Music in Time of War

Exceptional Project Music in Time of War, the new double album by pianist Kirill Gerstein, places the music of Komitas, the founder of the Armenian national music school, alongside that of Claude Debussy, who greatly admired Komitas' music. Both composers were deeply affected by the collapse of their world - Komitas by the genocide of Armenians by the Turks, Debussy by the First World War. The project arose from Gerstein's fascination with music's ability to reflect a historical narrative. He combines Debussy's 12 Etudes from 1915 with Komitas' Armenian Dances for piano, composed the following year, and also performs a selection of Debussy's late piano pieces, written to raise funds for the war. Gerstein is accompanied on the album by Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan, pianist Thomas Adès and pianist Katia Skanavi, who together perform a selection of works for voice and piano, piano four-hands and two pianos. The project is released as a double album with a book in three languages. The latter contains a series of illustrations, but most importantly four detailed essays by historian Annette Becker ("The First World War: Killing / Destroying / Yet Creating"), historian Khachig Mouradian ("Shining Columns: The Armenian Genocide and the Revival of Armenia"), musicologist Artur Avanesov ("Thrown to the Stars and Back: On the Life and Work of Komitas Vardapet") and composer Heinz Holliger ("Heinz Holliger in Conversation with Kirill Gerstein"), which examine the impact of war and genocide on society and how artists respond to such events. These essays provide a socio-historical context for the music of Debussy and Komitas and their influence on creativity in times of catastrophe. The album thus embodies both Gerstein's creative curiosity and his insightful approach to curating extraordinary projects.