HOUSE-MUSEUM
OF ARAM KHACHATURIAN
“…I
will say that it was rather hard for me to imagine the future
house-museum by drafts on paper. From the outside, it is very
beautiful and persuasive, but the internal arrangement and design
was more difficult to visualize. In general, I liked the project
and felt like approving it…”
Aram Khachaturian, January 29, 1978, Moscow
The house-museum of Aram Khachaturian is located
in Yerevan. The composer had only managed to only become acquainted
with the drafts of the future museum and express his wishes
to a famous architect Edward Altunian, who was asked by the
government to start the project order.
The basis for the museum was a large stately house where the
elder brother of Aram Khachaturian Vaghinak and his family lived.
It was in this house that Aram Khachaturian often stayed whenever
he visited Yerevan.
The former residence has remained unchanged. The garden has been converted into a small courtyard, where a spring-monument, a gift to the museum from architects S. Gyurzadian and S.Barseghianhas, has been erected. The facade is framed with five arches reminding tuning forks.
The official opening of the museum took place in 1982, after
the death of the composer. The management of the museum was first entrusted to conductor, musical and public figure Goar Agasievna Arutyunian who was succeded by Armine Grigoryan - professor of Yerevan State Conservatory, eminent pianist and winner of International competitions.
Various already traditional events - festivals, commemorative evenings, competitions, meetings with prominent figures of culture, exhibitions take place at the museum each year. Letters, manuscripts
of scores, books, records, photos and other materials related
to the life and creative work of the genius composer are collected
there. The son of A. Khachaturian, Karen, donated to the museum
the private things of his father: cabinet, bedroom, dining room,
piano, conductor’s tail-coat and baton, letters and many other
things from the family archive.
Before and after the opening of the house-museum, valuable materials
from all over the world were being sent out there. Gradually,
the museum was filled with new remainders. One of those exhibits
has a very interesting history. It involves a piano, donated
to the house-museum by Tigran Mostijian from San Paolo. Once
(by the end of the fifties), when the composer toured in South
America, a passionate admirer of his creative work T. Mostijian
gave a reception in his home in honor of Aram Khachaturian.
He bought a piano just because he wanted the composer to touch
the keys of the instrument. After Khachaturian had played fragments
of his compositions, suddenly, the master of the house gave
a nail to the composer so that the latter would scratch his
autograph at the piano’s top cover. It took persuading Khachaturian;
nevertheless, the signature was put. Today, this piano occupies
its modest place in the museum.
The house-museum of Aram Khachaturian has a light concert hall
with excellent acoustics. The walls of the hall have welcomed
the leading performers of chamber genre and young musicians
for decades now.
There is a rich library of records in the house-museum – about
2,500 CDs with records of classic and contemporary music. A
workshop for the restoration of string instruments is functioning
right inside. The museum also includes a National collection
of unique musical instruments.