Folk Music and Komitas in Armenian Cultural Identity
By Takaaki Iwai
Introduction
Located on the boundary of Eastern and Western worlds, Armenia has a rich diversity of culture. However, behind this culture is the struggle of establishing its identity, due to its complex history. Many have tried to answer this question for centuries, and one of them was Komitas, who was a priest, composer and musicologist.
Komitas, or Soghomon Soghomonian (1869-1935), was born in Kutais (present day Kütahya). His parents were both musical: his father was known for singing and playing the lute, while his mother was talented in composing songs (Church 2021, 55). Since his teenage years, he had been interested in rural folk songs in Armenia and spent many years in his life collecting them, reaching over 4000 pieces (Sirvart 1972, 83-84). This collection strongly influenced his style of composition, preserving the Armenian culture, which later became crucial in the establishment of Armenian identity (Holslag 2018, 189). Here, we will explore Komitas and his ‘Manushaki’ from Seven Dances to examine how he is relevant to today’s Armenian cultural identity.
The Tragedy of an Armenian Composer
There are two main factors that make Komitas a significant figure in Armenian history and culture, and his biography is the first of these factors. Inheriting musical talent from his parents, he began his musical career from the Gevorkian Seminary in Etchmiadzin, at the centre of Armenian religious culture (Holslag 2018, 188). While collecting and researching folk music, Komitas tried solving the khaz, neume, which was developed for liturgical hymns in the 13th and 14th centuries, but the methods of reading it were lost in history (Agota 2020, 45). His contribution was not only in Armenian music but also in the development of ethnomusicology, and this was well recognised in Europe. He was a member of the International Music Society since its establishment, while delivering lectures in France and Turkey too (Davidjants 2015, 184-85). The composition and works Komitas brought to the world of music influenced key figures in the field at the time, including Claude Debussy (Shakhkulyan 2016, 201).
Although he was successful as a musicologist and his achievements go beyond those mentioned here, this suddenly halted. The basis of the life of Komitas moved to Constantinople in the early 1910s, where he created a 300-voice choir group (Church 2021, 58). Although the Turkish were welcoming to his musical activities at first, the Armenian genocide was launched in 1915 by the government (Kuyumjian 2001, 31-32). The genocide formed one of the most tragic parts in Armenian history, and some claim that over 1.5 million became victims (Al-Rustom 2013, 484). Like others, Komitas was arrested and sent to the prison camp of Chankeri, but he was released in 1916. However, his house, research and archive in Constantinople were all destroyed, and he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which he never recovered from. He spent almost 20 years until the end of his life in a psychiatric hospital and sanatorium near Paris (Holslag 2018, 189), without returning to a career in music.
The Armenian genocide is an important history of Armenia and has led the diaspora around the world. Therefore, the life of Komitas represents the complexity of Armenian cultural identity: the survival of the genocide and Armenian communities abroad. Hence, his tragedy is remembered by Armenians all over the world.
Armenian Folk Culture in ‘Manushaki’ from the Seven Dances
Listen to the Seven Dances on Spotify
The second factor was his devotion to the folk culture in which the true Armenianness lies. Komitas (2018) says, ‘Work is the part that belongs to the Armenian peasant, so through his work songs we must weigh and measure all the songs that are called Armenian’ (Bodurian 2020, 47), and he devoted his life to the music which would have been forgotten otherwise. This music could often involve a sense of joy, such as festivity and the beauty of nature. One of the examples of works by Komitas is Seven Dances. This is a collection of seven dances (‘Manushaki’, ‘Yerangi’, ‘Unabi’, ‘Marali’, ‘Shushiki’, ‘Yed u arach’ and ‘Shoror’) from different Armenian regions: Vagharshapat, Yerevan, Shusha and Erzurum (Atayan 1982, 47-66). The Seven Dances were composed for piano performance and involve imitations of folk music elements. Komitas studied at the Gevorkian Seminary in Vagharshapat, so Vagharshapat is a significant place for him. Here, ‘Manushaki’, a beautiful dance by a female solo dancer in Vagharshapat (Bagdasaryan 2017, 96-97), will be discussed briefly.
Like other dances in the Seven Dances, Komitas added imitations from the folk music in ‘Manushaki’. The first example is the imitation of the instrument. The score clearly indicates ‘In the style of dap (a traditional drum)’ (Atayan 1982, 47), as the dance was originally accompanied by dap. The left-hand melody of ‘Manushki’ mainly consists of tremolo, and this evokes the sounds and technique of the dap too. The imitation of Armenian folk musical instruments, such as pogh (traditional flute) and duduk (traditional oboe), is also evident in other dances in the Seven Dances (Church 2021, 61).
Looking at the music in-depth, Komitas used the techniques from the traditional Armenian music ensemble (Bagdasaryan 2017, 102). In call and response, the call stops progressing and simply plays a sustained note, while the response develops (Bagdasaryan 2017, 100-101). In terms of tonal mode, the dance imitation can be seen. The foundations of the melody in the piece are G and C, and this is a reference to cadence in the dance melody (Bagdasaryan 2017, 97-98).
There are further characteristics in ‘Manushaki’ which involve the imitation of the traditional dance. However, from above, we can see the attempt of Komitas to understand the Armenian folk culture and implement its elements, which could be related to joy, in his compositions for preservation. Hence, his works are valuable sources for studying the Armenian cultural identity, not only a source of inspiration for later Armenian composers such as Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) (Church 2021, 60), who is internationally recognised.
Komitas Today
Overall, from the biographical perspective and the musicological perspective, Komitas and his works related to joy, including ‘Manushaki’ in the Seven Dances, are relevant to the present Armenian cultural identity. Komitas is remembered by people in many cities, such as Yerevan and Paris, and his compositions, which preserve the Armenian folk music, are performed by musicians around the world. Particularly, dances in the Seven Dances were interpreted and arranged by later musicians to further explore the Armenian folk music (Church 2021, 61).
However, not much research was previously done on his biography and music, compared to another Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian, who was heavily influenced by Komitas. This implies the need for more in-depth research into his works by Western scholars to understand the key country which lies between the Western and the Eastern worlds.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the Komitas Museum-Institute, especially Lilit Harutyunyan, the Deputy Director, for supporting this research.
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