Loss and return

Two of the greatest challenges of human existence are loss and return. I hadn’t thought about these bookends to the human experience until I attended a recent piano recital of Raffi Besalyan and was introduced through his selections to the angst of loss and return. The recital combined pieces composed by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Babajanian, among others. I was so taken by the intimate performance that I purchased a CD entitled The Return as we were leaving the hall.

The Return includes only Rachmaninoff (Russian) and Babajanian’s (Armenian) compositions. The connection between the two composers and The Return is that both were pianists/composers who were exiled from their home countries. Rachmaninoff was a renowned performer and late Russian Romantic composer who left his native land in 1917 as the Bolskevik Revolution unfolded; he spent the rest of his life in Europe and the U.S. Babajanian left Armenia to study piano in Moscow in 1938 where he cultivated an affinity for the late Romantic sounds of the great 19^th and early 20^th century Russians; Babajanian’s style thus incorporates the plaintiff melodies that characterize eastern European and Middle Eastern music but in a Romantic spirit.

The Return is a beautiful album, superbly recorded and produced. The selections draw one to reflect on places lost and the desire to return. The work after which the CD is named is Rachmaninoff’s Prelude, Op. 32,No. 10, in “B Minor.” Although Rachmaninoff generally avoided explicit reference in his compositions to other art forms or programmatic ideas, Rachmaninoff confided to Benno Moiseiwitsch (a fellow pianist who often performed Rachmaninoff’s works) that the painting by Arnold Bocklin (1887) pictured here, was the inspiration for the Prelude. Both The Return CD and The Homecoming capture the angst of losing one’s country and knowing that one may never be able to return.

Babajanian’s “Melody” reflects the same loss and yearning that is heard in Rachmaninoff’s Prelude. One cannot help but hear the sadness of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-17 when 1.5 million Armenians were murdered and many more displaced. Many Armenians fled to Lebanon, a place of diaspora not only for Armenians but also for Palestinians, and now Syrians. Palestinian activist and legendary Oud musician, MarcelKhalife, captures the loss of all these groups who seem always to be in search of a new home. Khalife was a neighbor when I lived in Qatar and I saw him numerous times in concert; the outpouring of the displaced and the solidarity of those who supported their cause was always overwhelming.

Loss and yearning to return are part of human existence. National or cultural diaspora may be caused by religious or political persecution; at other times it is the result of desperation in providing for one’s family. The tide of diaspora has not retreated in the 21st century with Syrian and Rohingya refugees of Myanmar being the most visible at the moment. The tragedy is that those who seek asylum for whatever reason often face continued marginalization in their new surroundings. Dislocation isn’t the only origin of loss; it may also result from making life choices that are different than others in our families or communities. The point is that most human beings have experienced loss at least to some degree; this shared experience should encourage us to seek to understand other’s life experience and history before we form a judgment about who they/we are.

If you haven’t already, go back and take the links to the music in this post. It will take a few minutes but take the time now to experience this great music as it helps you get in touch with loss and return. Cultivate compassion for yourself and for others who endure far more than you/we do.