ARMENIA

It is now exactly one hundred years ago, since the horrible massacre of more than one and a half million Armenians by the regime of the Young Turks during World War I. Still the Turks have so much trouble in recognizing it as a genocide, but how would you call leading away an entire population in order to kill it, other than a genocide. Why do the Turks still have to defend this wrong and why not call heroes those Turks, who risked their lives by trying to rescue Armenian refugees and who were often hung in front of their houses, when discovered.

The Armenia Suite on the album Armenia gives a touching and dramatic musical impression of this horrible event. After a beautiful overture in which the main theme is launched, the impressive march to Deir Ez Zor, the place where so many Armenians left their lives, follows. It starts with a tender melancholic melody on the flute, reminding us a bit of the Armenian duduk, then follows the vocal part, so well sung by Marion Brinkman. The vocal melody starts warm and tender, but becomes more harsh and dissonant in the harmonies as the march proceeds. A violent and fierce part follows and leads us to the theme of the actual march, a cruel but solemn sounding dissonant theme performed on the mellotron, accompanied by several snare drums, discharging in a sad and nostalgic reflective part in which hatred and acceptance of the events are united, an impressive symphonic work.

A very restrained, but beautiful part follows, performed by the oboe and piano alone, over which Marion sings of the hope of a new dawn in which the Armenian people can once more resurrect and find happiness.

The 22 minutes lasting suite ends with a stormy and pulsating finale with a jubilant Moog expressing the will and force to overcome death and defeat, a brilliant conclusion of a true magnum opus.

The other compositions on the album get a bit overlooked by the impact of the Armenia Suite, but compositions like "Dans Le Ciel", sung in French (with a tad bit of Dutch accent) and the heavy "Another Deadline" and of course the Jon Lord tribute song "New Flight" with its heavy distorted organ sound are certainly worthy of being on the same album.

A great album on a sad event.............

Grenadilla (Mats)

5 stars