and Dances II – high voice, tombak, flute, cello, and piano (2008)
1.Gole Gandom (Wheat Flower)
2.To Bio (Come, Sit by Me)
3.Bezerán (I am Burning)
4.Darene Ján/Aziz Jun (Dear Darene/My Darling)
Duration:
Iranian Songs and Dances III – high voice, flute (piccolo), cello, and piano (2008)
1.Se Godár (The Three Gorges)
2.Mixám Beram Kuh (I Want to Go to the Mountains)
3.Doxtare Boyer-Ahmadi (Girl from Boyer-Ahmad)
Duration:
Iranian Songs and Dances IV – high voice, flute, cello, and piano (2009)
1.Áx Leylom, Váx Leylari (Ah, My Leyli!)
2.Souze Rox (My Darling Souze)
3.Dam Koll
Duration:
Iranian Songs and Dances V – high voice, tombak, flute, cello, and piano (2009)
1.Lorr Bačče (A Lori Kid)
2.Dast be Dastmálom Mazan (Don't Touch My Handkerchief!)
3.Ásemun be un Gapi (The Sky so High!)
Duration:
*all five books of Iranian Songs and Dances commissioned by Ms. Nazila Bawandi
Armenian Fantasy (2010)
*commissioned by the Cadence Ensemble
Duration: 14.5 minutes
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Concerto for Piano, Strings, and Percussion (2005)
*commissioned by Armen Babakhanian
First performance: 2007
Performer: Armen Babakhanian (piano), National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, Aram Gharabekian (conductor)
Duration: 25 minutes
The Lovers' Garden – soprano, flute, oboe, bassoon and strings (2010)
1st prize winner of the 2010-11 “Muzyka Ogrodowa” International Composition Competition, Wrocław-Krakow, Poland
First performance: May 25, 2011
Leopold Hall, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
Performers: Sylwia Olszyńska, soprano; Orfeusz Chamber Orchestra; Jan Baryła, conductor
Duration: 12.5 minutes
A Tale of Two Shtetlekh – Klezmer Fantasy in Two Parts for Solo Violin and Strings (2011)
First performance:
Performers:
Duration: circa 17 minutes
The Rose and the Nightingale – Iranian Traditional Melodies for Solo Violin and Strings (2011)
First performance:
Performers:
Duration: circa 6 minutes
Warm Hearts in Frozen Nights – a Medley of Quebec Melodies for Solo Violin, Strings, and Percussion (2011)
First performance:
Performers:
Duration: circa 6 minutes
A Caucasus Concero Non Grosso – a Fantasy Suite of Armenian Traditional Melodies for Solo Violin, Strings, and Percussion (2011)
First performance:
Performers:
Duration: circa 6 minutes
The Moscow Night Watchman – Musical Scene Based on Russian Folk Tunes for Solo Violin and Strings (2011)
First performance:
Performers:
Duration: circa 7 minutes
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Your Ripe Love and My Unripe Suffering – voice and orchestra (1995)
Gisher (Night) – high voice, SATB, and orchestra (1998)
Konzertstück – concerto for piano and large orchestra (2006)
I. The Village Fair “Sunrise” – Andantino gioioso
II. Improvisation “Gazing into Sunset” – L’istesso tempo
III. Rhapsody “Into the Night” – Molto energico
Dedicated to Edward Mirzoyan
Duration: 24 minutes
Chinar es (You are Like a Chenar Tree) – voice and orchestra (2010)
Kenats Yerk (Drinking Song) – high voice and orchestra (2011)
First Performance: June 25, 2011
Boston Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Performers: Hasmik Papian, soprano; the Boston Pops Orchestra; Keith Lockhart, cond.;
Duration: 2 min. 25 sec.
*Dedicated to Hasmik Papian
VOCAL
If You One Day (Te vor mi or) (Bedvin) – high voice and piano (1982)
I Don’t Forget (Chem Moratsel) (Badalian) – voice and piano (1993)
Spring (Garoun) (Peshiktashlian) – voice and piano (1984/rev.1990)
The Night (Gisher) (Terian) – tenor and piano (1987)
Lullaby (Oror) (Terian)– contralto and piano (1990)
To Arnold S(choenberg) – voice and piano (1995)
Five Songs on Poems by Anna Akhmatova – voice and piano (1999)
I.Не любишь/You Don't Love Me
II.Лучше б мне/I Would Rather
III.Песня последней встречи/Song of the Last Meeting
IV.Он любил/He Did Love
V.Слаб голос мой/My Voice is Weak
Amazing Grace – voice and organ (2005)
Vertigo (vocal cycle, Sevak) – voice and piano (2006)
*commissioned by Nouné Karapetian
1.Դու/You
2.Քո պատճառով/Because of You
3.Վերջին սփոփանք/Last Conciliation
4.Գլխապտոյտ/Vertigo
5.Քո խակ սէրը/Your Unripe Love
6.Շահրազադէ՜/Sheherazade!
7.Առաջին սէրը/First Love
Two Romances (Terian) – voice and piano (2007) *commissioned by Susanna Martirosyan
CHORAL MUSIC
Anthem – SATB, and piano (1984)
*commissioned by the Ararat (Homenetmen) Armenian Cultural Organization for its 40th anniversary
First Performance: July 4, 1984
Homenetmen “Ararat” Armenian Cultural Organization, Tehran, Iran
Performer: Ararat, Sevan, and Ani Youth choirs; Gourgen Movsissian, conductor
Duration: 3 minutes 15 sec.
Springtime – a cappella (1984)
First Performance: May 27, 1992
Jan Popper Theater, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, Westwood, CA
Performers: Christi Nuki, Sabrina Francis, soprano
Cassie Reid, Delaina Brown, alto
Mario Rocha, Eli Gunnell, tenor
Ian Hinkle, Chris Warren, bass
Duration: 4 minutes
MIXED ENSEMBLE
The Birds – soprano, mezzo, tenor, SATB, and two pianos (1990) *commissioned by Komitas Choir of Glendale, California
DRAMATIC MUSIC
Galadrial’s Song – musical scene (1998) listen to demo (sung by Cassandra von Braun)
from the musical comedy “Upside Downstairs” (work in Progress)
Book and lyrics by Cassandra Von Braun
First Performance: 1998, NOMTI workshop, Berklee School of Music, Boston
First Performer: Tambre Tarleton
Duration:
Nicholas and Alexandra – epic opera in 3 acts (work in progress)
Libretto by John Sarkissian
Alexandra's Aria (excerpt)
Gruesome Grey Pulp “Grausamer Grauer Brei” – a neuroscientific musical screw-ball comedy (2010)
First Performance: April 11, 2011, Musikschule Margareten, Vienna, Austria
Performers: Georg Northoff (as George/Narrator), Elisabeth Eschwe’ (as Liz/Pianist), John Sarkissian (as the Composer/Pianist)
Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes