Avetik Isahakyan (Books)

Avetik Isahakyan Books

Avetik Isahakyan was a celebrated Armenian poet and writer whose works are deeply imbued with sorrow and meditations on humanity's fate and life's injustices. His writing, characterized by lyricism, emotional intensity, and melody, expresses a profound love for his homeland and people. Isahakyan focused significantly on the Armenian struggle for freedom, becoming one of the first to address the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide, which he chronicled in "The White Book." His unfinished novel, "Usta Karo," symbolizes the unresolved Armenian cause and the author's enduring belief in the return of the Armenian people to their ancestral lands.

Sheram: Songs with music notation in Armenian and transliterated English lyrics

302 pages
11 hours of reading

It is with great pleasure that we announce the publication of one of Armenia's most important ashoughs' works in transliterated English for the first time in history. Ashough Sheram is one of the most prominent Armenian traditional ashoughs (bard singers). Having been born in 1857 in Aleksandropol (currently Gyumri) as Grigor Talyan, he received "Sheram" as his musical avatar for weaving beautiful melodies. More than 100 songs of Sheram are included in this book, each with a music notation and Armenian lyrics transliterated into English. The reader also gets a deeper understanding of Sheram's ability as a poet of love by reading around thirty of his songs translated into English for the first time. There are five chapters in the book: Love Songs, From the Sad Past, Satirical, Dances, and Appendix. The first four chapters of this book contain transcriptions of songs written by Sheram's son, composer Vardges Talyan circa 1948. There are also transcriptions of several songs by another scholar, musicologist Aram Kocharyan. This book ends with transcriptions of the most popular songs of Sheram, as performed by two of his greatest interpreters, Araksya Gyulzadyan and Ofelia Hambardzumyan.