12 Armenian Folk Songs

based on Armenian mountain village tunes

By Alan Hovhaness

These pieces are lovely, haunting, and not too difficult to play for the beginner/advanced intermediate player like myself. There's a sort of modal, middle eastern quality, no doubt based on the "Armenian" nature (and I assume Hohvaness is Armenian-American). They require some work with the fingering,just...

because everything is close together, but generally are attainable, easy to read. And as my piano teacher says, you'll be the only one around playing Hohvaness!

These are easy pieces, simple on the page. But some rhythmic subtleties mean that the non-genius player is not going to master them immediately. There's challenge here. Further, they are exotic, lovely, tuneful, unforgettable. Sahan Arzruni has recorded them on CD ("Visionary Landscapes"), so the beginner can easily...

get a good idea what they are supposed to sound like. The perfect introduction to this composer's work for piano.