Garabet Merjanian, Ayriin Voghpe/Te Hayrenyatz
Name/Title
Garabet Merjanian, Ayriin Voghpe/Te HayrenyatzDescription
Garabet Merjanian (1895–1962) was an Armenian-American tenor, oud player, and recording artist. Born in Kayseri in 1895, he was also known as Merdjan Garabet Effendi and Charles Merjanian. He immigrated to the United States in 1913 and settled in New York, where he initially worked as a shoemaker. Merjanian's recording career began in New York in early 1917, when he participated in two sessions in February of that year for Columbia Records under the name Merdjan Garabet Effendi. These sessions yielded an extraordinary series of performances alongside his cohort, the popular violinist and vocalist Kemany Minas (Minas Effendi), whose output included his best-selling lament for the massacre at the village of Egin in eastern Turkey. In addition to backing Minas, Merjanian recorded a half-dozen tracks as a primary artist during these February sessions. He recorded again for Columbia in November 1917, providing vocals and oud accompaniment alongside Kemany Minas on tracks such as "Isvahan Sharki Sendemi Halea" and "Sabeh Ghazel" (released on Columbia E3744). By the late 1920s, Merjanian had relocated to Troy, New York, where he worked in a shirt collar factory. He returned to the studio for Columbia a decade after his initial sessions, recording in New York in May 1928 utilizing the label’s new electrical recording process. Released under catalog number 71004-F, this double-sided 12-inch 78 RPM record featured Merjanian as the primary tenor, backed by Nishan Sedefjian on violin and Sebouh Mostitsian (Mostitchian) on oud. Sebouh likely was born in Smyrna. He arrived with his mother to the USA in 1920. Nishan Sedefjian, born in 1885 in Trabzon, arrived in the United States in 1926 and went on to make recordings for Columbia, Victor, Pharos, and Kaliphone. A prominent oriental violinist based in New York, he performed on numerous recordings of Armenian, Turkish, and Greek songs from the 1920s through the 1950s. Among Armenian folk music violinists in America, he was surpassed only by Harry (Artin) Hasekian of Boston. As for Merjanian, he lived in the United States until his death in 1962.Audio Format
78 RPM RecordRecording Type
MusicCategory
Vinyl Record