Krikor/Kirkor Berberian

Born: 1884 Constantinople
Dies: 1959 Istanbul
Active years recording: 1910-12
Label Association: Favorite Records, Orfeon Records, Odeon Records, Popular Haygagan 

As we process the Museum's early 20th century sound recordings and as new materials are donated, individual records shed light on other familiar, but only partially understood recordings. This edition of the Sound Archive presents one such case. By cross-referencing the information from three record labels — Orfeon Records, Favorite Records, and Odeon Records — we’ve identified a previously uncredited artist on some of the collection’s scarce Armenian language Odeon discs. 

This artist is renowned oud player, singer, and composer Krikor Berberian, featured here as an Armenian-language vocalist. Born in 1884 in Istanbul, Berberian was part of a strong lineage of Armenian musicians in the region. He studied under oudist Hapet Misirliyan, known as Udi Afet, one of the first to re-popularize the instrument in Istanbul and Asia Minor in the mid-1800s. Berberian, too, made his name on the instrument, earning the title of Udi Krikor. In the 1920s, he taught the young Hrant Kenkulian (later known as Udi Hrant). Among Hrant's four teachers, Berberian was the only oud specialist. Renowned oud players in the US such as Richard Hagopian, Harry Minassian, John Berberian, and George Mgrdichian could therefore trace their musical lineage through Udi Hrant back to Udi Krikor Berberian, and ultimately back to Udi Afet.

The first two recordings presented here, Ah Vasbouragan and Tadarani Tachdoum, both Armenian patriotic songs, were published on an Odeon disc in 1926 and distributed in the United States by record store owner H.M. Tashjian. The record label describes them as Armenian songs “recorded in Europe,” but gives no artist credit. Taking a closer look at the information etched into the area surrounding the paper label, we find the letters “FV.” This tells us that the original recording was made by Favorite Records and the string of numbers etched in the same area places the recording date between 1910-12 and the location as Istanbul. While this information gives us more context for the recording’s history, we are still left with no artist to attribute it to.

From here, we were able to fill-in the blanks by cross-referencing different record labels, starting with the output of Orfeon Records. Orfeon was a label operating alongside both Favorite and Odeon; all three were operating in Istanbul in the early 1900s. Our Orfeon Records disc includes two more Armenian patriotic songs, Azniv Enghir and Menk Anghenz, this time attributed to Krikor Berberian. Upon comparison, it’s clear that Berberian is the same singer on the unattributed Odeon disc. 

In fact, Berberian appears on numerous uncredited Odeon discs as well as several reissues of Favorite recordings published in the US by H.M Tashjian. On Tashjian’s Popular Haygagan label discs Berberian is variously credited as "G. Andonian," "B. Haig," and "B. Krikor" [probably "Baron Krikor," or "Mr. Krikor"], likely to avoid copyright infringement. But all of these discs contain Berberian's unmistakable voice with the same instrumental accompaniment of violin, kanoun, and/or clarinet and santour.

Here, in that strong voice, we hear defiant and committed declarations of Armenian patriotism. Notable among the songs is Menk Anghez or Menk Angeghdz Zinvor Enk, which translates as “Honest Soldiers Are We,” a popular Armenian patriotic song of the 1890s. The lyrics openly praise the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and describe an incursion of Armenian freedom fighters coming from Persia. The other three songs are also a call to arms and revolution. Ah Vasbouragan, for example, is considered the "anthem" of the Van Armenians, and includes appeals to the Armenians to stop emigrating abroad, to unite, and to create a united Armenia. The lyrics, by Spiridon Jamgochian (teacher, editor, and member of the Armenagan revolutionary party), describe Vasbouragan as a land of heroes, saying:

Ah, Vasbouragan, sorrowful Armenia

Countless heroes have gathered within you

How they endured in the horrible battle!

For the love of their nationality, they died as martyrs.

This series often focuses on the unique stories of the performers and the historical context from which their work arises. In this regard, Krikor Berberian is a remarkable figure, achieving status and significance as an Armenian musician in Istanbul during an historically volatile period. But the path to uncovering the identity of his voice on numerous records in the collection points to the more detailed nature of the work we undertake through the Sound Archive project. While specialty labels and matrix numbers may not be as captivating as the life stories of an artist, paying attention to these details can be the key that allows those stories to be told.

*A special thanks to Ara Dinkjian and Hugo Strötbaum whose research and assistance with understanding the Favorite and Orfeon Records labels has contributed greatly to this article. 

A special thanks to the SJS Charitable Trust for their generous support of our work to digitize and share our collection of 78 rpm records.