When a small country has been subject to occupation by more powerful states over a long period of time, its cultural traditions are fragmented at best, at worst totally lost. Armenia was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 and within two years was invaded by the Red Army. In this context it is easy to understand why contemporary Armenian composers idolise the philosopher-ethnomusicologist-song writer Komitas (Soghomon Soghomonian: 1869-1935). The bulk of this album comprises Mansurian’s adaptations of 12 of Komitas’s songs, and Mansurian’s love and respect shines from every one of his arrangements.

In 1915 the Turkish administration sent Komitas to a prison camp. Released thanks to the intervention of the American ambassador and a distinguished Turkish poet, he was then committed to a psychiatric institution. His library of crucial research into early music was destroyed, but his significance as a link to the genesis of the modern nation and his importance as a re-discoverer of ancient traditions survived. The song arrangements and the two Mansurian compositions bracketing them convincingly and movingly conjure up the lost history.

Mansurian calls his voice ‘poor’, but what it undoubtedly lacks in accuracy and resonance, his singing makes up for in honest feeling, transcending expectations to create a very real, very affecting beauty. His instrumental arrangements achieve a similar atmosphere, intensified by Kashkashian’s ravishingly lovely, deeply human tone and Schulkowsky’s sensitive percussion playing. If these versions of the Komitas songs don’t bring you to tears, I suggest you book in for an ECG without delay. The Duet, imbued with genuine but clear-eyed sentiment, is a perfect complement to the songs.