Lullaby from the ballet Gayaneh. For Viola and Piano transcribed by the Carr-Petrova Duo 

In Gayaneh, a ballet composed in the 1930's, Aram Khachaturian portrays the story of the heroine in the title: a woman fighting mightily between romantic love on one hand and nationalistic zeal on the other. At the climax of the ballet, the plot comes to a halt, and Gayaneh, deploring her husband's cruelty and abusive behavior, begins to sing her child to sleep with a haunting lullaby of mysterious beauty. As is well known, lullabies are ancestral music, sung to children in all countries throughout history, in order to encourage relaxation and sleep - and most importantly, in order to soothe and alleviate any pains or worries while providing a feeling of hope and the protection of motherly care. A lullaby can offer a novel voice to a mother's worries and concerns, giving her the opportunity to literally "be heard" - and thus soothing not only the child, but also the mother. A lullaby can also enable courage and resilience during times of distress or vulnerability or during times of adversity and pain. 

Thus begins our debut album recording, Novel Voices, released in tandem with this transcription in Fall 2019 - a musical project which has become our own very personal lullaby to the many children we met during our visits into refugee camps around the world through the Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project (created and directed by the Carr-Petrova Duo between August 2018 to October 2019), and a testimony to our belief in the healing power of art and music. 

Immediately after hearing the Lullaby we felt compelled to bring this ballet excerpt to life through a new medium, giving it a novel voice by transcribing and publishing it for the first time ever for viola and piano. We are thrilled to be able to facilitate the inclusion of this musical gem into the viola-piano duo repertoire. - Molly Carr and Anna Petrova