When I was young, every Sunday I listened to the theme song of the WCRB-Boston Armenian classical music radio hour. This song was played on clarinet, but decades later I heard it on duduk. Then I found that it has words, and I learned to sing it. More than anything, I wanted to sing that song in Gheghard Monastery in Armenia. This monastery was carved out of a cave, and there is a room where the acoustics resound in an extraordinary way.
The song is called “Havoun, Havoun” and it is a melody of resurrection by Grigor Narekatsy, 10th century c,e…..although possibly it is older than that. In it, Jesus, in the form of a fowl, calls listeners to him and tells them to hear the voice of the dove and come to love.
After Noravank, I went to Areni cave, where the oldest leather shoe (7000 years old) was found, as well as the oldest wine-making equipment and the oldest grape seeds. The grape seeds are the Areni grape variety, which Armenians are still using in the region to make wine.
A pilgrimage to Armenia 