· Folk
No villager will sing a threshing song while sitting at home: Komitas
Komitas led the collection, classification and study of traditional music to an academic level. He is one of the first ethnomusicologists in the world. During his entire conscious life, he regularly traveled to different villages, towns and other dwelling places and collected thousands of traditional songs and melodies. He gave priority to the songs recorded in the remote villages, as the foreign influences were very vague there, and the song was preserved in its pure nature. His work was very hard, as the peasants refused to sing the songs out of their real environmental context only for recording purposes.
Komitas wrote: “The peasants hardly sing or reject singing, if a non-villager asks to sing, for example, a working song while being at home. The folks do not know art singing as so. Each song is created or taught in its place, in its time. No villager will sing a threshing song while sitting at home, because the field is the place for creating and singing a treashing song”. («Հայ գեղջուկ երաժշտութիւն» (The Music of Armenian Peasants, in “Studies and articles”, Book A, p. 377).
Overcoming the on-way impediments, Komitas succeeded to transcribe and, hence, protect from oblivion thousand samples of Armenian traditional music. It includes such masterpieces of Armenian sacred and folk music, as "Mokats Mirza", the epic songs of David of Sasoun, "Crane" and other pilgrim songs, "Ploughing Song of Lori" and other work songs, "Stabat Mater" taghs (ornamented chants) of Grigor Narekatsi (Gregory of Narek, Saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church).
The text is provided by Komitas Museum-Institute
Image: Alexander Grigroyan - "Ploughing Song of Mush"
(Collection of National Gallery of Armenia)
Komitas wrote: “The peasants hardly sing or reject singing, if a non-villager asks to sing, for example, a working song while being at home. The folks do not know art singing as so. Each song is created or taught in its place, in its time. No villager will sing a threshing song while sitting at home, because the field is the place for creating and singing a treashing song”. («Հայ գեղջուկ երաժշտութիւն» (The Music of Armenian Peasants, in “Studies and articles”, Book A, p. 377).
Overcoming the on-way impediments, Komitas succeeded to transcribe and, hence, protect from oblivion thousand samples of Armenian traditional music. It includes such masterpieces of Armenian sacred and folk music, as "Mokats Mirza", the epic songs of David of Sasoun, "Crane" and other pilgrim songs, "Ploughing Song of Lori" and other work songs, "Stabat Mater" taghs (ornamented chants) of Grigor Narekatsi (Gregory of Narek, Saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church).
The text is provided by Komitas Museum-Institute
Image: Alexander Grigroyan - "Ploughing Song of Mush"
(Collection of National Gallery of Armenia)
