"Marc and Marc Went to the Seaside" to wash their feet, and Tigran Hamasyan, Naira Muradyan, and Zahrat, the author of this Marc frenzy, made the decision to transform this actuality into an entire artistic crucible.
Turkey, 20th century; a Western Armenian family. Zareh Yaltzjian, the renowned poet who would later become Zahrat. Zahrat's compositions were notable for their unique structural elements and content. They're brief, to-the-point statements that encapsulate a wide range of themes. By displaying "Ahmet Street," producing original depictions of "Carnival," and hanging different ornaments from the "Kakhandi Tree," Zahrat created a strongly Armenian atmosphere. However Zahrat is one of the lesser-known writers of contemporary Armenian literature in spite of this. The poet Anahit Adamyan's remark demonstrates Zahrat's lack of appreciation: "The Nobel Prize would have gone to a French poet born in France, a Spanish poet born in Spain, or an American poet born in America for their straightforward and brilliant poetry, but the poet in question was Armenian, born in Constantinople, and did not have the room in his life to earn the Nobel Prize."
One can experience Zahrat's works in three dimensions: narrow, laconic lines with large depth and edges. The variety of people in the poetry series is also wide, spanning from the journeys through the poetic rows of Kiko to the Marcs. Let us now return to our Marcs.
Marc and Marc
Went to the seaside
And, by the lighthouse
Marc, together with Marc
(since both were Marcs)
Were washing their feet
“Look, Marc”
Said Marc to Marc
“A shooting star just fell”
Marc looked down
Into the sea
“You lied,” said
Marc to Marc
When they got
Their feet dry
A little star was stuck
On Marc’s foot
As the poem's title, "Marc and Marc," makes clear, there is an intriguing repeat of the word "Marc." A dream, a falling star, doubt, a miracle, and a discovery are all part of the vast reality that lies beneath the two Marcs' ordinary, everyday existence.
These lines weave a canvas that is infused with music, a notion of Tigran Hamasyan, or the delicate touch of the muses, the Greek gods.
At the age of sixteen, Tigran Hamasyan made a life-altering decision that has brought him international recognition as a modern-day Armenian artist. From Gyumri to Yerevan, than Paris and New York. Pan-Asian jazz influences can be heard all over. Armenian elements aren’t lost in the master's polyrhythmic works. In Hamasyan's workshop, spiritual and national music take on numerous hues and forms. "The Cave of Rebirth", "Fides Tua", and "Marc and Marc" are tracks from the 2017 album "An Ancient Observer".
It is evident that "Marc and Marc" has a central topic that all the other themes circle around. We can refer to it as "Marc". The idea is repeated throughout, changes form, takes on different hues, and develops into a comparable literary masterpiece. We perceive things this way.
Familiarisation: when the theme is heard for the first time.
Development: as it intensifies and takes on a freer and more mixed nature (as a conflict emerges in a work, a falling star, and events become more disorganised).
Resolution through calm performance (similar to the discovery of a star in a work).
Aside from the main theme, others contribute to the environment by representing the sea in its various forms, reaching like the light of a lighthouse and intensifying like the trail of a falling star in the night sky. The usage of the classic "laconic" 6/8 metre is intriguing, resembling Zahrat's literary style. It is also worth noting that, while the substance of music changes frequently, the metre remains constant. Mixed or varying metres, such as 7/8, 5/16, 21/16, and so on, are frequently found in Hamasyan's works; nonetheless, the 6/8 version, which is extremely common, is employed here. In terms of keys, the work's fundamental themes are G flat major and E flat minor. Of course, modulations and departures to other tones are important, but the fundamental theme is in the tones indicated above. This is similar to the poem's repeated use of the name Marc:
…“Look, Marc”
Said Marc to Marc…
Just as Marc plays a different function here, becoming vocative in the lips of the other Marc, these major and parallel minor tones provide a fascinating and varied presentation for scales built of the same notes.
Thus, the musical piece transforms into an intriguing representation of the textual base in the form of sounds, while Naira Muradyan's clip expresses the visual art.
Naira Muradyan, an animation director, animator, and artist, established new heroes called "new Yerevan" and "new Naira" in several of her works. Her creative universe is vast. From "Winged Godot" to "Jick and Jack" and everything in between. We also encountered the Marcs on the "road" that connects "Bitlis" to Yerevan. Here, the author's creativity went beyond the norm to create something entirely new. There is no brevity and brief images, which are noticeable in the poem, one can see new fields, new depths, which are already in the creative sphere of the author. As if the Marcs of Zahrat arrived, travelled through Pan-Syrian pentagons, and were coloured by Naira's brush in its tones. The characters are intriguing and distinct; their story begins to develop, grow, plunge into the waters, and even become a new myth, a fairy tale, but after being hit by a powerful wave, they sober up and return to their original state. It's as if a portal is opened to a new universe, and we return to the original, epic foundation of the work. Let us look at the palette. The artist's works are not distinguished by brilliant colours, as displayed here, but in the sea scene, which was not part of the poem, pink, blue, and yellow colours emerge. These colour variations appear to indicate the transition between the Marcs of Zahrat and Naira. The play of light and shadow is also noteworthy, with light given as hope through a beacon or a star, as in the literary work's two key symbols.
Thus, one literary work can inspire other musical and artistic creations, and one art form might serve as a foundation for another or provide the freedom to explore a broader range. So, read, listen, look, and, most importantly, constantly think.
Author: Gyulnara Sargsyan
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