Komitas (EN)

Komitas, Gomidas, actually Sohomon Sohomonian, *8 October (26 September) 1869 Kutina (Turkey), †22 October 1935 Paris, Armenian composer, folklorist, choral conductor and singer. From 1881, he studied at the theological seminary in Vagarshapat (now Echmiadzin), where he graduated from the theological academy in 1893. During his studies, he became familiar with the liturgical singing of the Armenian church and began to collect and arrange Armenian folk songs, which were performed by the academic choir under his direction. In 1891, his ode for choir was published in the magazine “Ararat,” in 1895 – the first collection of folk songs (in Armenian notation). After his studies, he taught at the academy and led the choir at the cathedral in Vagarshapat; having received the title of archimandrite, he took the name Komitas (the name of an outstanding composer of Armenian hymns from the 7^th century). In 1896–99, he studied composition, choral conducting and singing at the Berlin Conservatory and musicology (under R. Schmidt, O. Fleischer and G. Bellermann) and aesthetics at the university; he was one of the first members of the Internationale Musikgesellschaft. In 1899, he returned to Vagarshapat, composed, collected folk songs, wrote articles, gave concerts and taught music. In 1906–07, he performed with other Armenian singers in Paris and Switzerland, achieving great success. In 1910, due to conflicts with the local clergy, he had to leave Vagarshapat and moved to Constantinople, where he founded a large choir called Gusan; in addition, he organised Armenian choral groups in Izmir, Alexandria and Cairo and continued to give concerts and lectures, popularising Armenian music. In 1912, he completed the arrangement of Armenian liturgical chants — patarag (published in Paris in 1933). In 1914 in Paris, he delivered a paper on Armenian music at the Internationale Musikgesellschaft congress and gave a concert of Armenian church music, arousing great interest. In 1915, his creative work was interrupted by mental illness caused by strong experiences in connection with the massacre of Armenians committed by the Turks. From 1919 until his death, he was hospitalised in Paris. In 1936, his body was transported to Yerevan and placed in the pantheon of Armenian artists.

With his multifaceted activity, Komitas paved the way for the development of national musical culture in Armenia in the 20^th century; as a composer, he pointed to the inspirations inherent in folk music; as a collector, he perpetuated and popularised the centuries-old tradition of Armenian music; and as a conductor and writer, he introduced Armenian music to the European arena. Only a few pieces come entirely from the composer’s invention. These are lyrical songs, dramatic choral pieces, comic scenes in the form of recitative, and fragments of the opera Amush. Most of Komitas’s creative legacy consists of compositions based on Armenian folk and religious melodies, arranged for voice with piano accompaniment or a cappella choir, with very diverse themes – love songs, songs related to folk customs and religious rituals, dance songs, and patriotic songs. An important part of Komitas’s work is religious compositions and arrangements of archaic forms of sharakan, meghedi and tagher (medieval hymns). Using the melodic and rhythmic properties of folk songs and dances, Komitas added his own original ideas; developing monodic folk music in polyphony, he subordinated the rules of polyphony and harmony to the tonal properties of the original material. As a result, Armenian scales and characteristic intonations appearing in the melodics of cooperating voices lead to the creation of polytonality. Komitas also adopts rhythmic and formal formations and antiphonal singing technique from folk music.

Komitas is famous for publishing several collections of songs, which represent various poetic forms, various dialects and musical genres. These collections contain not only folk music that has survived to his times, but also reconstructions of forms from the past, reviving forms created by gusans (wandering singers), with the variation typical of Armenian musical folklore dating back to the Middle Ages. Komitas also made the first transcriptions of Kurdish music. Komitas’s rich creative legacy, which remains largely in manuscript, Armenian musical notation and the different liturgy of the Armenian church, the specificity of the rich, diverse Armenian musical folklore, the lack of source traditions in the field of music of the Transcaucasian peoples have resulted in the fact that Komitas’s work – despite the efforts of two research centres (Yerevan, Moscow) – has not been scientifically studied to date; numerous editions of works intended for performance practice do not provide a full idea of ​​Komitas’s original creative thought.

Literature: R. Atajan Princip garmonizacii narodnoj piesni u Komitasa, «Izwiestia Akadiemii Nauk Armienii» IX, 1949; A. Szawerdian Matieriały k biografii Komitasa and Nauczno-publicisticzeskoje nasledije Komitasa, “Sowietskaja Muzyka” XIII, 1949 and XVII, 1953; A. Szawerdian Komitas i armianskaja muzykalnaja kultura, Yerevan 1956; R. Atajan, M. Muradian Nowoje o Komitasu, “Sowietskaja Muzyka” XXIII, 1959; R. Atajan Komitas comme collectionneur et explorateur des chansons populaires arméniennes, in the book of the 7^th international anthropological and ethnological congress, Moscow 1964; H. Begian Gomidas Vartabad. His Life and Importance to Armenian Music, dissertation University of Michigan, 1964; R. Atajan Muzykalno-etnograficzeskoje nasledije Komitasa and Niekotoryje woprosy myzykalnogo nasledija Komitasa, «Istoriko-fiłologiczeskij żurnał Akadiemii Nauk Armianskoj SSR» 1969 books 2 and 4; R. Atajan Komitasowskije obrabotki armianskich gorodskich, narodnych i patrioticzeskich piesien and M. Muradian Piśma Komitasa, «Wiestnik obszczestwiennych nauk Akadiemii Nauk Armianskoj SSR» 1969 book 11; G. Geodakian Komitas, Yerevan 1969 (in Russian); N. Tagmisian Iz litieraturnogo nasledija Komitasa, “Sowietskaja Muzyka” XXXIII, 1969; R. Szeskus Komitas in Berlin, “Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft” XII, 1970; W. Wagramian Representative Secular Choral Works of Gomidas, dissertation University of Miami, 1973; S. A. Alajaji Music and the Armenian Diaspora: Searching for Home in Exile, Bloomington and Indiana 2015; T. Shakhkulyan Komitas and Bartók: From Ethnicity to Modernity, “International Journal of Musicology”, II, 2016; R. S. Kuyumjian Archeology of Madness: Komitas, Portrait of an Armenian Icon, London 2010; M. Church Musics Lost and Found: Song Collectors and the Life and Death of Folk Tradition, Martlesham 2021.