A look at the emergence of the concept of national culture in Armenia: Theformer Soviet folk ensemble

This article attempts to trace a history of the Soviet folk orchestra in Ar menia from its birth in the 1920s to the present day. Attitudes towards the orchestra are representative of attitudes towards folk music in general, a nd highlight the degree of its symbolic and more generally communicative ca pacity. The numerous layers of meaning created in the diverse contexts of p erformance all coagulate around the orchestra as medium of enactment of nat ional identity. Presenting the parallel histories of nationalism in Armenia and the folk orchestra bring to light the factors that contributed to the strengthening of this link between nation and music.