Petros Shoujounian, an Armenian/Canadian composer has written Twelve Duos for Trombones based on the folksong collection of the Armenian priest Komitas, known as the founder of the Armenian national school of music and one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology. Below are comments from the composer about his inspiration in writing these Twelve Duos for Trombones.

My interest in the collected works of Komitas's ethnographical songs was aroused when I was introduced to Bela Bartok's similar works followed by Alan Hovhaness's huge creative world. Bartok completed his project having at his disposal a large collection of ethnographic music, while Hovhannes studied the wealth of Komitas's music with great interest. It is difficult to say to what extent the Armenian underpinning of Hovhannes's works is nurtured by Komitas's musical world, but his classical interpretation of the Armenian ethnographical music created a huge interest in the listener. Needless to say, there is also Aram Katchaturian's legacy, which at its core has the ardent presence of the Armenian spirit, nurtured by Komitas's very existence.

Komitas has left a collection of about 3,000 cleaned versions of the ethnographic song and dance pieces, of which 1,700 have reaches us, about 400 of which have been activated. I believe that in those beautiful musical fragments reside the power to be revived, once we enrich them with colorful musical instruments and unbounded polyphonic imagination.

This is the motivation behind my own work and these Twelve Duos for Trombones: to make the essence of our ethnographic music accessible through Komitas.

These Twelve Duos are appropriate for advanced performers and may be performed on Alto, Tenor, and Bass Trombones.

Arrangement for Saxophone Quartet S.A.T.B / A.A.T.B. (intermediate) by Francesco Leone. Score and Set of parts (7): Soprano, Alto,Tenor and Baritone Saxophone, included alternative parts for Alto instead Soprano and Bb Bass instead Baritone and optional percussions.
Style: Balkan. Duration: 3.30. Key concert: F min. - G.min.

"Bella ciao" ("Goodbye beautiful") is an Italian protest folk song that originated in the late 19th century, sung by the mondina workers in protest to the harsh working conditions in the paddy fields of North Italy. The song was modified and adopted as an anthem of the anti-fascist resistance by the Italian partisans between 1943 and 1945 during the Italian Resistance, the resistance of Italian partisans against the Nazi German forces occupying Italy, and, during the Italian Civil War, the Italian partisan struggle against the fascist Italian Social Republic and its Nazi German allies. Versions of "Bella ciao" continue to be sung worldwide as an anti-fascist hymn of freedom and resistance.In 2017 and 2018, the song received renewed popularity due to the singing of "Bella ciao" multiple times in the Spanish television series Money Heist. The character Tokyo recounts in one of her narrations, "The life of the Professor revolved around a single idea: Resistance. His grandfather, who had fought against the fascists in Italy, taught him the song and he taught us."The song is played in emblematic moments in the series as a metaphor for freedom.