Welcome to the
www.TheOnedinLine.com
website / page / Theme music
Theme music: "Adagio" by Aram Khachaturian
The opening credits of the Onedin Line series features the beautiful music from the ballet
"Spartacus" by Aram Khachaturian. Khachaturian
made probably his best-selling disc in 1962 for Decca: it
consisted once again of suites from Gayaneh and Spartacus,
but this time in performances with the Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra, captured in sound of the highest quality. It was
this recording which was used as the theme music for the
television series The Onedin Line
Name: Aram Khachaturian
Date of Birth: 6 June 1903, Tiflis, Georgia, Russia
Date of Death: 1 May 1978, Moscow, Russia
Biography of Aram Khachaturian:
Aram Khachaturian was born in 1903, in Tiflis, Russian Empire. He
was the fourth son in a modest Armenian family. His father was a
book-binder and a craftsman; he noticed the son's musical talent and got
him a used piano, but he did not have money for a music teacher.
Khachaturian was self taught until the age of 19, when he moved to
Moscow to join his brother, a theater director. He studied physics and
mathematics at the Moscow University for one year before entering the
Gnesin School of Music in 1922. At the entrance test he saw a cello and
said, - "I want to learn to play this big violin". He studied cello
under Mikhail Gnesin. He graduated with honors from the Gnesin School in
1929 and from the Moscow Conservatory in 1934, where he studied
composition under 'Nikolai Miaskovsky'. Sergei Prokofiev promoted
Khachaturian's music in Europe, and his piano trio and the First Piano
Concerto (1936) has won him international acclaim.
His Ballet "Gayaneh" (1942), with the brilliant "Sabre Dance", became an
international sensation. But his second ballet, "Spartacus", written in
1945, was not staged for 11 years. Khachaturian was among the Soviet
artists and intellectuals affected by official attacks on culture under
Joseph Stalin in 1940s and 50s. His music was denounced as being
'formalistic'. Khachaturian suffered from official attacks along with
Sergei Prokofiev, Boris Pasternak, Anna Akhmatova and many other
distinguished intellectuals in the Soviet Union. Only in December of
1956 "Spartacus" had it's premiere on the stage of Bolshoi Theater in
Moscow, and soon it gained international success. The "Adagio" from the
ballet "Spartacus" and the "Sabre Dance" from the ballet "Gayaneh"
became the signature themes of Khachaturian. He also wrote an acclaimed
score for "Masquerade", a drama by Mikhail Lermontov. Khachaturian was a
recipient of many Soviet and International awards. As professor of
composition at the Moscow Conservatory he promoted innovative and
inter-cultural approach to music education. He cherished his Armenian
heritage. He also included in his compositions a taste of the world
music and various oriental influences. Aram Khachaturian died in Moscow
in 1978 and was buried in Armenia.
His official website |
|
