Foreward translation by Jeannette Hovsepian, Kevork Bardakjian
Grikor Suni’s “Songs for a New Life”, New York, 1934

FOREWORD

In connection with your desires and continuing requests to have “Songs for a New Life”, the Banhrad Musical Section responds by publishing this pocket songbook, without ever saying a word about the understandably enormous difficulties which accompanied its publication. In this songbook, thirty seven songs are included (29 new life and 8 village) in the musical notation of which eleven [13] (No. 3, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37) are at the same time for four-part mixed chorus. Our concern and efforts to supply songs of new life at an affordable price for our comrades, most of whom are deprived of work, as well as our absolute lack of material means, have compelled us to reduce the publication expenses two-fold or three-fold. Thus we have been forced to render many of the notated songs more compact (combining two songs, placing two songs on one page, having four-part songs’ four or six staves of separate lines compressed into two staves to indicate the four voices and also the piano parts, etc.), as well as taking the cliches (cuts) directly from the facsimile (composer’s handwritten musical copy) because necessarily, in the printing it loses its elegant form. Let us conclude by noting that at the present time, revolutionary art, far from merely reflecting life, accepts the large and active influence of revolutionary song on the life of the masses. We realize that these songs by virtue of their ability to influence strongly and immediately, have an enormous active role to play in revolutionizing the masses and in assuring in practical terms their active participation in our class movement, in our merciless struggle, and in our bloodstained struggle and accomplishments. Let us increase our efforts. The musical section, by these points of view, however helpful it finds the presentation of this book, “Songs for a New Life”, is sorry that one of its members, because of independent circumstances, became unable to bring to completion the wishes of the comrades in a more generous and presentable way.

Banhrad (Workers Publishing House) Musical Section Director
Gr. Suni