Crown Prince Ras Tafari brought the children
of Arba Lijoch out of the desert —
Orphans who became Ethiopian,
who sang of the Metz Yeghern, the Great Hurt;
composed, “Marsh Teferi,” the first music
Marcus Garvey heard while in audience.
I, too, have heard of, “Natural mystic
blowing/ through the air,” Ararat’s fragrance
in each word. I’m told, Babylon crashing.
Where in Kingston is the orchestral sound
of Addis Ababa? — I listen — I
listen, but the dance halls tell me nothing.
The ghosts of Van hang low in the background.
Who will sing their song? Tell their prophesy?
Notes:
Arba Lijoch were a group of forty Armenian orphans who had escaped from the 1915 atrocities in Turkey, and were afterwards adopted by Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. He had met them while visiting the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem; they impressed him so much that he obtained permission from the head of the Armenian church, the Catholicos, to adopt and bring them to Ethiopia, where he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction. The Arba Lijoch arrived in the capital city, Addis Ababa, in 1924, and along with their conductor, Kevork Nalbandian, became the first official orchestra of the nation. Nalbandian also composed the music for Marsh Teferi (words by Yoftehé Negusé), which was the Imperial National Anthem from 1930 to 1974. Metz Yeghern is the Armenian word for their Great Calamity, their genocide.
I wrote this letter to a friend last year. She didn’t have the answer but maybe somebody else does:
I don’t know if you can answer this question but you know more about Armenian music than anyone I know so I figured it was worth a shot. I discovered that after the genocide a handful of Armenian orphans were adopted by Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia. These children would later become the first official orchestra of his nation and compose Ethiopia’s national anthem. I don’t know how well versed in Bob Marley and Reggae music you are, but the Rastafarian movement considered Haile a living god and Ethiopia spiritual home of their people.
I am curious how much influence Armenian music had on the roots of what is today considered Reggae? The Ethiopian emperor was very fond of Armenian music and Rastafarians look toward him for inspiration. It would be interesting to see if the folk and church hymns of Armenian had any influence on a music now popular the world over?
