The composer, pianist and teacher Eduard Aslanovich Abramian was one of the most significant and respected figures in the development of modern Armenian music. Drawing on features of Armenian folklore, Abramian’s impressive 24 Preludes do not follow a highly-structured tonal scheme but one which appears to be spontaneous, key following key principally to satisfy the need for dramatic contrast of mood and colour.

Listen to
Prelude No. 19 in G sharp minor

24 Preludes(1958)(60:37)
1 No. 1 in E flat major (01:23)
2 No. 2 in C major (02:54)
3 No. 3 in E minor (02:14)
4 No. 4 in E flat minor (03:05)
5 No. 5 in D minor (04:41)
6 No. 6 in C sharp minor (02:00)
7 No. 7 in D flat major (02:56)
8 No. 8 in B flat major (02:13)
9 No. 9 in F sharp major (02:51)
10 No. 10 in E major (01:26)
11 No. 11 in F sharp minor (03:16)
12 No. 12 in F minor (01:36)
13 No. 13 in A major (03:09)
14 No. 14 in B flat minor (01:21)
15 No. 15 in D minor (03:50)
16 No. 16 in F major (02:16)
17 No. 17 in B major (01:15)
18 No. 18 in G minor (02:10)

Mikael Ayrapetyan was born in 1984 in Yerevan, where he had his early schooling. In 2004 he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory. As a student, he paid great attention to the work of Armenian composers whose music had not until then been performed. Graduating in 2009, he continued postgraduate study at the Moscow Conservatory. His repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary and includes rarely performed works of Armenian composers.