Little rose upon the heath

Vaհe H Apelian

 

“Vart” (The Rose) is an old Armenian song. The only person I know who has a recording of the song is Armen Guirag. I heard the song for the first time decades ago, sung by Armean Guirag, but I had not paid attention to the lyrics. I had not asked myself who wrote the song and who composed the song. Yesterday, out of blue, my friend Krikor Kradjian from Beirut, had posted the translation of a famous poem by Goethe’, by the eminent Armenian poet Hovhannes Toumanyan who endearingly continues to remain as “the all-Armenian poet”. It turned out that Krikor was quoting the lyrics of the song.

It turns out the poem is called "Heidenröslein", often translated into English as "Wild Rose. The legendary German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had written the poem in 1771. It also turns out that "Heidenröslein" is a famous lyric poem as a folk-song style ballad about a young boy who spots a beautiful wild rose and insists on picking it despite its warnings. Different people have given different interpretation of the lyrics of the song. With time, norms have changed, so have perceptions, and thus interpretation of the poem has changed. Those interested may read about “Heidenröslein" in Wikipedia.

I imagine the Armenian song “Vart - The Rose” is mostly unknown by the Armenian public but that it was considered an Armenian classical song and was popular at one time. The lyrics of the song as noted is the poem of the same name by the German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe, superbly translated into Armenian by Hovhannes Tumanyan, and composed by Romanos Melikyan.

 It also turns out that Hovhannes Tumanyan knew German and read fluently in the language, which allowed him to study and translate prominent German poets like Goethe. Furthermore, it is claimed that Hovhannes Tourmanyan was an avid reader and self-taught intellectual, who absorbed European literature and translated works from multiple languages into Armenian.

As to Romanos Melikyan, he had written the music for the song in 1911, claiming that he tried to create a simple, easily transmitted melody, which became a popular song at one time. 

 

Armen Guirag’s rendering of the song “Vart” (The Rose) is from YouTube. Horavhannes Toumanyan’s translation for the lyrics of the song is at the end of the blog. 

As to Armen Guriag, those interesting may read the following blog I wrote about him by pressing  on the attached link below.

Link:  Remembering Armen Guirag this Sunday morning.

The lyrics: