With the war in Syria constantly fixating the Armenian population in death’s unfortunate crosshairs, and a modern history inundated by a genocide denied by government forces, it isn’t hard to believe that the Western Armenian dialect is currently labeled as endangered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Within a hundred years of further toil for the Armenian people or less, it is said that the language will likely be totally extinct – that is to say that not a soul will be alive that will remember the dialect to a point that they can fluently perform chants as their culture has in apostolic churches since the late 1420s.
This makes Armenian Chanting from Aleppo, with an artist tag named after the renowned Forty Martyrs Church in Aleppo, a contribution to the historical preservation of a diverse people, as tolerant of religion as they are appreciative of it. A haunting piece indicative of the trials currently facing dedicated Armenians in the face of war, any fan of world music would find this record a profound addition to their collection.