Armenian Sacred and Folk Music 1136801774, 9781136801778

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ARMENIAN SACRED A N D FOLK MUSIC

CAUCASUS W O R L D SERIES EDITOR N I C H O L A S AWDE Other books in the series include:

Storm Over the Caucasus: In the Wake of Independence Charles van der Leeuw

Georgia: Mountains and Honour Peter Nasmyth Azerbaijan: A Quest for Identity Charles van der Leeuw Daghestan: Tradition and Survival Robert Chenciner The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus /. F. Baddeley — with a new Preface by Moshe Gammer

Ancient Christianity in the Caucasus (Iberica Caucasica vol. i) edited by Tamila Mgaloblishvili

A Bibliography of Articles on Armenian Studies in Western Journals,

1869-1995

V. N Nersessian Armenian Perspectives edited by Nicholas Awde

Armenian Church Historical Studies Tiran Nersoyan The Tondrakian Movement V. N. Nersessian Essays on Armenian Music edited by V. N Nersessian The Armenian Neume System of Notation R A. Atayan (forthcoming) Armenian Monodic Music Kh. S. Khushnaryan (forthcoming) Madder Red Robert Chenciner (forthcoming)

PEOPLES OF T H E C A U C A S U S & T H E B L A C K SEA 1. The Armenians edited by Edmund Herzig 2. The Georgians edited by Nicholas Awde 3. The Azerbaijanis edited by Nicholas Awde 4. The Chechens Anna Zelkina 5. The Abkhazians edited by George Hewitt

Forthcoming volumes include: 6. The Circassians 7. The Peoples of Daghestan 8. The Ossetes 9. The Ingush 10. The Turkic Peoples of the Caucasus 11. The Iranian Peoples of the Caucasus 12. The Mountain Jews 13. The Georgian Jews 14. The Laz, Mingrelians & Svans 15. The Ubykh 16. The Displaced Peoples of the Caucasus in Soviet Times 17. The Caucasus in Diaspora 18. The Hemshin 19. The Kalmyks 20. The Cossacks 21. The Ancient Peoples of the Caucasus 22. The Crimean Tatars 23. The Gagauz 24. The Karaim CAUCASUS LANGUAGES 1. Chechen Dictionary and Phrasebook 2. Georgian Dictionary and Phrasebook 3. Armenian Dictionary and Phrasebook 4. Azerbaijani Dictionary and Phrasebook

ARMENIAN SACRED A N D FOLK MUSIC K O M I T A S Translated by EDWARD GULBEKIAN Introduction by V. N.

NERSESSIAN

Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

LONDON AND NEW YORK CAUCASUS W O R L D CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION ARMENIAN LIBRARY

First published in 1998 by Routledge 2 Park Square, M i l t o n Park, Abingdon, O x o n , O X 14 4 R N Transferred to Digital Printing 2007 Translation © 1998 Edward Gulbekian Introduction © 1998 V. N . Nersessian Illustrations by Edman Aivazyan Typeset and designed by Nick & Fred H i l l / DesertVHearts (with thanks to Milena Losi) A l l rights reserved. N o part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested I S B N o 7007 0637 2

ISBN 978-1-136-80177-8 (ebk)

Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections i n the original may be apparent

With grateful acknowledgement CALOUSTE

GULBENKIAN

for its support in the publication

to the

F O U N D A T I O N of this volume

4 il IT r - S U U ' K O

M I

T A S

SU.!,

8U.Pfl!*ß"l/U.V

fffl

Y" iß't'fykf

fi

If m ti ft '

IL * h *~ b ttt~ìi f* *§ /* i . ¿. A ì#

liti

t§§ tt$%$ i '*/1

L //// ifnaifi tihitig í*9¿}> flit • «ifo fictif u[ » m fffií* *

|t

Ploughman in the fields

CONTENTS

Note on transcription Edward Gulbekian Introduction

11 13 15

1.

La musique rustique arménienne

25

2.

Armeniens volkstümliche Reigentanze

47

3.

The 'Plough Song' of Löfi in the style of the village ofVardablour

59

5.

The church melodies of the Armenians

97

6.

The singing of the Holy Liturgy

123

7.

Die armenische Kirchenmusik

143

8.

The significance of the khaz notation of the sharakans

157

4.

Book review : Receuil des chantes populaires arméniens

15 9

9.

Church music of the Armenians in the nineteenth century

163

Bibliography Works of Komitas Glossary of musical terms used by Komitas Index

175 181 185 189

This page intentionally left blank

Phonetic transcription of the Armenian alphabet used in the English translations

U.U.

a

Bp

b

hôy

J

chd-vast pre 're ^ priu '-gi V prôr '-rô *

imitation of the call of the buffalo. the cry (noise) of the plough wheel. imitation of the bellowing of the oxen; made-up names used as terms of endearment of the animals.

Only three are taken from human exclamatory sounds : ay demonstrative ha imperative 5 expressing surprise. W e shall explain the meaning hidden behind these exclamations below, when we consider the style and spirit of the 'Plough Song'. THE

WORDS

Blessed is God, Remembered is God. Lous? lousatsav The light has dawned, Park'k'ez, Té"r Praise to Thee, Lord, Barin shatats'av The good has increased. Aghot'ran bats'vav Morning has dawned, P'af" k'K'ez, p'a" fk' Praise to Thee, praise. Mer zhamd Its'vav The day is ended. Yeznarats k'ni Cowherd asleep, Ver kats'ék', gout'a 'navor : Arise, ploughworkers. Gout'and bani The plough is working Galis e~, galis It comes, it comes, Orhnya "lé Astvats

Hishya "lé Astvats

Ay chdl-vd'sty chdl-vd'sty

Hey, chdl-vdst, chdal-vdst,

Akd lalis é :

The wheel is crying Blessed is God. Remembered is God.

y

Orhnya "lé Astvats Hishya "lé Astvats

68

T H E P L O U G H S O N G OF L O R I

Machkah Ay"

machin

Horevor

Oghern akanjin : Hotaghn e lali K'shi', a"y lalik hotagh Mijakn

e gali :

Varenk' shatana Tokanjan Te'rn

ourakhana:

T'a 'p' tour t'ev ara Ay" khop' ou dzevich' Shour tour sev ara Orhnya " I e Astvats Hishya " I e Astvats Zorana's, K'shir',

hota'gh P'oshetoun

Yes k'ezi matagh Varenk' art aneng Shekikjan Ch 'arin dard aneng: Yekav ou gnats' Ch'd kotri samin Metsyezd

mnats:

T'evin gorts dnenk' Ay ktrich'

Ouzhvor

Shout gloukh yelenk' Orhnya " I e Astvats Hishya " I e Astvats Shalak es afel Sevi 'kjan Shalakd

afavel:

Tsi V tour, ha' tsrenk' Karmir

khndzortoun

The ploughman to this plough Hey Horevor, Rings on his ears. The ploughboy is dumb, Drive, hey dumb ploughboy, Mijak is coming. Let us work to increase, Tokan dear, May the Lord rejoice. Get going, move along, Hey ploughshare and ploughshoe, Turn it over, make it black. Blessed is God. Remembered is God. May you become strong, ploughboy, Drive, on, P'oshetoun; M y beauty; Let us work to do the field, Shekik dear, Make the evil worry. He came and he went, Let the axle not break The large ox remains. Give him work, Hey brave Ouzhvor; Let us quickly finish it off. Blessed is God. Remembered is God. You have taken a burden, Sevik dear, Your burden is greater. Circle round, ha let us turn, Red Khndzortoun, 6

9

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Hats'nyekavy outenk' : Hoghd sevana Tsira 'njan Ousdd hovana : Horik'n yelav K'shi \ a y lalik hotagh Afavelyelav

Food has come, let us eat. May the soil blacken, Tsiran dear, May your shoulders be cool. Horik' has come out, Drive him, hey dumb poughboy, 1

The ravel has been reached.

:

varé'

Blessed is God. Remembered is God. We have eaten and are full, Praise to him; God, we are satisfied, Ploughman dear, work on,

Ser, matsoun kerar

Cream, matsoun you have

Orhnya "le Astvats Hishya "le Astvats Kerang kshtats'ank' P'ark' ir an Astvats gohats 'ank ' Machkaljan,

2

Ay" yezner, k'ashek':

eaten, The field is very stony. Look at the black ploughed soil Muscle all over, Mkanvor, Hey oxen, pull.

Ay" afavel a

Hey, it is the afavel,

Si'rounjan

Siroun dear, Your burden is greater, Blessed is God. Remembered is God. Hey my grandfather's plough, God's work, A sacrifice to your furrow : H o , you are a buffalo's baby, Tsaghik ox, Hey, you will be caned.

Art9 shat k'aré: Sev herkin ashek' Moukn i beran Mkanvor

Shalakd afavel a Orhnya "le Astvats Hishya "le Astvats Ay" papis gout'an Asttsou ban Akosid ghourban De", gomshi chout es Tsaghik yez A"y, chipot koutes :

1

Literally : 'bread.'

2

'Yoghurt.'

7°

T H E P L O U G H S O N G OF L O R I

Shalakd tsnar a Anounid'

mer nem

K'elk 'd shat manr a : Dardzé 'k ' aj t'evin A"y

Kharzantoun

Zd'r arék' Sevin Orhnya "le As Wats Hishya "le Astvats Akd khorin e

Your burden is heavy, I would die for your name, Your pace is very small. Turn to the right, Hey Kharzantoun; Make an effort Sevin. Blessed is God. Remembered is God. The wheel is deep,

Chdlvdsty chdlvdst

Chdlvdst, chdlvdst,

Ch'ari p'orin è

Yetakd Itsenk'

The evil is in his belly. Pull it up, ploughboy, Anoush dear, Bless your breathing. Let us yoke Yetak,

Ve V k'ashi, hotagh Anou 'shjan Shnch 'aloud matagh :

Hordve'l tvék'

Sing horovel,

Mijakd Itsenk'

Let us yoke Mijak.

Mijakd

Take Mijak out, Hey Amolvor, Release it from the plough. Blessed is God. Remembered is God. It is Riknahovin, The day has gone It is next to the buffalo The clouds have made it cool. H o , pull, The dew has made a sea, Long live the ploughboy, Drive, boy.

A"y

hanenk'

Amolvor

Gout'anits ' prtsnenk ' Orhnya "le Astvats Hishya "le Astvats Riknahovin

è

Orn ants'av Gomshi govin e : Ampd hov arav Di',

k'ashe'k'

Ts'oghd tsov arav Apri hotaghd K'shi", ay" tgha

* O r 'the evil is within' — cf. Psalm 51.

71

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Mort'enk' mataghd :

Let us slaughter the sacrifice.

Hdfdveld tank'

Make the hdrdvel.

A"'y

Hey red head,

karmirgloukh

Afavel dours gank'

Reach the afavel.

Orhnya ~ I e Astvats

Blessed is God.

Hishya ~ I e Astvats

Remembered is God. Work youthfully, Gain and luck for us,

Varenk' madaghi Khern ou barin mez

Machkal khosk'i a:

The illminded be infuriated. The furrow is golden, Hey, cut the land, The ploughman is talking

Hdrdvel tvek'

Sing the hdrdvel,

Ay Mourtartoun

Hey Mourtartoun, Frighten off the illminded. It is done, ha, it is done. Bless your bellowing,

Ch'arkam kataghi Akdsn oski a Ay tap 'd chghi

Ch 'arkam p 'akhts 'rek': Yela~ v, ha yelav" v Mdrdnch 'ots 'id matagh Gout'andyelav: Orhnya ~ I e Astvats Hishya ~ le Astvats Sarin hovel e Apri'

Oravar

Terd govel e: Astdtsoun p 'ark' tank' Machkaljan Gout'and t'ogh tank' Orhanya"7 es Astvats Park'\

K'eZy p'a" fk'

Hishya"7 es Astvats : Orhni'

mergout'an

Astdtsou ban Orhnya"'I e mer ban :

The ploughing is done. Blessed is God. Remembered is God. It is cool on the mountain, Long live Oravar, The Lord is praised. Let us glorify God. Poughman dear, Let the plough go. Thou art blessed, God, Glory to Thee, glory, Remembered art Thou, God. Bless our plough, God's work, Blessed is our own work. 7

2

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF L O R I STRUCTURE

(a) The melody

The melody is composed of five sentences, classified as follows : A + 2 (B + C) + B + 2 (D + B+ C) + E C is the amplification and stylization of A , while A , B, D and E are independent. The above sentences consist of the same of different sections, in the following manner : A= 3 A + B B = 3A C=A+B+C D = 3 A+B E = A+B + 2C + D (b) The scale

The 'Plough Song' of Lori is built up within the limits of the minor ninth and utilizes fourteen types of note which are, in descending order : Number

Quality

14

perfect

13

major

12

> i seventh minor J

1/2

11

major

1/2

10

Quantity

; octave "J

"1 f minor J

Difference

1/2 1/2

\ sixth o 73

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music augmented)

1/2

fifth

perfect diminished

1/2

3/4

perfect

fourth

1/2

major

third

1/2

augmented major

12

}

second I

perfect

unison

ill

major

seventh

1/2

The series of notes can be consolidated within the limits of a perfect octave if we absorb the lower seventh, the former minor ninth, into the upper octave. We thus obtain a scale spread over an octave, all the differences of which are 1/2, apart from the last whole degree, and the identical note between the minor sixth and the augmented fifth. Five types of descending pentachord originate from the same or varying degrees of this scale, in which the relation shifts with the adjoining notes, within the limits of the perfect fifth, are i) ii)

ili

1/2

1 1/2

1/2

I

1/2

1 1/2

1/2

1/2

1/2

1/2

I 1/2

1/2

I

1/2

1 1/2

the diminished, iii) iv)

74

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF L O R I

double diminished : v)

1/2

1

1/2

ill

(c) Time

Amongst the longer time signatures, the following are customary : 30/16

25/16

12/16

5/16

4/16

3/16

2/16

and the shorter ones : 1/16

1/8.

The breathing times are only long : 10/16,9/16,4/16 and 4/8 + 1 /16.

If we do not count the beat as a note, then there are only one to five notes to a syllable; and to each section for breathing, at the beginning : 2/16 or 4/16

at the end : 4/16 or 4/8 + 1/16 (d) Rhythm

The melody has two rhythms, five and ten : 5

5

10

and 16

8

16

75

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music A l l three are complex and consist of these simple components : 5

2

3

3

+ 16 5

16 2

or 16

16

16

3

16

16 3

+

or

2

+

16

16

2

+

16

(e) Tempo

The fundamental pace is allegro, moderato. Nevertheless, according to requirements, this is changed to allegretto or larghetto, increasing or decreasing abruptly or gradually. (f) Poetry

The poetic compostition of the song consists of a rich network of words (bar), refrains (krknak) and cries (kancW), having a diversity of form and content. The most extensive in quantity are the cries, then the refrains, and finally the words. By 'words' is to be understood the actual poetry of the song. The subject matter is : prayer, blessing, faith, custom, labour, command, reassurance, affection, anger, satisfaction, bread (i.e. food) and nature. The subject matter of the refrains is : good news, endearment and encouragement; and of the cries (which exceptionally are exclamations), the bellowing of the animals, sometimes as a command, sometimes in anger, as ecouragement or ridicule, or as good news or endearment, and sometimes for satisfaction. These three together — words, refrains and cries — i n 76

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF L O R I

combination express comprehensively the plough song and hence the complete life of country people, which is fine and holy, deep and wide, simple and lofty, free and unbound, the creative power of the peasant. (g) Metre

The metre of the words is based on a unit of two lines and five syllables, distributed as follows : 1 + 4 , 2 + 3 , 3 + 2 , 1 + 2 + 2

The refrain has two styles, prose and metrical. The prose style consists of one line and contains from three to seven syllables. The three-syllable line consists of: 2 + 1 , 1 + 2

the four-syllable line : 1 + 3 , 3 + 1 , 2 + 2

the five-syllable line : 2 + 3, 3 + 2, 2 + 2 +1, 1 + 2 + 2

the six syllable line : 3 + 3,2+2 + 2

the seven-syllable line : 4 + 3 o r 2 + 2 + 3.

The words, refrains and cries, are woven together such that the cries and refrains are interpolated among the words, and the cries and 77

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music words (or the cries alone) are interpolated in the refrain. The cries are used in the boldest manner, appearing both at the beginning and at the end of both the words and the refrain. STYLE

A N D SPIRIT

(a) General

O n the basis of the plough song and our personal research, we shall attempt to analyse the various apparently meaningless refrains and exclamations which constitute the true pith and marrow of the song, and symbolize the mind and poetic abilities of the Armenian countryman. The words, refrains, and cries do not appear in isolation with their own seperate melodies. The particular characteristics of these elements are intertwined to form a delicate bouquet of individual colourful sounds. The song is a perfect harmonious blend of poetry and melody, tempo and rhythm, external and internal, based on the number five: The poetry is pentasyllable. The melody consists offive sentences. The sentences contain five, or two times five, phrases. Each bar of the phrases consist of five beats. The number of pentac\iox:ds is five. Prolonged notes last for five bars. The greatest number o f notes i n a bar is five, or the pentac\iotAs take up one bar. The rhythm is based on a five tempo. Thus, the 'Plough Song' of Lori is organized generally around the number five. (b) Scale

The scale contains basic and secondary notes. The basic ones are the special notes at the beginning and end of the melody sentence. 78

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF LORI

The rest are the secondary notes. Both the former and the latter form various pentachords. The basic pentachord of the special notes at the beginning and end of the sentences of the melody is : descending

1/2

1

1

1/2

The adjuncts for the first and third sentences are the secondary ones; they follow in order : descending descending and

1/2 1/2

11/2 1/2

1/2 11/2

1/2

1

1/2

1/2 1/2 1I1

1

1/2

1/2

11/2

1/2

1/2

1

1/2

for the second and fifth : descending while for the fourth : descending

The basic (pentachord) begins with the minor seventh and descends to the major third; of the adjuncts, the first two and the third, from the minor sixth to the augmented second; the fourth, from the perfect fifth to the perfect prime; and the fifth, from the major seventh to the major third. Each pentachord and interval degree has its specific role in the song. The basic pentachord controls the whole song. The adjuncts, apart from the fourth sentence (which is more stylized and occupies an exceptional position), appear only as step by step descending links. Sometimes they join various sections together, as for instance the first and second adjuncts for the first and fourth sentences; the fourth adjunct for the second and fifth sentences. Sometimes they roll along, one after the other as a sequence — the second and third for the first and third sentences. A n d sometimes they produce an 79

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music independent melody, as the fifth adjunct forms the base for the fourth sentence, and the fifth sentence, of the fourth pentachord. The core of the basic pentachord, the asou and true final tone is the perfect fifth, which at the same time is the foundation of the melody. The peak, as an accent, is the minor seventh and the lowest point — as a second final tone, the major third. Intermediate to these are the major third. Intermediate to these are the major sixth and the perfect fourth, occupying only transitory secondary positions. Thus, the three principal intervals, the minor seventh, perfect fifth and the major third — build up a diminished chord. The diminished chord is transitorily competed by the perfect octave and the perfect unison and simulate a minor seventh chord. A l l the remaining degrees of the scale, as a secondary function, form the ornamental notes of the melody. The melody is based on the following intervals : second

third

fourth

fifth

seventh

together w i t h their diverse variations. A l l the intervals and transformations employed are summarized in the table below, divided into two parts : those belonging to the scale, and interpolations. The interpolations appear at the end of the sentences, independently, inbetween and auxiliary, and at the end of two various sentences — or between the opposite ends of sections. Intervals employed Interval Quality

Quantity

Minor Major

Second

Phrase A

B

C

D

E

down,

down,

down,

up

down,

up

up

up

down,

down,

down,

down,

down,

up

up

up

up

up

80

Position up Scale

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF L O R I Quality

A

B

C

D

E

Augmented \

down

down

down

up

down

Diminished

up up

up

down

up

down

up

Minor

: Quantity

; Third

up

up

Major Diminished

Position

up

Interpolation

up

i Fourth Perfect

up

Diminished

up

up

up

up

up

down

up

; Fifth Perfect Diminished ; Seventh

up

Interpolation

down

(c) Melody

(i) Words — The words appear only at the beginning of the first and third sentences, and the melody varies within the limits of the minor seventh and perfect octave, i.e. it consists of the interval of the major second. Althought the first syllable of the word orhnyal begins with the major third, and is joined by a diminished seventh jump to the second syllable the minor seventh, it is not as an independent jump, rather as one originating from the abbreviation of the last note of the preceding ho exclamation, such that it is outside the actual scale. Hence there is no special melody for the words, they are simply enunciated with two notes according to the prosody, the perfect octave and minor seventh; the first is used as a keynote, the tonic of the melody for the words, and the other as an accented note with the following characteristics : 1) accent, from the perfect octave to the minor seventh, 2) beat, according to the above, and 81

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music 3) pause from the minor seventh to the simple octave. The refrains (which appear at the beginning of the third sentence) contained in the two lines of each verse are also utilized in this fashion. A l l the circumstances which have been described prove that the true spirit of the song does not subsist in the words but, as we shall see later, in the refrains and cries. (ii) Refrains — Refrains occur in the course of the second, third, fourth and fifth sentences. The refrain of the second sentence utilizes : I

2 : augmented second 3 : major third, and 4 : perfect fourth

2 and 3 form, consecutively, a rising accent, and 4 and 3 a descending accent pause. II

7 1 2 3 4

: major seventh, lower, : perfect unison, : minor second, : major third, and : perfect fourth

7 and 2 are rising accents, 1 is a passing note; 7 and 2 are amongst the accented notes, 4 and 3 descending accent pause. Third was described above. The fourth uses : 7 : major seventh 6 : minor sixth 5 : perfect fifth 4 : perfect fourth, and 3 : major third 82

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF LÓRI

6 and 7, 5 and 6 are ascending accent pauses, 4 and 3 is a descending one, 5 and 6 and 4 undulate, 6 at the beginning is a long link, 5 in the middle, and 3 at the end. The fifth one utilizes : 5 : perfect fifth, 4 : perfect fourth, 3 : major third, 2 : augmented second, and 1 : perfect unison In the first part of the sentence there are five asous, i.e. it is the declamation (bar asel) or the chanting note; in the second, three : 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 descending accent pauses. (iii) Cries : We meet the cries in all the sentences of the song. The notes used in the cries of the first sentences are : I

8 : perfect octave, 7 : minor seventh, 6 : major sixth, 5 : diminished fifth, 4 : perfect fourth, 3 : major third.

8 at the beginning is a prolonged accent, in the middle a short beat and at the end an abrupt accent; the 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 , a descending prolonged stress. II

7 : minor seventh, 6 : major sixth, 5 : augmented fifth, 4 : perfect fourth, and 3 : major third. 83

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

7 and 6 is a prolonged accent; 5 + 4 + 3 is prolonged; 6, on its own is a prolonged accent. Ill

6 : minor sixth, 5 : perfect fifth, 4 : perfect fourth, 3 : major third, and 2 : augmented second.

The 6 and 5 and 3, 3 and 2 are prolonged accents; 5 a prolonged accent final tone; 2 is first an accent, then a pause. The second one utilizes : 5 : perfect fifth, 4 : perfect fourth, 3 : major third, 2 : augmented second, and 1 : perfect unison. 5 is an accent at the beginning and in the middle, and pause at the end; 5 and 4, and 5 and 4 and 3 are accent pauses; 3 and 2 and 1 is prolonged. The third one is, like the first in II, whilst in I it takes the role of the notes : 7 + 6+

5+

4+

3, 7 + 6 +

5, 7 + 6 a n d

4+3

are descending accent pauses, and 5 + 6 + 7 ascending. 8 is a beat or abrupt accent, 5 is an accent or pause. The fourth one : 8 : perfect eight, 7 : major seventh, 6 : minor sixth, 5 : perfect fifth, and 4 : perfect fourth. 84

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF L O R I

7 + 8 and 6 + 7 ascending, while 5 + 4 is a descending accent pause. The fifth one : 8 5 4 3 2 1

: perfect octave, : perfect fifth, : perfect fourth, : major third, : augmented second, and : perfect unison.

5 is short or pause accent and a prolonged final tone; 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 and 4 + 3 are accent pauses. 8 is a short final tone. (d) Time (i) Words — Each of the four syllables at the beginning of the first lines is 1/16, and the second lines 2/16 or 1/16 + 1/16. The fifth syllables of the first lines are prolonged. Hishayl e Astvats is, exceptionally, 1/16, while those of the second lines are sometimes 1/16 and sometimes 1/8. (ii) Refrain — O f the second sentence, each of the first three syllables of only one section has a duration of 1/16, while the fourth is 1/16 + 1/16. Every syllable of the third sentence has a duration of 1/16, 2/16, or 1/16 + 1/16. The fourth lines have alternate durations of 2/8 and 3/8. Each of the fifth lines has a duration of 1/16 at the beginning and 5/16 at the end. (iii) Cries — The two sections of the first sentence and the beginning and end of the third, and the end of the second, fourth and fifth sentences are always prolonged, while the middle ones vary : 1/16 + 1/16,

1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16,

1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16,

1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 +

1/16

+ 1/16 are the times for the first and third; 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16, 2/16 for the second; 2/8 + 1/8, 1/8 + 1/8, 3/8 + 1/8, 3/8, 1/16 for the fourth, and 2/16, 1/16 + 2/16, 1/16, 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 for the fifth. 85

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music (e) Rhythm

The rhythm of the first, second, third and fourth sentences is : ? w

i « w

or

? w w fw

The beginning and end of the fifth is : ? w } ^ w

or

? ^ w ww

while in the middle : T w T^ Tw

a n c

J

f w w ww

The accents fall on the exclamations and refrains; the actual notes and the order have already been discussed above. The general rhythm is the five metre, which is 5/16 in the lively parts, 6/8 in the quiet parts and 10/16 in the fast sections, which consists of five times 2/16. Each line of the words and refrains occupies only one or two five-metre rhythms; the cries take up the greater part. (f) Tempo

The tempo of the first and third sentences is broad (largo); the second, and especially the fifth, is lively (vivace), and the fourth leisurely (adagio). From the point of view of the tempo, the words have no values, they are always equal and regular, whereas the refrains and cries possess increasing or decreasing pace and, according to their position, are flavoured with tender variations. (g) Timbre

(i) Words — The first lines of the verses are equal; they have a value of 1/16, and the degree of the scale is the minor seventh. The second lines have a value of 2/16 or 2 x 1/16. The degree of the accented syllables is the perfect octave when they are commands 86

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF LÔRI

and brief, and the minor seventh together with the perfect octave if long. The feelings which the words express have already been described. Here we will say that the general colour is lively storytelling in the first lines, and pleasantly imploring in the second. (ii) Refrain — The imperative monosyllabic refrains comprise af (take) and tar (take away); they have a value of 1/16. The degree of the sclae is the lower major seventh and is peculiar to the second phrase. The degree of the remainder is the minor seventh or the perfect octave : 1/16 or 2/16. They occur in the course of the second, fourth and fifth sentences. If it is a command it rises, as also with terms of endearment. If pronouncing good news, on one note. T h e general i n t i m a t i o n of the polysyllabic refrains is a commanding call, tender, coaxing, self-sacrificing affectionate and loving encouragement. It is as if the peasant had concentrated his entire spirit in just one refrain, prepared to sacrifice his whole life for the beloved buffalo and his fellow ploughworker. (iii) Cries — A l l the melodies of the cries arise by imitating the roaring and bellowing of the buffalo. The countryman has heard and psychologically discerned that the buffalo's call is of five types and consists of a melody comprising five degrees, and hence various pentachord scales, as we saw above. The pentachords are descending, because the song contains, firstly such exclamations whose feelings flow downward, and secondly the buffalo call — which is the raison d'être and basis of all the scales of the plough song — is a descending melody. The countryman has fashioned the emotions of the cries on that of the buffalo call, with delicate skill and inventiveness, in a mocking spirit, because it seems that there is a deliberately sweet and joking intention to say 'boo!' hidden in the animal's cry. The reason is that the call which is called krkal is farcical by nature, coloured by the echo of the basically guttural-ventral and partly nasal and palatal sounds. The cries are of five types : 87

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

1. ay, de, had — human exclamations; 2. he— the sound of the plough wheel; 3. a, yd, ho, hoy — the krkal of the buffalo; 4. yda, hda, hdyd, hoy da — the cry of the buffalo; 5. prere, priugi, prdrd — the bellowing of the buffalo. V O C A B U L A R Y

OF

T H E

CRIES

A" y : At the beginning of the third sentence; ascending from the minor seventh to the perfect octave. The time for each one is 1/16. It signifies 'look !', 'quiet !', 'careful !' Its object is to excite envy, to exhort or threaten. It is always independent. Te" : At the beginning of the third sentence, ascending from the minor seventh to the perfect octave. The time for each is 1/16; together they are long. It signifies 'stay awake !', 'quick !'. Its object is to quieten and caution. It is always independent. Ha : Within the second sentence. The degree is the ascending perfect unison. The time, 1/16, always short and unstressed, because the accent has transferred to the preceding monosyllabic ar and tar refrains, and so it has itself become unstressed. It signifies 'haul !', 'pull !'. Its object is to command, to remind. It is a secondary term and not used independently. Ha '-ha" : At the beginning of the third sentence. The time of one is 1/16, and the other 14/16. The first is the augmented fifth, and the scale of the second [ha] consists of the ascending augmented fifth, major sixth and minor seventh, the duration of the first is 12/16* and 1/16* each for the second and third. It signifies 'Quick, quick, not much left!' Its object is to command by encouragement. T h e short and the long durations form a compound cry and are never independent. O" : Within the third sentence. The scale consists successively of the descending minor seventh, major sixth and augmented fifth, J

* 2/10 and 1/10

respectively according to the 1941

88

edition.

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF L O R I

the time of each is 1/16, together they are long. It signifies 'how unexpected', indicating surprise, in the form of sudden anger. It is independent. He : It simulates the sound of the plough wheel, and is of three types. A l l three are at the beginning of the third sentence and follow each other in this manner. He" : A descending scale consists of perfect octave, as a beat, minor seventh, major sixth, augmented fifth, perfect fourth and major third. The last five have a time of 1/16 each; together they are long. The subject is the cry of the plough wheel, which is equivalent to the buffalo's tune as a means of attracting attention. They are always dependent on each other. He'-he" : Continuation of the preceding one. It is used in exactly the same way as the ha'-ha" exclamation, but here the degree descends on the augmented second, the last two fast sounds are reversed and have one he" syllable extra on their own. A " : At the beginning of the fifth sentence, descending from the perfect fourth to the major third in 1/16 + 2/16 time, or perfect fourth, major third, augmented second and perfect unison, in 1/16 time. It signifies 'we have reached it'. The villager imparts the good news that having completed the circuit they have reached the edge : 'be quick so that you can rest!' The object is to call for rejoicing, to enliven. Ho' : This is the basic sudden growl (krkrots) of the buffalo; it derives from the yd sound made when it is startled. In all sentences its degree is the augmented second or perfect fifth and the time is 1116 or 1/8. It is an indication to move quickly and briskly. It is not used on its own. Ho" : At the beginning of the first sentence, and the end of the first, third and fifth. At the beginning of the first its degree is the minor seventh, and at the end of all three, a perfect fifth, in 25/16* time. It is used when the labour is easy. It signifies 'pull

* 2/16

in the 1941

edition.

89

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

quietly and untroubled.' It is a call, signifying 'diligence' — an indication to plough leisurely. It is not used alone. The same cry in a group of four in the first and third sentences, consists of minor sixth, perfect fifth, perfect fourth and major third. In a group of three — perfect fifth, perfect fourth and major third, in the second sentence; minor seventh, major sixth and augmented fifth, in the third sentence. A n d finally in a pair, major seventh and perfect octave ascending, or perfect fifth and perfect fourth descending, in the fourth sentence. It signifies 'hurry up !'. It is a command, indicating indignation or anger i f the scale is ascending, and affection if descending. Ho '-ho" : Used exactly as the he-he" cry. Yd" : At the end of the second sentence, a long growl in 25/16 time. Equivalent to the corresponding ho" exclamation, coloured with ridicule. Hoy : In the course of the first, second and third sentences. It is constructed thus : hd-y. Ho is already known, whilst the y is a beautifying suffix connecting ho"y and the yd growl. It appears as ho and ho 'y. Ho"y' : During the first and third sentences. The degree is the major sixth, in 25/16 time. It is used in a similar manner to ho", except that here, taking its pronunciation from the vowel 0, it increases, reaches a particular intensity and immediately after emphasizing the semi-vowel y", rapidly slides into the yd" cry. Hd'y" : Peculiar to the second sentence. Its degree is the perfect fifth, in 2/16 time. Its use is similar to that of ho', but here the accent on the vowel passes quickly and the note extends over the y semi-vowel which takes up almost the whole of the duration of the 2/16. Yd'a" : In the first and second sentences. The scale consists of minor seventh, major sixth, augmented fifth, perfect fourth and major third, in 2 x 1/16 + 1/16 time. The scale of the second sentence consists of perfect fifth, perfect fourth, major third, augmented second and perfect unison, in 2 x 1/6 + 3 x 1/16 time. Both types signify, de'-ha", quick'-/?^^. It is a command with the 90

T H E P L O U G H SONG OF LÔRI

intention of giving encouragement, spiced with a parody of the buffalo's cry. It is used independently. Hô"a" : Peculiar to the fifth phrase. The scale consists of the perfect fifth, perfect fourth and major third, in 2/16 + (1/16 + 2/16) time. It signifies qui^ck ha, dë"-ha"'. It is a command, intended to endear and encourage. It is used independently. Hô'a" : Peculiar to the fifth sentence. The scale consists of perfect fifth, perfect fourth, major third, augmented second and perfect unison; in 1/16 + 4 X 1/16. It signifies 'it is the end ha", at last !'. It is a command, first as encouragement, then as the bearer of the good news of the approaching period of rest. It is used independently. Hd'y" -yd' : At the end of the second sentence. The degree is the perfect fifth, i n 2/16 + 25/16 time. It signifies 'so'. It is exclamatory, indicating satisfaction and acknowledgement. It is used independently. Pfë'rë : At the beginning of the first sentence. The degree is augmented second, in 1/16 time. It signifies 'bellower', a request to pull freely. It is used independently. Pre'"rë : At the beginning of the fourth sentence. Its degree is perfect fifth, in 2/8 + 3/8 time. It means 'bellower'; a request to pull freely. It is used independently. Pfiu '"gi" : A t the beginning of the fourth sentence. The intonation is perfect fifth, minor sixth and perfect fourth, i n 2 x 1/16 + 2/8 time. It signifies 'my spirit'. It is a call used as a term of affection. Used on its own. Pro"rd" : A t the beginning of the fourth sentence. The auxiliary intonation is minor sixth, major seventh, perfect fifth, minor sixth, perfect fourth. The time is uniformly 1/8. It means 'my spirit'.* It is a call used as a term of affection. Used on its own. A l l the r e m a i n i n g c o m p o u n d cries have the c o m b i n e d meanings and uses of their component elements.

* A term of endearment. A n idiomatic translation would be 'darling.'

9

1

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music CLOSING

WORDS

Mysterious and adorable secret ! The peasant in the lap of nature, and nature i n the heart of the peasant are repeatedly and simultaneously reborn. The sun has already departed, and the night has spread its darkness. The day has rested and the night is ready for work. Two seas have served each other — the bright blue of the sky and the vigilant black of the earth. The moon has risen above the stars to plough the rows of clouds. The variable winds are singing, whilst the ploughman is leading the ploughworkers in order to awaken the fertile fields. The flowing streams are playing their music. O n high, the sky is breathing, and below, the land. The moon and stars and the windborne clouds are toiling above, and the plough and the peasant and the labouring oxen below. O n high is life that moves the mind and heart-strings, and below it is effort. The peasant comes alive and imparts life to his surroundings. The plough takes heart and encourages the cultivator, tearing the field, piling up waves of soil to right and left, fashioning the rows of golden furrows. The whole plough team is breathing heavily, the buffalo is murmuring, the countryman is calling, and the mountain breeze is whistling, the mountain flowers are whispering, and the stuttering brook is stumbling along. Meanwhile, the plough wheel creaks, chirps, whimpers, chrchr and chdlvdst. * The dark and light of the peasant's life, his labour and hopes give birth to our delicate plough song. T h e peasant is the master wizard who reads nature authentically, creates fertile thoughts, blows into them his powerful and simple breath, stamps it with the impulse of his own being, with the whole of his internal and external life, and baptizes with words and melody his true child : the plough song.

* Sounds made by the wheel.

92

T H E LORI P L O U G H S O N G Transcribed and arranged by Komitas

93

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

fin,

finj,

tqriD, n o

" l a b - rb,

jn:

Gii.

f.|i-11114

j u i G , I'm,

"I'kjni

-

q[»

UJJ,

mil,

fin,

fitu-fitu,

%i\b-rb, qn-ifbp,

) is the order of the letters of the Armenian alphabet — translator's note. 3 Alishan Ghewond, Nerses Shnorhali ew paragay iwr ('Nerses Shnorhali and his Time'), Venice, 1873, p. 88. 1

2

IO9

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

chapter with the heading Yaghags dzaynitst'e ousti gtav ('About the modes which they have found') written by an unknown scribe and completely unconnected with the subject matter of the book. This piece imparts much useful information, including the work of Step'annos P'ilisop'a. In the opinion of the present writer, the musician Step'annos referred to by Father Alishan is the same person except that he [Step'annos] had not composed the 26 melodies mentioned above, but had translated the writings of the Blessed Barsegh (Basil); the actual number of the melodies is 24 Yaghags dzaynits' t'e ousti its'en ew kam youmme gtan ('About

the modes; whence they originated or by whom they were found'), by the Blessed Barsegh, which was translated by Step'annos P'ilisop'a. Because he was a musician and erudite in the sounds of all animals and classified the meanings of the sounds into 24 types, which are : bafach'el

to bellow

bch'el

to blow

kfnch'el

to creak

goch'el

to cry

bnch'el

to roar

mnch 'el

to cry out in a low voice

bbch'el

to bellow, to roar

kafanch 'el

to cry out in pain

mfmfel

to murmur

ch 'ch 'el

to scream

kanch'el

to call

gohgohel

to laugh

khanch'el

to call

hafach 'el

to moan

kafanch 'el

to scream loudly

kaghkmdzel

to laugh loudly

hach'el

to bark 110

T H E C H U R C H MELODIES OF T H E ARMENIANS

kankanjel

to zok or gurgle

soghal

to soar to murmur, to mumble to creak

mnjmnjel chfchouel

These are taken from the individual sounds and function as a group, but each is sung separately. Then after him Sardianos the T'ezbian, a musician, collected these sounds artistically. He heard them together and separated them until even the rocks were able to feel the impulse of each animal's sound. A n d after him Edeos, a musician of a different kind adapted them to music and was able to play the various animal sounds. Then Senegés, a singer studied them and from the sound of wood being cut by a carpenter and discovered the first D z A (211) mode. Then P'legheges, his brother, was a musician who discovered the desron from which arose the second DzB (2P) mode by the blacksmith striking iron, then Sop'ekles [Sophocles], his brother, discovered the musical symbols. The third D z G (2%) mode was copied from the sound made by flowing rivers and male emissions. A n d then Pipanos, his nephew, who was a singer, the ousoustos which is the fourth D z D (21*) mode, from the flow of the sea waves. Argelés the musician arranged them all according to degree, for it is said about him that he tied his ears up tightly so that he should not hear sweetness of the sounds of the others; and from the T'eop'ilian musical works, which former people learned from the sounds of the stars. And then there was David, the king and prophet, a singer of divine songs. A n d then the classification and arrangement of all the modes for the blessing of the One Lord and God, as the prophet 1

2

2

1

Whether 'the Thespian' or 'of Thebes' is uncertain — translators note.

T h e words desron and ousoustos are probably corruptions of Greek deuteron ('second') and tetartos ('fourth'); cf. N . G . T'ahmizyan, K'nnakan tesut'youn hayots' hin yev mijnadaryan erazhshtut'yan patmout'yan, i n Teghekagir, no. pp. 13-30 — translators note. 2

io, 28 (1970),

H I

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

says, "Say psalms unto our king." Some followed who sang of the deeds of men, recalling Asap' and Eap with cymbals, Zak'aria, Ovram, Samiav, Elias, Moses and Dit'oum, sang with the harp.* Attention should be called to the following : £

"According to the number of the ten created [object], four modes were compounded into ten . . . and the four modes he divided into four sides/parts and Seneges and P'legheges, his brother, Sop'ekles and Pipanos found " D z A (2U,), DzB (9P), D z G (2S-), D z D (9^)."

From this it appears that prior to St Sahak, four basic modes existed, and that St Sahak had organized and developed them, as related in the Haysmavourk' ('Menology'). Comparing the above two extracts, we see that the significance of the modes is the same and similar. Twenty-two khaz books have come into my hands. The comparative study of the melodies which they contain will be left to another occasion. H e r e , I shall present the general list i n [Armenian] alphabetical order, classified according to the eight modes. A list of 70 of these melodies is found in Father G h . Alishan's Sisuan (p. 254), but it is not clear to which mode or melody they belong. Five of those found by Alishan are not in our khaz books. They are marked in the present list by a double asterisk (**); it has not been possible to place these five melodies in the eight-mode classification because it was not known to which mode they belonged. The remaining 65, found in our 22 khaz books, are

* The manuscript from which this extract is taken has not been identified. Other versions are contained in the Matenadaran mss Nos. and In the former, a Christian interpretation of the eight modes is attributed to Basil of Caesarea. Thus the first mode is for the glory of God, the second represents the coming of Christ, the third is the request for the remission of sins by mankind, and so on — translators note.

2752

Ill

6166.

T H E C H U R C H MELODIES OF T H E ARMENIANS

classified. Those which are not found in Alishan's list are marked with a single asterisk. The khaz books also contain certain melodies which although written in the old khaz notation, yet do not carry the corresponding name of the melody in the margin; instead, there is a long line. It appears that the copyist has either not known the name, or has left it out because it was well known to him. There are 21 named melodies in our khaz books : Manrousoumn aghach'ank' aghawnek aysawrmtane anmeghouk andzeghn

*

andzet' ashakert (2) afawdterg areghn

*

ariwts artsiw

*

arjn aweli (5) baze

* * *

bdeshkh berd bof brawor Gabriel

*

galstean gayl get gzats gochnak

melodies

supplication small dove entering today innocent magpie without olive oil disciple/apprentice morning song plough handle lion eagle bear more falcon margrave port fly (oestre de boeuf) cudgel holder Gabriel coming wolf river lint camelia 113

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

erkat'

colour minstrel curly greenery smith small ox church iron

zawchtogh

—

zozatogh

connection king wise man priest's wife crybaby deceptive cross talker portion/testicle swallow cymbals seaman stammerer cripple the cat inhabitant of Red Monastery Sunday eve Kirakos the Priest chameleon

gouynik gousnak gfouz dalrouk darbin eznak ekeghetswo

t'agawor imastnak irits'kin lalkan khabousik khach'i khawsogh kheghep ' tsitsefn tsntsghay tsovts'i kakzot kagh katoun karmirvanets'i kirakamti Kiraoserets' kozeen kret

—

hawatwor

series ripe faithful

hawrndzi

—

hiwand

ill Greek/Roman

kts'khak has

hofom

114

T H E C H U R C H MELODIES OF T H E ARMENIANS

*

Movsës

strong wind shepherd baby animal screamer opulent inhabitant of Macedonia Mamikon (an Armenian princely name) membrane (?) portion finger big head the bee deadweight Michael inhabitant of Moush Moses

yawneghn

—

yeghmn

gentle gentle pulling back Little John ship royal reed gracious sheep oasis (?) camel sparrow dry dancer wasp slime mill

hofmak haviw dzagn (5) chich 'ogh

* **

chokh Makedonats'i Mamkon

*

maregh matsnakn matn

*

metsgloukh meghoun

* * * * * * *

me felk'ash Mik'ayel Mshetsi

yeghmouk yetk'ashn

* * * *

Yovanisouk naw shahean shawafn shnorhazard

*

och'khar ovësa oughtn ch'it ch'or, ch'orouk (4)

* *

pardnkoul pitsak jahrik

*

jaghats'k'

"5

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music jorek'ash joulahak famvar sayl sarkawag **

serobe Sourb Nshanetsi steghn

*

srink

*

varouzhnak varseghn vfztatek'

mule weight (?) weaver/loom worker pathfinder cart deacon seraph a person of Sourb Nshan location flute little tercel

— —

Tarounets'i

landlord spread inhabitant of Taron

tawptawpay

—

**

tzhgouyn

*

tirotsi dzag

pale son of a deacon ? weak miser tube/pipe vale tender

tanoutrak taratsoumn

toukat tsinay pogh (2) p orak (

k'nkshak

The numbers in brackets after the above names indicate how many times that melody occurs in the eight modes. The number of melodies in the list is 129. T w o others — Arewelts'i (Easterner) and Khosrovayin (Khosrovian or grandly) — are mentioned in the tagh, song, gandz and other collections. Adding these two and the 21 anonymous melodies, the total becomes 152. But this figure cannot represent the correct total because there are melodies which are known by different names in various places, while the majority of the nameless ones correspond with the melodies in the list. If we assume that the number of duplicated 116

T H E C H U R C H MELODIES OF T H E ARMENIANS

melodies is, at the most, 32, then the basic melodies would number 120, equal to the number of Turkish melodies. N o w let us see how the melodies in the list are classified in the eight modes : Nuances of the Eight Modes A D z (U,9) : arajin dzayn — first mode 1.

gats, gzzats, gzzatsn

2.

kirakamti

3-

imastnak, mastnak, mastnakn

4.

anmeghouk, anmeghoukn, anmegh

56.

khawsogh, khawsoghn dzag, dzagn

78.

dzag, dzagn

910.

gousnak, gousnakn, gousan

mamkon, hiwand,

mamkonn hiwandn

11.

hofom,

12.

joulahak, joulahakn, joulhak,

hofomn

i314.

p 'orak, p 'orakn

i516.

Movses

18.

erkat'

19.

pitsak

joulah

hofmak ashakert brawor

20.

bof

21.

tsitsern hat'efbets'i

22.

aweli, awe

*3-

dalrouk.

A K (MM) : arajin koghm — first side 1.

gfouz, gfouzn,

2.

tsinay, tsinayn, tsina

gdfouzn

n

7

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music 34-

ekeghets, ekegh, eke ek

56.

gochnaky gochnakn

78.

y

k'nk'shak, k'nk'shakn aghawneky aghavnekny aghdnekn, agha tsovts'iy tsovts'in jahriky jahrayny jahrekn

9-

me felk'ash

IO.

zozatogh

ii.

tarounetsi

12.

vfztatek'.

B D z (P9) : erkrorddzayn — second mode i.

katoun, katou

2.

jorèk ash, jorek ashn

34-

artsiw, artsiwn

56.

hoviwy hoviwn

78.

andzeghn, andzegh

9-

dzag, dzagn lalkan

y

lalkann y

andzin

ch 'it baze

IO.

shahyean

II.

jaghats'k'

12.

aweli.

B K (P4) : awagkoghmn — superior side 1.

shnorhazardy shnorhazardn, shnorhaza, shnorhaz

2.

hawrndzin,

3.

meghoun meghou

hawrndzi

y

4.

Sourb Nshanets'iy Sourb Nshanets'in, Sourb Nshan è

5.

Karmirvanets'in, Karmirva,

6.

oughtn

7.

kozefn

8.

has

Karmirvanets'i,

Karmrets'i

118

Karmirvan,

T H E C H U R C H MELODIES OF T H E ARMENIANS

9.

mets gloukh

10.

khabsik,

11.

ch'orouk.

khabousik

G D z (1*9) : errord dzayn — third mode zawchtogh, zawchoghn

y

zochtogh, zochdogh

gaylriy gay I dzagn, dzag tawptawpayn, tawptaivpay, tawptapa, toptopay, tawptdpayn, tdptdpayn, tawptopayn,

tawptapay

sayIn, sayI areghn, afegh arjn, arj mshets'in, mshets'i

9

shawafn

11. 12. 13.

srink

dzagtirots'i

10.

af oyts ch 'or.

G K (^4)

: var— bright

1

taratsoumn, tartso tarats

2

kheghep', kheghep'n

3 4 5

arawawterg, arawdterg, afoterg

y

matn, matne hawatuor, hawataworn, hawatavorn, havatvor> hawatvor yawneghn,

hawnegh

yetk'ashn, yetk'ash goynik, goynikn,

9¬

Gabriel,

10.

Mi k'ayel

11.

yeghmouk

12.

yeghmn eznak

13.

gounik

Gabrieln

119

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music pardnkoul varouzhnak andzet' awelord mafeghn ch'or tanoutrak. D D z CV9) : ch'orrorddzayn — fourth mode 1.

ramvar, ramvarn, fdnvarn

2.

p ogh, p 'oghn, p oghne

3. 4.

darbin ashakerty ashkertn, ashkert

5.

toukatn, toukat, tawkatn, tawkat

6.

aysawr mtane, aysor mtane, aysawdrmt, aysmt

7.

ovesayn ovesa

8.

aweli, aw

9.

get

y

10.

kakzot

11.

naw

12.

bdeshkh

13.

tsntsghay

14.

chokh, get

15.

herd

16.

och'khar

17. 18. DK 1.

Yovonisouk ch'or. : verj— final aghach'ank\ aghach'ank'n

2.

£tfgA,

3.

Kirakoserets\ Kirakoserètsn, Kirakoser, Kirakos

4.

sarkawag, sarkawagn, sarkaw

5.

chich'ogh, chich'oghn

6.

dzUgH

120

T H E C H U R C H MELODIES OF T H E ARMENIANS 78. 9-

p 'ogh, p oghn e

t'agawoYy t'agwor, t'agworn, t'agou galstean, galstea, galst, gal

IO.

khach'i, khach', sourb khach\ khch'

ii.

aweli, aw

12.

ktskhak krët

14.

varseghn.

The eight-mode melodies under which the above melodies are classified, form the basis of the remaining minor melodies. These eight modes are also written i n the ancient khaz notation, and therefore form separate melodies. We cannot insist that they also were sharakan melodies, The eight-mode melodies under which the above melodies are classified form the basis of the remaining minor melodies. Those eight modes are also written in the ancient khaz notation, and therefore form separate melodies. We cannot insist that they were also sharakan melodies, since it is not yet possible to penetrate the secret of the significance of the khazs. Therefore, these must be included in the general total as separate melodies, making the total 160 (i.e. 152 + 8). Thus, the spiritual melodies of the Armenians, including the sharakans come to 200 (i.e. 160 + 40). There are forty sharakan melodies, but twenty of them are fashioned from the others, or are similar to them. So, as separate melodies there are only twenty. Adding this number to the probable total number (120) of spiritual song types, the definitive total becomes 140 or 150. This number should not surprise us. Being an Eastern nation by nature, our melodies also belong to the many-branched stock of Eastern melodies and are closely connected with them. This will be considered on another occasion.

121

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THE THE

S I N G I N G OF

HOLY

LITURGY*

Review of Ergets'oghout'iwnk' Srboy Pataragi ('The Singing of the Holy Liturgy'). Transcribed into European notation and harmonization by M. Ekmalian.

Prepared for publication

by Mr Gr.

Meghvinian.

Breitkopf & Hertel, Leipzig, 1896.

T

his extensive work by the respected musician, Makar Ekmalian, has at last appeared. The harmonization is of three types, as follows : (a) for three voices, male; (b) for four voices, male; (c) for four voices, mixed. The foreword tells us : " A l t h o u g h we know that polyphonic music was not contrary to the spirit of our C h u r c h , but rather its perfection and completion, and whilst our ancestors also composed our church melodies according to the artistic stage of development of each age, i n preparing these harmonizations we apppoached the matter with great caution and piety because it was, of course, necessary to transcribe the mother melodies without alteration, as printed at Holy Etchmiadzin in European notation and measure, and to arrange the harmonizations in such a way that,in accord with the spirit of our church singing it should be simple and decorous. "The exceptions were the Hayr Mer (the Lord's Prayer),

1898,

111-117;

* First published i n Ararat (Etchmiadzin), pp. R. T'erlemezyan, Hodvatsner, pp. Abel Oghlougian, Grakan Nshkhark\ pp.

137-152;

123

98-110.

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

pages 74 and 210, and the Gohanamk' ('We have been filled', the hymn of thanksgiving) page 168, which were not i n the p u b l i s h e d v o l u m e . T h e former we arranged according to the patriarchal blessing Hayr Mer as it is sung at Holy Etchmiadzin, and the latter according to an old melody. Therefore we avoided the use of semitones apart from those of the scale (i.e. chromatism), or modulation. Instead we attempted to work within the diatonic scale of the melody, and to arrange the hamony as simply as possible, because this is required by the spirit of PersianArabic music, of which ours forms a part." The present writer is in agreement with the objectives, apart from those in bold type. None of our church melodies has a scale; they are based on the system of tetrachords. Here is the explanation. It is clear that all peoples sang first, and then played music; the singing came first, and the playing of music developed later. First they were able to decide and differentiate the degree of the scale, then it was established on the instrument. It is similarly known that the primitive musical instrument of the Greeks was the fourstringed lyre. They tuned it by degree and thus the interval of the first and second strings was a semitone, of the second and third, and third and fourth, it was a whole tone each, thus

I

1/2

II

1

III

1

IV

This series of notes was called four-stringed (tetrachord). It was on this instrument that Orpheus played, and as our ancestors wrote, "until even the rocks were able to feel the impulse of each animal's sound." In the course of time a second set of strings was added, but in such a way, that the last string of the first set (IV) served also as the first string of the second set, thus : 124

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

I

1/2

II

III

i

IV

i

=

I

1I1

II

III

i

V

i

which is equivalent to a song consisting of seven notes, so that the instrument was called seven-stringed. In order to convert this seventh to an octave they did not add a string at the higher end but at the lower, because if it were added at the upper end then three whole intervals would have to follow (tritonus), which was strictly forbidden as being untuneful and contrary to the tetrachord system. The inaccurate :

I

I

1I1

III

II

1I1

II

i

III

i

i

IV

IV + I

=

II

III

IV

is already three voiced. The correct form is :

i

I

+ I 1I1

II

i

III

i

I V = I 1I1

II

i

II

i

IV

This octachord corresponds to the European descending minor scale, which is also called the natural or oriental minor scale. Every time we wish to add a tetrachord to this octachord, we must do it according to this rule. The last note of each previous tetrachord must be simultaneously the keynote of the final one. Consequently, we arrive not at a scale in the modern sense, but at a chain of tetrachords. Both our folk and church melodies are composed on the system of tetrachords, since they are descended from a common system and thus have the same structure. Those not conforming to the tetrachord system are foreign borrowings. (The tetrachord system was first noted in folk and church music by the present 125

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

writer. It is intended to publish the details in a separate study.)* Hence, the secret of the structure of our melodies is clear, and it would be a vain task to seek scales corresponding to the European major or minor keys in our music. W e would not find them because they do not exist. This misunderstanding has given rise to a false musical situation regarding our singing. The Reverend Father, Eznik K'ahanay Erznkian threw our Eastern simple heptachord into disorder, thinking that it was similar to the European. O u r heptachord consists of two major tetrachords :

I

i

II

i

III

1/2

IV

=

I

1

II

1

III

1I1

IV

which in musical notation appears as follows :

T 5

&

After appreciating the existence of the tetrachord system, it becomes evident that we have no church music without modulation. May I be excused if I stress here again that our music in its national spirit and style is as Eastern as is the Persian-Arabic, but that the Persian-Arabic is not our music, nor is our music a branch of theirs. The situation is that ours has been subjected to their influence. This is analogous to the position of our language, which like Persian, Kurdish and German, etc., is a branch of the IndoEuropean family, yet is not German, nor Kurdish, nor even Persian.

* Apparently not published — translators note.

126

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

The distinction between our melodies and other Eastern ones is that we take a simple tetrachord and change the intervals which it contains in semitones, while they augment and diminish the extent of the tetrachord. In Persian, Turkish and Arabic music, even impractical and meaningless 1/3 and 1/4 notes are utilized. The system of measures is also different in ours. M r M . Ekmalian has been guided principally by the first printing of the Mass (1875); he has also utilized the second (1878). In our church singing, the musical setting of the Mass has suffered particularly severe alterations. TRANSCRIPTION

T h e khazs should be transcribed either exactly (except for misprints), or else the revisions should be carried out [consistently] according to logical rules, on every tune and song. Revision means that superfluous embellishments, khaghs (grace notes), modulations, etc., which are contrary to the spirit of our national and church music, must be strained out, and the music purified. The modal harmony must not be interfered with but clarified. New melodies should not be created, but the existing ones regulated according to its spirit. The rhythm must not be disturbed pointlessly, without contravening its mistaken structure. Transcription consists of two parts — pitch and time : 1) Vocal transcription of pitch and its revision, page 57, line 2, bar

1. The melody ascends to the octave in the following manner :

I

C

DE ev

F

ED

C

ga

—

lots'

etc.

It would have been better if it ascended not with the ga- but the -lots syllable, as for example has been done accurately on page 61, line 2, bars 5 and 6 : 127

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

|

C a

DE —

F

gha

—

ED

ch'emk'

and page 63, line 1, bars 3 and 4 :

\

C hegh

F

I

—

F mamb

The same rule should have been applied in all places. Does the revision correspond with the harmony of the melody and the spirit of the church music ? Here is the chain of tetrachords :

C

D ' E ' F' G ' A ' B' C ' D " ( E f

F" G " A|?")

The part in brackets does not exist in the principal melody, but in this work it ascends to F", but not with the E flat" but the E". Hence the harmony receives its timbre/colour with the European F major. But this is not in accord with the tetrachord system because it gives rise to a wrong tritone series, which is forbidden. This is just as inacurate as if one put a sharp in place of B in G minor. The Af K'ez, Astuats melody on page 5 3 has been completely reversed, although it does retain its spirit. T h i s revision is completely baseless. In both of the Holy Etchmiadzin editions the melody appears quite correctly. In the text it is :

A

C

A

B

Af

Kez

As —

tuats'

which has been altered to : 128

Dt

C

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

|

CB

A

B

Af

k'ez

as

C —

tuats'

It appears to the present writer that the musicologist [Ekmalian] has made this change in the belief that af is the imperative of the verb afnel 'to take'. But af is really a preposition. I base this assumption on the fact that the major accent has been placed on the first strong accent of the 4/4. The deacon (sarkavag)

says : Ahiw

kats'ts'ouk',

erkiwghiw

kats'ts'ouk' ew nayets'arouk' zgoushout'eamb — "Let us stand in awe,

let us stand in fear, let us stand aright, let us attend with good heed." The choristers (dpirner, literally 'clerks') reply : Af K'ez, Astuats — "To Thee, O G o d . "

*

Ach'k'n tsov, page 233 and corresponding places. The original text has G , A flat; it has been altered to G flat, A . Aysor mefealk', page 240. The -eatsds syllable of the word kendaneatsds in the original is C - D flat - C - B. It has been altered to B - C - B - A f l a t . Aysor harsn lousoy, page 251, line 1, bars 3 tb.t and 4 : G flat should be G . Govyea, Erousaghem, page 254-256. The melody in the final part is slightly simplified and abbreviated in a fairly successful manner. Khorhourd khorin, pages 1-7. In the original text each verse ends with an A. It has been raised to D , which makes the melody boring. There are a number of minor alterations, most of which have been carried out on the basis of musical rules, although there are those which are uncorrected printing errors, especially among the semitones. 2) Transcription of the rhythm — Transcription of the durations in the melodies must be made according to metrical rules, or the deviations made to conform to a general rule. Our observations 129

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

relate to the sharakans in the singing of the Mass, because the versification of the ceremony of the Mass has been disarranged to a greater extent, except for the metrical (votanavor) sections. Khorhourd khorin, pages 1-7. The duration of the following words has been reduced : 0 0 o o zverin, ara (ratsk), or he (gher), i

o

o

sourb, sdrbou (t'iwn), hasta (tea), ew o 0 0 dz (gayarans), tira (pes), sirovd,

0 0 0 yerkna (wor), zeke (ghetsi) ko an (sharzh), o

/ kha (ghaghout'tean)* Hayr mer, pages 143-145, hana (pazord), etc., in place of a time of

1/4, this edition gives 1/8, so that the harmony suffers. If there is any need for amendment, it must be done in the corresponding parts in order to retain overall metrical consistency. W h y has no amendment been introduced in the other Khorhourd khorins, for example, pages 97-100 ? In the whole song the durations have been lengthened. Yays hark\ pages 8-14. In this and all the graver songs each 1/4 duration has been made 2/4 with the object of simplifying the singing, which is good. A l l the others have been altered according to this rule, except for the 1/32 and 1/64, which have remained unchanged. The respected musicologist has done this in order to approximate the rhythm of the graver songs to that which is actually used in practice. However much they may be defined on paper, they are in practice sung ad libitum. This revision is regular, but not in all places. In a few places, there are compound beats * O r sargh.

I 30

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

(quintuplets and sextuplets) which are not in the [Etchmiadzin] text. There are a number of irregular breathing pauses which break up the integrity of words or even of syllables, in a manner which is not musical. For example tea — fd (1/32 breath) — n, i.e. having sung tea we reach fd, which is half a syllable, take a 1/32 breath, rest, and then continue with the n, the rest of the syllable, which has no vowel. H o w can we sing it ? The following are similar : pa

— 1/32 — ta— ra — gis . sra — hd — 1/32 — s.

ki —

1/32

na — mo—nats,

etc.

There are also times which have been lengthened. In the Amen, ew dnd hogwoyd k'oum — c Amen, and with Thy spirit', pages 70-78, and the Ter Oghormea-s, a greater duration has been apportioned to the Ter than in the original text. The shorter duration was a more appropriate means of expressing supplication and stress, than the long, which falls flat. Hayr Mer, pages 74 and 210. It is mentioned in the foreword that this has been borrowed from the patriarchal blessing. The present writer has compared these but can see no similarity. In one or two bars there seems to be a distant similarity, but it is difficult to find. O n the contrary, there is a great difference between them. The 'patriarchal' (hayrapetakan) is composed on the system of tetrachords which is Eastern, whereas this is i n the European F major scale. Miayn sourb, pages 77-78. This melody is not the one used in the Holy Etchmiadzin Mass, but closer to the spirit and style of our church music than that in the Etchmiadzin edition, in which the G has been altered to G sharp under the influence of the Turkish p 'ouselik melody. Orhneal e Astuats : K'ristos patarageal,

pages 87-96, with its

arrangement, is taken from elsewhere. It is mentioned in the 131

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

foreword that this piece was missing in the printed text and is a D K (^M — fourth plagal mode) melody composed in church style. The first is in the European major scale and does not conform to the tetrachord system. The old Gohanamk\ pages 168-174. This melody possesses a marvellous harmony (although exhibiting fairly strong Persian influence as well) and is composed on the basis of the Eastern tetrachord system. It begins in the style of Sourb Sourb, an octave higher. This is the style and spirit which the Hayr Mer (The Lord's Prayer) should have had, arranged as the Kristos patarageal ('Christ sacrificed'), and the parts of Sourb Sourb ('Holy Holy') sung in an higher register. Yorzham mtts'es, pages 232-238, is missing from the Etchmiadzin edition of the Mass; it is truly ecclesiastical. VERSIFICATION

A t the close of the lines and bars in the singing of a sharakan syllables having long or even time values are generally followed by short ones, up to the finish or until a further even time value is met. The Barekhdsout'eamb follows this rule to the end. Barekhdsout'eamb mor k'o ew kousi, dnkal etc.

zaghach'ans k ots'pashtoneyts\ Learn vimatsfn, aghbiwr

yordarat,

parounak tsaghkeaU aygi

vayelouch

Khorhourd mets ew sk'anch'eli, hreshtdks tan dwetis ashkarhi Zinuoroutiwnk'hreshtakats Dzaniwn

oryaysm

hoviwk'ergen

awouryaytnetsaw.

orhnen,

awetaraner hreshtakn

Ter or i mej lerinn

dnd

. ..

aghberats'outs'eir

zjourn i vimen . . . * Second printing, pp

zk'ez . . .

... etc.

45-46 (Etchmiadzin). 132

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

Almost four fifths of the sharakans obey this rule. We meet it in the ceremony of the Mass also, but it is much amended and altered, e.g. Amen ew 9nd hogwoyd k 'oum. Ev ews khaghaghout'ean ztér aghach'ests'ouk' Amenayn srbovk' zors yishatakets ak' (

Ews arawelapés dzter aghach 'ests 'ouk \

Thereafter it is mixed. A C C E N T U A T I O N

Music, as with poetry, has metrical rules; that is, each song must be divided into sections according to the system of accents. The accentuation of music and language has an intimate connection. Since the accents of both proceed continuously, they must present an inseparable harmony. Otherwise, the harmony of the language and melody would be fundamentally upset, because where the language is accented, the music would be unaccented and vice versa, and hence the melody would not fit. In our language, only the last syllable of the word is accented, except in the case of the invocations. In singing, two accents may be placed on a polysyllabic word and if necessary to the word root may be accented, as d i d our poet singer-musician ancestors. Consequently, it is first necessary to transpose the words into linguistic metre, and then divide them up into bars, so that the accents of the words and the music correspond. This rule has not always been followed in the work under discussion, either in the prose passages or even in the metrical ones, e.g. K'ristos i mej mer yaytnetsav ('Christ is manifested amongst us'), page 52. ^

Kri 'stos i' mej I me Vyaytnets'a 'w I

Christ amongst us is revealed.

o V e 'nn A 'stuats I

He who is God

a st bazmets'aw I

here is seated,

f

133

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music khaghaghou 't'ean I

of peace

dza 'yn hnch'ets'aw I

the sound has rung,

sourb oghchou 'nis I

the holy greeting

hra 'man tdwaw, I

He has commanded.

e'ke'ghe'ts'is I

This church

mi ' andzn e 'ghew, I

one person has become,

ha 'mbouyrdsyôd I

This kiss as a bond

dr-man tdwaw I

He has given,

t 'dshnamout 'iw I

enmity

ndn her'a 'ts'aw, I

has been removed,

sërn dndha 'nou- I

love amongst us all

rds S9p 'r'e'ts'av I

has spread;

a 'rdpashtôneayk' I

N o w ministers,

ba 'rdzeal dzdza 'yn I

with voice raised

tou 'k' drhnou 't 'iwn I

give blessing

/ ' mi beran, I

with one voice,

Mia 'snakan I

to the united

Astuatsou 't 'ean I

Godhead

o 'roum sro 'vbëk'n I

to whom the seraphim

e 'n sdrba- I ¿¿m :

give praise.

The accentuation is almost entirely inappropriate. It should have been 14/4, 1/4 breath. K'ristos i I më'j merya'ytne-

I tsa'w or ë'nn As- I tua'ts ast

bazme- I ts'aw, khaghaghou- I t'ea'n dzayn hdnch'e' I ts'a'w, sourbo 'ghjou- I ni's hrama'n

tdwa'w. yeke'ghe- I ts'i's mi

a 'ndzn e- I ghe 'w h am bou 'yrs I yd 'd hrma 'n td- I wa 'w t 'dshna 'mou- I t 'iw 'nn he V 'a- I tsa 'w, sërn wd 'ndha- I nourds spp'r'e- I ts'aw, ardpa'shtdtouk' ô'rhnouAstua'tsou-

I t'iw'n

I nea'yk' bardzea'hz-

i mi' be- \ra'n, mia'sna-

I dza'yn I ka'n

I t'ea'n, orou'm srov- I bë'kn wen sdrba- \ba'n\\\

Af k'ez Astuats, page 53, 4/4. This should be 4/4 and 1/4 breath. The reason for this error has already been explained above. 134

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

Ter oghormea ('Lord have mercy'), page 79. This melody is 5/4 (3/4 + 2/4) from beginning to end, and not 4/4. The same Ter oghormea is repeated six times, each time differently : Te'r oghormea, I Ter

I

0'

gho 'rmea, Te V I 0 'gho 'rmea I Te V oghormea' I Te V, oghor I mea'

I

Te 'r oghor- I mea': 11

Only the last is correct. But if it were accented 5/4, which is a compound time (3/4 + 2/4), it would have been correct. 5/4 (3/4) Ter oghor- I (2/4) mea, I Te'r oghor- I mea Te'r, I oghor- I mea I,

etc. Khorhourd khorin, pages 97-100, would have been better if it were divided thus : 4/4 Khor- I hourdkho-

I rin an- I has, etc.

so that the secondary accents fall on the weakly stressed syllables, and the main accents on the strongly accented syllables. In the work under review the opposite has been done. The t'iw erger ('recitatives') should either not be divided into bars at all, or else all the recitatives of the work should be so divided. Not only has this rule not been followed — some recitatives being divided and others not — but within some songs part of the recitative has been divided and the rest not. For example, on page 70, the recitative of Amen ew mdhogwouyd k'oum — 4/4 ew ews khaghaghout'ean

zTer aghach'estsouk'

is

incorrectly divided. It is not 4/4 but 5/4. It should be 3/4, 1/8 breath / Ew ews khaghaghou- I t'ean zTer aghach'es- I tsou'k'II, because we do not say aghach'e'sts'ouk', but aghach estsouk\ (

1

3 5

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Amenayn srbovk'is also wrongly divided. Vasn matouts'eal, orpes zi Ter Astuats mer, dnkal kets'o\ are not divided; unnecessary 1/5

(quintuple) and 1/6 (sextuple) times have been introduced. In a few places there are incongruous accents (>), e.g. two instances on page 72. PEDAL

NOTES

Almost all the solo singing has been arranged with pedal notes in the following manner : the main melody is sung solo by the tenor, while the tenor and bass parts harmonize by maintaining the pedal note with the fifth. In places, the passing (durchgehende) notes and each musical phrase ends with a tritone [tonische Dreiklang); it is arranged for a male choir. The pedal note in a few places does not harmonize with the melody, being alien to it. / kouys vimen, pages 244-249, is a genuine Eastern melody and the tetrachord system has been so adapted that it appears like European C sharp minor, with a reduced second degree, the B sharp adapts well to the C sharp minor for colour (timbre), but the melody is not F sharp minor, nor similar to it. Hence the F sharp - C sharp pedal note is completely incompatible. The melody ends F sharp - C sharp with an interval of a fifth. The ending itself is evidence that the pedal note for the melody is incorrect. A l l Eastern melodies end on the fourth or the tonic or on the second degree, the second. The tonic usually serves as the pedal note when the melody is in the lower part of the scale. When the melody is raised, it is joined by, or replaced entirely as the pedal note by the keynote of the lower fourth an octave higher, which forms an interval of a fifth with the tonic of the previous fourth. Descending again, the melody unites first with the fifth and together with its tonic, its main pedal note; but here it joins not the tonic of the pedal note but the fifth, which does not accord with the Eastern spirit. 1 36

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY H A R M O N I Z A T I O N

The melodies are harmonized for three voices, four voices and a few for two voices. The yorzham mtts'es melody (meghedi) is two part, and is successful; two G D z (S-9) chashou sharakans (introits), pages 257-260.

Nowhere is there any indication of the modes corresponding to the melodies of the sharakan\ this is important. If there were any need to include the chashous, it should at least have been the eightmode one; but here both are arranged for the same part and one Govea Erousaghem A D z (U»9), which is for three voices. The harmonization of this is pleasant and elegant, except that it was superfluous to modulate with sharp, since it is not indicated in the melody. Hence the harmonization of the words Yareav K'ristos does not agree with the meaning. The words announce the good news of the resurrection of the saviour, whereas the harmonization is mournful and saddens that powerful news by its minor nature. It would, of course, have been possible to do it with a beautiful major scale. The bars are divided fairly accurately, except for : hog- I 3/4 woyn sdr- I boy' ayzhm ew I mi 'sht

The 3/4 must be exactly where I have indicated. In the book it is placed after the words ew yawiteans, while ew hogwoyn sdrboy, ayzhm ew misht, etc. has been changed to 4/4 giving rise to an inaccurate accentuation. The three-part Mass is arranged for a male choir, pages 1-98. Modulation was necessary, but inspired by the semitones of the melody, not from alien semitones. Khorhourd khorin, pages 1-7. The melody consists of two flat fourths, A , B, C , D ' , E f (F' G'), sharp, interspersed with the G , A , B, C sharp fourth, consequently it should have been harmonized accordingly. Such a succession of notes does not sound well in church singing, especially where the bass parts follow each other J

37

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

and in the same direction, rising or descending, forming an accord sometimes with the fourths and at others with the fifths. For example, here there are ascents and descents : G-E-B, B-E-G, G-D-B,

B - E - G - D - B

which are not fluent in church singing. Barekhdsout'eamb, pages 14-17. There was no need for F sharp and G sharp. The bass voice, which is the basis and backbone of the mother melody, should have a similar fluency and gradual coordinated ascents and descents as with the mother melody. But here we note such unsuitable chromatisms a s A - C - D E - B G - G sharp, which are totally at variance with the spirit of our melodies, as (here) F sharp - G sharp. The converse is the Eastern F - G sharp, which has a definite basis for its structure. But the latter should not be used in this melody. Here we meet leap of two fourths in the same direction A - D - G , which is followed immediately by the leap of the members of the harmonization, G - E - H (pages 18-20). If the other Barekhdsout'eamb were arranged with the preceding degree, in order to maintain consistency, it would have been better. Our G K (1*4) melody does not have a minor but a major harmony; for this reason it is called a vaf dzayn (bright mode) and ends on the second degree of the fourth. The song should have been harmonized accordingly. Pages 21-97. The harmony is constructed very unostentatiously and is pleasant. For a male-voice four-part choir, pages 97-176 — beautifully constructed in the style of the former. The Hayr Mer, pages 143¬ 145, up to T'ogh mez is similar to the European sharp minor, and then the C sharp minor, in both cases in the lower second degree; the first is harmonized in A and the second in E major, which are the corresponding upper thirds to F sharp and C sharp minor. The two parts are done well and sound beautiful, would be better if the second part were harmonized in C sharp minor instead 138

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

of E major. This is because the words indicate a petition and would hence be more impressive if harmonized in a minor key. Four-part Mass for a mixed choir, pages 180-229, is arranged in the style of the former ones. The harmonization, although plain, is magnificent. A R R A N G E M E N T

A N D

C O N T I N U I T Y

The work is set out correctly and in an appropriate manner, but the continuity is faulty in parts. For example page 100, there is a note : "ch'arch aranats\ etc., see page 2." When we look this up we find that the continuation does not agree with the preceding in degree. O n page 100 the melody ends i n B flat, while it is the continuation of the main melody on page 2 and should have been in E, but it is in D major. The continuity is thus broken and the harmony spoiled. We must assume either, as often happens, that the procession ended with the words Teghi berkranats' (page 100), and continued with Aysor zhoghoveal (page 100) which is written in the scale of A minor and not the ch'arch'arandk\ the C sharp heard up till now suddenly descends to C of the main melody, which is disconnected and unharmonious. (Apart from this the adjacent H - F and A - E form incorrect fifths. It would have been better if, after the prolonged minor harmony, it were harmonized in C major. This melody especially, the G D z (S-S), because it is major, does not negate the appropriateness, and would make an unexpectedly strong impression. Each part of the ceremony of the Mass begins with a different kind of Khorhourd khorin. The harmony of all of them is the same. The differentiation lies in the fact that one is plain and another slightly ornamented and a third more magnificent. The first (page 1) is written in the scale of G , the second (page 97) in D and the third (page 177) in C. Songs having the same harmony should also share the same degree of the scale in order not to interrupt the integrity and continuity of the singing. (

139

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music OMISSIONS

Some pieces relating to the ceremony of the Mass have been omitted : a few meghedis, the benediction (srbasats'out'iwn) of Maundy Thursday (Awag Hingshabt'i), the avetis songs of the Christmas and Easter processions, all the taghs and a few minor items. The erkar (pause) sign — r> — should be placed in such a way that it affects each stave equally. In this work a number of methods have been employed. In some places it is included, in others it is not. Sometimes over only the first stave, so that one may surmise that it applies to the second also. Sometimes over both, and at others on neither. W e notice the same t h i n g i n the arrangement for the pianoforte, in which there is a discordant picture even with the vocal part of the bar to which it is closely allied. C O N C L U S I O N

T h e honoured musicologist, M a k a r E k m a l i a n , has laid the foundation of the hitherto unexplored harmonization of our singing art. We are deeply moved; it can now be made known that we Armenians also have not been remiss in the development of the elevated — and the most perfect — art of music. Tending towards perfection, I would propose the need for a Mass composed on the following lines : a) to avoid foreign and unnecessary embellishments; b) to select the most suitable arrangement of those songs which exist in several variations; c) to make the versification and the harmonization of the melodies, as far as possible, correspond with the meaning 140

T H E SINGING OF T H E H O L Y LITURGY

of the words, whilst maintaining the style and spirit of the church music of the Armenians — and to display a necessary and proper reverence and faithfulness to such an holy tradition; d) i n arranging the melody and versification, the manuscript liturgies written in the ancient khazs should serve as the guide.

141

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DIE

ARMENISCHE

KIRCHENMUSIK*

I.

DAS I N T E R P U N K T I O N S S Y S T E M

A. Das

DER

ARMENIER

Psalmodieren

Das Tetrachordensystem — Die Psalmodie —Die Recitation und ihre Elemente : A. Die Dauer, B. die Accentuation und C. die Interpunktion

D

ie armenische Volks- und Kirchenmusik ruht nicht auf der G r u n d l a g e e u r o p ä i s c h e r T o n a r t , sondern auf dem Tetrachordensystem, in der Weise, dass in der Verkettung der Quarten miteinander der letzte T o n der vorausgehenden Quarte zum ersten der folgenden wird. Die herrschende Quarte der armenischen M u s i k ist die Dur-Quarte, deren Anfangs- und E n d t o n immer unverändert bleibt, während die dazwischen liegenden variieren : i_ vi_JL J L « —0

«

*

v»

v»

——'

—

i , 72 „ V2__iv

2

1- m

*

|

l

V» m i

m

y». ivi */t 72. —1— m— * —• A

* T h e [ G e r m a n ] o r i g i n a l appeared i n Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschafi, ed. Oskar Fleischer & Johannes W o l f pp. It was translated into Armenian by Hakob Harut'yunyan. A n abridged version was published by Ghorghanyan in Kavkazakaya Muzika without the author's identity. Retranslated into Armenian by Psak Vardapet T'umayian and published i n Sion (April pp. R. T'erlemezyan, Hodvatsner, pp. Abel Oghlougian, Grakan Nshkhark\ pp.

i (i899-1900),

1936),

118-126.

115-125. 143

54-64.

153-165;

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

Aus der verschiedenen Zusammenfügung dieser sechs Quarten bilden sich alle armenischen Melodien. Das Psalmodieren teilt man ein in : a) Psalmodie. Das entsprechende Wort in der armenischen Sprache bedeutet Psalmsprechen. Es hält die Mitte zwischen Rede und Gesang. So wird gesanglich gesprochen : Psalm, Hymne, Gebet, das alte Testament (mit Ausnahme der prophetischen Bücher). b) Recitativ. Es setzt eine bestimmte musikalische Grundlage und Rhythmik voraus : i ) Poch, d. h . Wechsel, ein zwischen zwei Solostimmen abwechselnder Psalm. Der Umfang des Wechsels ist eine kleine Terz, z. B. : g-a-b. Die Psalmenverse zerfallen gewöhnlich in zwei Abschnitte, weicheziemlich gleiche Länge haben. Das erste Wort des ersten Abschnittes fängt mit G an und wird bis zur Betonung desselben Wortes wiederholt; über der Tonsilbe steigt G auf a. A u f demselben verharrt es bis zur Betonung des letzten Wortes des ersten Abschnittes, wo die betonte Silbe auf den Ton B steigt,der der Ruheton oder Schlusston des ersten Abschnittes ist; er wird nur einmal gesungen. Der zweite Abschnitt wird in derselben Art und Weise ausgeführt, nur mit dem Unterschiede, dass die Tonfolge ga-b sich in g-b-a verwandelt; G ist Anfangston, B Accentton des ersten Wortes und a E n d - oder Schlusston für den zweiten Abschnitt der ersten Strophe. So wird der gänze Psalm von zwei Solostimmen recitierend ausgeführt. Die zwei Endsilben der letzten Strophe werden mit dem absteigenden Terzsprung b-g gesungen. Hier geben wir eine Tabelle des Wechselbaues :

144

DIE ARMENISCHE KIRCHENMUSIK Der erste Abschnitt des Wechsels. Anfangstöne.

Betonungstöne.

Sehlußtöne.

g

a

b

Der zweite Abschnitt des Wechsels. b

g

a

Der zweite Abschnitt der letzten Strophe. b

g

b-g

Wenn das letzte Wort des ersten Teiles des Psalmes einsilbig ist und keinen besonderen Accent hat, steigt man zu b dem Schlusstone desselben, gleich von der vorletzten betonten Silbe des vorletzten Wortes an auf: y

(Psalm 97, 4. bezw. 96, 4.)

Je - r e - we-zan

paj - la - ta-kunk

no - ra

ti - je - se - raz,

je - tess

Schluß der Phrase: jew

ssa - ssa - ne - zaw

jer - kir

1= , . , j r - kir. e

In ihrer rhythmischen Gliederung schliesst sich die Recitation dem Versbau und der Dichtung an. 2) Karos, d. h. die Rede. Sie ist in einer bestimmten Tonfolge geordnet' wenngleich sie i m W e s e n t l i c h e n auf einem u n d demselben Tone verharrt Sie hat den Umfang einer reinen Quinte, z. B. d-a. Z u r Verdeutlichung geben wir hier eine Tabelle des Redebaues :

145

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Der erste Abschnitt der Rede Anfangstöne

d

e

g

Pelteia* g

Accenttöne

Schlußformel

Schlußton.

g-fis-e-fis-g

g

a

g

Der zweite Abschnitt der Rede

d

e

g

g

g-e-g..g-e

e

g-es-g. . .g-es

es

a

g oder :

Nicht gebraucht werden die Sprünge : E (es)-a, a-e (es), d-a, a-d. Jede Silbe jedes Wortes hat nur einen Ton; eine Ausnahme macht die vorletzte Silbe des ersten Abschnittes.

Pa - ra - wo - res - zük

sa - me - na - kaln

As-tuadz, wor dzag-jaz

Schlußformel.

mes lujss

sa - rat

a-ra-wo-tu

ha - ra - ra - dzess

wo-ghor-mu-thiun jur

i

jur;

vre-ra

dza-gess-zé

pa - ra-ban-tschag

jew ard

a-nuan

Schlußformel.

ju - ro.

A-me-na-kal

ter As-tuadz mer

ke - zo

jew wo-ghorm-jä.

3) Das Recitativ der prophetischen Bücher des alten Testamentes und des Evangeliums ist schon melodisch. Die Ersteren können von jedermann recitiert werden, das Evangelium jedoch nur von den Geistlichen. Beide enthalten folgende Quartenkette : * Mehrmalige Wiederholung desselben Tones oder der vorzugsweise benützte T o n der Recitation, der immer wiederkehrt in der Melodie.

146

DIE ARMENISCHE KIRCHENMUSIK

Moll.

Dur.

Moll.

oder :

Die Recitation der prophetischen Bücher und des Evangeliums wird nach der Intelpunktion gesungen. Das Haupt-Tetrachord liegt in der Mitte. Die Interpunktionszeichen der Sprache bezeichnen entweder die Länge und Kürze eines Konsonanten, oder betonen ein wichtiges Wort, oder unterscheiden die verschiedenen Sätze von einander. Ebenso ist eins der Recitation : dieselben Zeichen bedeuten entweder eine Notendauer, oder betonen einen Ton, oder entsprechen den bestimmten Intervallen u n d b i l d e n die verschiedenen Kadenzformeln. Nach den oben genannten Anwendungen, kann man sie in drei Gruppen sondern : a) die Dauerzeichen, b) die Accentuation und c) die Interpunktion. a) Die Dauer. Es giebt nur zwei Dauerzeichen : i) Ssugh, ° , d. h. kurz, verkürzt eine nicht betonte Silbe um }) und ii) Jerkar, ^ , d. h. lang, verlängert die Dauer einer betonten Silbe in unbestimmten Mass. Alle beide werden auf den Konsonanten der betonten Silbe eines Wortes gesetzt. Sie finden nur dort Anwendung, wo die gewöhnliche Länge und Kürze der Recitation noch länger oder kürzer gemacht werden soll. Die gewöhnlichen Dauerwerte sind : 147

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

1) 2) 3) 4)

für für für für

nicht betonte Silben : J) betonte Silben : J Komma, Kolon und Semikolon : J und Punkt: o

Auch die Triole und dergleichen ist anwendbar. A m Beginne und Schlüsse der Lektion werden die entsprechenden Kadenzformeln ein wenig zurückhaltend gesungen. Das Pausieren ist frei, besonders nach den Endpunkt-Kadenzformeln. M a n möge sich nicht zu sehr bemühen, die hier oben annähernd gegebenen Notendauerwerte zu streng anzuwenden, sondern sie als Grundlage betrachten : denn diese Art Recitation ist ein singendes Sprechen. In der Regel haben die Dauer und das Pausieren gleiches Zeitmass. b) Die Accentuation. Der Accent des Armenischen fällt immer auf die letzte Silbe eines Wortes; wenn die letzte dem deutschen unbetonten E in der Endsilbe entspricht, so tritt der Accent auf die vorletzte Silbe. In Anrufen ruht er auf der ersten Silbe. Die Accentzeichen werden auf den Konsonanten der betonten Silbe eines Wortes gesetzt. Die Accente bezeichnen den höchsten Punkt eines Wortes oder Satzes Die Accentzeichen sind : i) Schescht / , d.h. Accent, es entsprichtdem Ausrufungszeichen. Der Hauptton der Accente ist in der Regel die kleine oder grosse Sekunde des letzten Tetrachordes, z. B. ces oder c'\ ces wird meist i n den dramatischen Stellen angewendet. Bei mehreren aufeinander folgenden Accenten kann man auch frei oder stufenweise auf- und absteigend betonen; in diesem Falle sind am gebräuchlichsten : die Terz und Quarte des Haupt-Tetrachordes und die grosse oder kleine Sekunde des letzten Tetrachordes : a, b, ces u n d c'. D i e auf- u n d absteigende Veränderung der Betonung hängt von den unmittelbar darauf folgenden Interpunktionszeichen ab. W e n n das betonte Wort einsilbig ist, so steigt die Betonung entweder gleich oder nach Wiederholung des betonten Tones auf das folgende Wort ab; wenn aber das betonte Wort mehrsilbig ist, so geht das stufen- oder 148

DIE ARMENISCHE KIRCHENMUSIK

sprungweise Aufsteigen vorher, womit sich der oben geschilderte Absteigungsprozess verbindet, z. B. :

ii) Harzanisch, ...TV.., d. h. Fragezeichen; es bezeichnet ein stufen¬ oder sprungweise vorbereitetes Aufsteigen der Stimme auf den Ton ces oder c' und — sofort oder nach Wiederholung desselben Tones — Absteigen auf b, z. B. :

i Verbindet man mit dem Betonungston einfach die Kadenzformeln der Interpunktion, so bekommt man die Accentformeln. c) Interpunktion. Die den musikalischen Satz bildenden Zeichen sind vier : i ) Midschaket, -#-, d. h. M i t t e l p u n k t , der dem K o l o n und Semikolon entspricht. Er bezeichnet das Absteigen der Stimme von der Quarte auf die Prime des Haupt-Tetrachordes mit den Kadenzformeln : l

o

d

e

r

s

o

:

| ^ b ^ g E i

Nach jeder Kadenzformel kann man entweder beliebig pausieren, oder den Satz mit dem darauffolgenden verbindend fortsetzen. A u f die durch den Bindebogen bezeichneten Notengruppen fällt nur eine Silbe. 1

2

149

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

z) Storaket, - J - , d. h. Nieder- oder Tiefpunkt, der dem Komma entspricht. Er bezeichnet das Absteigen der Stimme von der Quarte auf die grosse oder-kleine Sekunde-des Haupt-Tetrachordes mit den Kadenzformeln :

3) Buth, V , d. h. Stumpf, der dem Komma, Kolon, Semikolon und Gedanken strich i n den Fällen entspricht, in denen die Erklärung eines Satzes oder Wortes gegeben werden soll, z. B. : K o m m a — » Jesus \ der König » Mithin

der Juden.«

Kolon—

\- das Gesetz ist heilig «. Semikolon— » Wirkst du

heute kräftig

frei ; s

kannst auch auf ein Morgen hoffen. «

Gedankenstrich— » Ihnen hat er die Macht verliehen, Gottes Kinder zu werden — s

als die an seinen Namen glauben.«

Er bezeichnet das stufenweise Ab-, seltener Aufsteigen der Stimme von der Quarte auf die Terz des Haupt-Tetrachordes mit den Kadenzformeln :

In der Regel verbindet man die Buth-Kadenzformeln mit dem folgenden Satze, ohne zu pausieren. 4) Werdschaket, —J—, d. h. Endpunkt, der dem Punkt entspricht. Er bezeichnet entweder Ab- und Aufsteigen, oder nur Aufsteigen der Stimme auf die Quarte des Haupt-Tetrachordes mit den verschiedenartigsten kürzeren und längeren Kadenzformeln, welche gewöhnlich mit den fünf Endsilben ausgeführt werden : 150

DIE ARMENISCHE KIRCHENMUSIK Für die kürzeren Endungen der fünf Endsilben.

Für die längeren und breiteren Endungen der

Die Satzzeichen schreibt man auf die Linie; eine Ausnahme davon macht der Buth, der rechts oben vom letzten Buchstaben eines Wortes steht und i n schräger Richtung von oben nach unten verläuft, z. B . : » Jesus\ der König der Juden.«

Man sieht also, dass jedes Satzzeichen einer bestimmten Stufe des Haupt-Tetrachordes entspricht und dass die Interpunktion ein Dur-Tetrachord bildet:

1 1 0

*

y% #

—

m

, oder

V* IV2 V2, —j~—m—*—~

oder wie im Beispiel: f-g-a-b oder f-ges-a-b. Verbindet man mit dem Accentton die Kadenzformeln der Interpunktion, so bekommt man die Accentformeln, z. B. : 151

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Scheschtj «

1'

'

Werdschaket

5 ¡3—; 1^ ! m — - p — — Jérth

i

I

Scheschtj l -

:

*

P g

i

Wiederholung j Storaket i

i l »

—

cha - gha -ghu - thiun: j "Wótsch gujr no - za

Schescht-Buth I Anfangsformel ilMidschaket

||

Harzanisch

l|

i

ha - tu - za - nel, "Werdschaket

|j

in Si-mon*

u-nimintschkes a - ssel.

Wor - pi - ssi

Ow

kin wok mer - tze - na - i

e

ssa tha-ga-wor pa - raz:

ssa.

Es sind noch zu erwähnen die Anfangs- und Schlussformeln. Die Anfangsformeln können sein : i ) Beginnformeln der Lesung und 2) Satz-Anfangsformeln. Die ersteren sind : die Endpunkt-Kadenzformeln, angefangen : a) mit dem aufsteigenden Quartensprung von der Prime auf die Quarte des Haupt-Tetrachordes; b) stufenweise aufsteigend von der Prime auf die Quarte desselben Tetrachordes und c) mit derselben Quarte. In den drei Fällen wird die Haupt-Quarte gleich am Anfang mehrmals wiederholt, z. B. :

Tiara me- ro

Hi - ssu - ssi Kris

to - ssi.

Tern mer Hi - ssus Kris - tos_

E n - ther - zuadzs

a* -

i How-ssia mar-ga

152

sse.

DIE ARMENISCHE KIRCHENMUSIK

Manche fangen unregelmässig mit dem aufsteigenden Terz- oder Quintensprung, sogar auch mit der kleinen Sekunde an. Die Satz-Anfangsformeln können mit den verschiedenen T ö n e n des Umfanges d-c' beginnen; sie bilden demgemäss verschiedene Formeln für den Satzanfang. Die Schlussformeln sind : für die Lesungen der prophetischen Bücher :

— die letzteren zwei sind nur von den ersteren transponiert—, für das Neue Testament gewöhnlich :

in der Liturgie :

1

Der T o n dés ist nur in diesen Schlussformeln anwendbar.

153

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

D i e Interpunktion u n d Accentuation zusammen bilden ein Intervall der Quinte : f-g-a-b-c oder f-ges-a-b-ces. Die Töne d, es und des sind nur als melodische Biegung zu betrachten, sie bilden mit den Interpunktions- und Accentuationstönen zusammen vier Arten von Tetrachorden und einen Umfang der verminderten Oktave : d-des. Die vier Tetrachorde sind : a) Dur : i ) f-g-a-b und 2) mit der kleinen Sekunde : f-ges-a-b; und b) M o l l : 1) c-d-es-f und 2) mit der kleinen Sekunde : b-ces-des-es. Uber den Melodiebau des Psalmgesanges wird ausführlich im Achttonsystem gesprochen, weil sie mit den Achttonmelodien gesungen werden. (Evangelium Johannis 20, 15.) Storaket.

Wortaccente.

Sser-bó

\9 "U

a-we-ta - ra-niss H i - ssu - ssi Kris - to - ssi wor estHold-han-nü, Anfangsformel.

Beginnformel.

I >

Tern mer H i - ssus Kris-stos Accent-Buth. j

| Storaket. J

a

Harzanisch-Storaket

-

-

sse:

A

- sse

zna

j Satz-Anfangsformel,

H i - ssu

j Ssugh-Buth

1• kin

du*

si"«* lass,

so - chen-dress,

ne - ma

Midschaket

ajs-pess

» 1

thu - e zaw*

| Jerkar-Buth \ Satzanfang

~l -im the

par - tis - pann

i - ze,

a - sse

ze - na.

ter

je - the du {verte 3. 64]

154

Verglei chende Tabelle der Interpunktion* Ord- j ZeiI nung 1 chen ©

CS M

a

©

•ri

fi

rH

rH

a

ft

•

CM

155 M

0

©


00

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Wortaccent

•

| Buth | Schescht-Storaket | 1

r

r Ti _

Harzanisch-Storaket

ft-

Zur Erleichterung geben wir S. 63 eine vergleichende Tabelle der Interpunktions-, Accentuations- und Dauerzeichen überhaupt mit ihren Bedeutungen. Diejenigen Töne, welche keine Zeichen haben, nennen wir Ubergangstöne.

i56

T H E S I G N I F I C A N C E OF T H E KHAZ

NOTATION

OF T H E

SHARAKANS*

I

n the second half of the nineteenth century the Armenian press of Constantinople published a series of scholarly and critical articles and, in particular, discussions on Armenian church music. In the current issue of Tachar (January 31st, 1910; N o . 6), the Reverend Abraham K'ahanay Epean proposes that I publish my theories concerning the khaz notation of the

sharakans.

It is true that I have discovered the key to the khazs and am even able to read simple examples, but I have not yet reached the final stage. T o penetrate the symbolic significance of each khaz, even when some tens of manuscripts have been examined, takes months. The khazs which I have hitherto identified — these are the named ones — number 198, even before we consider the unnamed ones, of which there are a great many. It is impossible to write about such purely specialist matters in our periodical press for the following reasons : a) the number of pages in periodicals is strictly limited; b) it is pointless to occupy the public with purely scientific studies which continue for years; * Komitas wrote this article i n Etchmiadzin on March 15 th, 1910 published in the journal Tachar (Constantinople p. Hodvatsner, pp. Abel Oghlougian, Grakan Nshkhark', pp.

166-167;

10

and was first

1914), 311; R. T'erlemezyan, 126-127.

157

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

c) it would involve great expense; d) I have not yet concluded my study. For the present, I will summarize briefly the elements of the Armenian khaz notation : i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) viii) ix) x) xi)

khazs indicating pitch khazs indicating timbre ornamentalimolismatic khazs khazs indicating volume (dynamic) khazs indicating time (rhythmic) khazs indicating key prosodic khazs (accentuation) cadence khazs khazs indicating style tie and dividing khazs semitone khazs.

In order to perfect such a study, one must be expertly informed in the following basic disciplines and subjects versification, syllabic metre, prosody, accentuation, punctuation, the measure of the khazs, musical notation, language (the true ancient meanings of words), the philosophy of geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music, the origin, development, decline and present history of the khazs, comparative musical notation, etc. Then it would be possible to reveal the secret. The Armenian public should be forgiving and, in particular, patient, until I am able to perfect, as far as possible, the strenuous studies which have lasted more than 16 years. It is my hope that in the near future, they shall become the property of the public.

i8 5

BOOK

REVIEW

Recueil des Chants Populaires Arméniens, no. i, edited by L. Eghiazarian (Paris, 1 9 0 0 )

1

Folk songs are those songs which are created instinctively and immediately by the people. The folk songs of a given nation are so characteristic that it is not possible to confuse them with those of foreign or related nations. To what extent the songs of the present collection correspond in structure and harmony with the spirit and style of Armenian folk songs will be demonstrated in the following study. 1. Arax's Tears, Mayr Arak si ap'erov ('By the banks of Mother Arax'). 2 This is just like a Protestant church song (chorale) which, with the particular coldness of a Northern people which it exhibits, cannot interpret the lively Eastern feelings of the Armenian, let alone that it should be a folk song. (

2. Herik'ordeakk' ('It is enough, sons !'). The melody is Turkish, known as beyati, khoroz ('cock'), borrowed from the shark'is, and seriously distorted. The bars are altogether incorrectly arranged. It should not be 4/4 and 2/4, but 6/8 which is called iirurk' semayi in Turkish versification. The melody is not G flat, but i s a n F - G - A - B - C - D - E flat - F A flat major tetrachord chain. The F sharp is foreign and altogether 1

First published in Ararat (Etchmiadzin),

2

The river Araxes.

1

1900,

59

pp.

367-68.

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

contrary to the Eastern spirit, as if it were an harmonized G flat, which is fundamentally incorrect. The G is not the tonic but the second degree of the first tetrachord, with which the melody ends and which is characteristic of Eastern songs. By this means, M r L. Eghiazarian has attempted to correct a non-existent mistake of Eastern melodies, whilst the correction is itself a great mistake. Unsuitable and out-of-place modulations debase the simplicity of the melody and do not accord with its spirit. The excited poet calls for the lifting of the enemy's heavy burden, while the harmony of the melody expresses a plaintive and depressing mood. 3. Kilikia, Erb or bats'vin . . . ('Cilicia, When shall open . . . ). The melody is from Normandy and the original words are in French. It was translated word-for-word by M r N . Rousinian, replacing 'Normandy' with 'Kilikia'. The harmony is arranged with greater care, but imparts a (melancholic) evening-song nature to the melody. 4. Hayrik (father), tsawal tsawal (this is incorrect, it should be tsovatsawaVextent of the sea'). This song is the creation of the Armenian gousan or ashough (minstrel), and has the structure of the dance melody called Shirini. To the extent that the melody is simple and natural, the harmony is correspondingly forced and unnatural. The second part of the song, beginning with antsayratsir, is arranged in a completely incorrect scale. It should begin again as in the first part and should end not with D flat - C but A flat - G because this melody is composed according to the rules of the Turkish beyati arapan. Hence it is not F flat; the tetrachord chain of the first part i s C - D - E - F - G A - B, and that of the second G - A flat - C - D - E flat - F. 5. Zim glkhin ('On my head'). This is from the county of Tosp and represents the only genuine Armenian folk song of the collection. The harmony is simple, as is the melody, but it lacks the enthusiasm of Armenian folk melodies, 160

REVIEW OF 'RECUEIL DES CHANTS POPULAIRES'

presenting only a dead skeleton. The words are completely confused and the arrangement is meaningless and haphazard. It is also incomplete. Another folk song, which has no connection with the intent of this song, has been attached to it. Almost the same thing could be said about the words of the other songs. 6. Boydd bardzr ('You are tall').

This is a Persian folk-minstrel melody. That it is not an Armenian folk song is proved by the verse metre. The song is harmonized in such a way that one would think it were a grave lament. The selection of the harmonies, their order and style, remind one of Cldrchens Tdo from Beethoven's opera Egmont. The melody is not G flat, but constructed from the F - G - A - B - C D - E major tetrachord chain, and ends again on the second degree of the first tetrachord. Hence the F sharp is altogether unnatural and out of place. 7. Finally there is Rafayel Patkanian's Art im sokhak ('Come my nightingale'), composed and arranged by Kazarenko. M r Eghiazarian presents this song also to European musicologists as the product of the feelings of the Armenians. O n almost each of the 28 pages there are elementary musical errors. The translations are clumsy, incorrect, inept and i n many places invented. None of these songs, apart from Zim glkhi fat'en kitam, is sung by the inhabitants of the Armenian villages. Firstly because it does not belong to them, and secondly because they (the Armenian villagers) express their feelings in such a way as to reflect by means of it their whole life and being under all its historical, natural and characteristic conditions. In my opinion, before Armenian folk songs are arranged it is necessary to be well versed in the historical, natural and national conditions of the Armenian people, in the structure, spirit and style of the melodies, the meaning of the words, the circumstances of folk versification, folk singing and recitation, as well as a number of other factors, and thereafter to undertake arrangement and publication. Otherwise there will 161

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

always be shortcomings. Only by this means can we impart some idea about our folk melodies to foreigners generally and to European musicians in particular. We must collect our folk songs and dance songs, which contain totally different ardour, different feelings and meaning from those of other Eastern nations, with great care and immaculately. M r Eghiazarian has been too hasty and consequently published foreign melodies — and these in a strange form — as Armenian folk songs. As a result of which, of course, a mistaken and converse opinion will be formed about our moral and intellectual life, our past and our present.

162

CHURCH

M U S I C OF T H E

ARMENIANS NINETEENTH 'Tiratsou Baba' Hambardzoum

IN T H E CENTURY* Sargsian (1J68-1839)

and the invention of modern Armenian

notation

T

he parents of Tiratsou Baba Hambardzoum were from Kharberd. His father, Sargis, migrated with his family to Constantinople in order to free himself from the oppressive tax collectors of that city. H a r m b a r d z o u m was born i n Constantinople in 1768. When he had grown up, his father placed him in tailoring. He learnt that trade successfully, but soon after he took up a clerical post with a famous Armenian architect of the time, Grigor Amira Palian. Hambardzoum is famous in Armenian church music of the 19th century as a talented tiratsou, i.e. church musician. As he grew older, the epithet baba was added, and so he is known as 'Tiratsou Baba' Hambardzoum. H e had a good voice and great musical aptitude. He played the t'ambour, was very conversant with the multifarious Eastern melodies, and manifold time signatures which he had studied from Turkish dervish musicians. He was also wellversed in Greek church music and notation. According to some, he

* This unfinished study of Komitas was published in Ararat (Etchmiadzin), 1897, pp. Reprinted i n R. T'erlemezyan, Hodvadsner, pp. Abel Oghlougian, Grakan Nshkhark', pp. A n important feature of the study is the comparative table of Eastern and Western semi-tonal scale which Komitas provides.

221-225.

89-97. 163

126-136;

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

studied Armenian church singing from the married deacon Póghos Varzhapet, surnamed Zenné (1646-1726, grandfather of the late Nersés Patriarch Varzhapetian). This is an obvious error since Hambardzoum was born in 1768, i.e. after Varzhapet's death. According to others, he studied under an Armenian musician called Maskhalachi. It seems that he was also conversant in European music. D i w z i a n Y o v h a n n é s C h ' e l e b i noticed T i r a t s o u Baba Hambardzoum's musical aptitudes and took h i m under his patronage even providing him with living accommodation in his palace. At that time, the Lousaworch'ian school was opened in the courtyard of the Latin church of St George in Galata. Yovhannés C h ' e l e b i arranged for T i r a t s o u Baba H a m b a r d z o u m to be appointed as the teacher of church-singing there. Hambardzoum gave two lessons a week and very quickly gained great fame by virtue of his new style of teaching. As a result of long experience, he conceived the idea that it was essential to have a method of writing musical notes in order to facilitate sharakan (hymn) singing and to preserve the spiritual songs spoiled. N o t long after he put his idea into practice, he invented the modern notation and time signatures in 1839, ^ months before his death. The task was completed by his students, modelled after European musical usage, partly during his lifetime and partly after his death. There is a belief that this notation existed, prior to Hambardzoum, kept by the Diwzian, and that they were passed on to Hambardzoum who developed them and put them into use. But this is not probable : contemporary eyewitnesses justifiably ascribe the honour of the invention to him. Tiratsou Baba Hambardzoum borrowed the style of the notes and the times from the Armenian khazs, but gave them Arabic names, because he was carrying out his trials on a Turkish-Arabic instrument, the t'ambour, every string of which has its special A r a b i c name. T h e A r m e n i a n nomenclature was a later development, the work of his students. They quickly noted the impracticability of the polysyllabic a

164

e w

C H U R C H MUSIC OF T H E N I N E T E E N T H C E N T U R Y

names of the notes, and so abbreviated each one to its first syllable. The abbreviation of the names gave rise to new changes; some began to use European designations. Eghia Tntesian (in 1881) proposed changing re to ra, la to //, etc., while others attempted to utilize vowel designations.* The time-signature notation was worked out in 1878 by Aristakes Yovhannisian, a student of Baba Hambardzoum — i.e. the 4/4, 3/32 and 3/64 times. It is not known who created the Armenian nomenclature for these. Baba Hambardzoum used the Turkish-Arabic names — g h i u m , t'ek\ t'ek'e, t'ehek\ k'esre, etc — in

his lectures, except that in the tempo notation the beats were separated by waving the right and left hands up and down to kneelevel, whereas he altered it to the up and down motion of the feet, hands and finger, which he called ghiumt'ek'. The conversion of the Armenian notation for the time signatures to numbers according to the European system was carried out by his students. Baba Hambardzoum's duration symbols had utility and advantage with respect to Eastern musical tempo, the understanding of the use of the complicated Turkish ousoul time signatures being completely simplified. He converted all the ousouls to one beat value. By this means, it became unnecessary to overload his pupil's memory with the memorization of a thousand and one unnecessary TurkishArabic tempo names — an impractical and confusing plethora : semayi, aghr-semayi, devrirevan, zenjir, aksak\ agsak' k'erir, zarbifet, fahte\

diwyek\ mouhammez,

ch'emrer, devri, k'ebir,

berevshan,

ourouk' semayi, ewsat, hafif, sak'il, ch'ifte, diwyek' I nim sak'il, nim devir, remel, efer, hezej, frenzifer, sofian, etc.

T h e symbols representing the volume of the note ( /OA) were added by Baba Hambardzoum's students, principally by Aristakes Yovhannisian and his pupil, Tiratsou

* In this period of confusion, the Turkish language Osmanh Notasi ('Ottoman Notes') was published, oblivious to the fact that it was impossible to match the broken-up syllables of the words written from left to right in Arabic script with the musical notes written in the opposite direction.

165

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music

Gabriel Eranian (i860). Tiratsou Gabriel was more conversant with the elements of European musical notation than his contemporary tiratsou musicians; it was he who was largely responsible for the spread of national songs, and hence he earned the title of not'aji from the people. A comparative table o f all this data is give below. Latin alphabetic characters have been used to give a clear illustration of the semitonal scale system, since European musical typefaces were not available. Notes shown i n brackets do not correspond i n degree; the western F and F sharp notes are slighly lower, while A sharp and B sharp are higher than the Eastern arak\ gevesht, and k'iwrdi, sizyah degrees. For that reason, the ajem andp'ouselik'semitones form part of the E, F, and B, C Eastern degrees. Thus the Eastern octave is divided into two fourths, in which the degree of the semitones rise and fall in equal steps. Consequently, the Eastern semitonal scale in the octave is 15, while in the Western it is 13 semitones, because in the European E sharp = F, and B sharp = C . The Arabic system even has quarter tones, and scales with quarter tone degrees. UPt?M?l,rjUnn

Vay, le, Ie [Lamentation], 1899-1901, F Armyanskiye narodniye pesni dlya khora iii. bez soprovozhdeniya [ A r m e n i a n H a n d e n gas gegh munis [When y o u folksongs for u n a c c o m p a n i e d return from the field], 1899-1901, F choir], (Moscow, 1958). iii. Sobraniye sochineniy [Collected works], Kapout k'oufak hets'el em [I straddled a ed. R. At'ayan (Erevan, 1960-69). blue stallion], 1899-1901, F iii. Khoroviye pesni [Choral songs] (Erevan, Gut'an hats em berum [I am bringing 1969). bread], 1899-1901, F iii. Pesni dlya golosa s fortepiano (Moscow, U r es gali, ay garoun [Where are you 1969). coming, spring?], 1902 F iii. UNACCOMPANIED CHORAL MUSIC A l a g y a z sarn a m p e l a [Alagyaz disappeared in the clouds], 1902-6 C iv, E, F i i ; 2nd setting, 1907-10, Sacred F ii; 3rd setting 1910-11, F i i G . Ergetsoghout'iwn srboy pataragi [Chants o f the sacred l i t u r g y ] , male vv K h n k i ts'ar [Incense wood], 1902-6, C (Paris, 1933). iv, E, F i i , 2nd setting, 1907-10, F Taghk' ev alelouk' [Taghs and alleluias], ii; 3rd setting, 1910-11, F ii G . mixed w (Paris, 1946). K'eler, tsoler [He walked, radiant], 1902 -6, C iv, E, F ii. Ts' irani ts'ar [Apricot wood], 1902-6, D , Secular Fii. First Suite o f W e d d i n g Songs, 1899I

181

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music L o r o u gout'anerg [Song o f the L o r i ploughman], 1902-6, D , F ii. Kali erg [Song o f the threshing floor], 1902-6, D , E, F ii. Sipana k'ajer [The brave men of Sipan], 1902-6, D , F i i , G , 2nd setting, 1907-10, F ii, G . I m chinari yar [ M y beloved is like the plane tree], 1906-7, A , F ii. Garun a, dzoun a arel [Spring, though snow has fallen], 1906-7, A , E, F i i , G. Gut'anerg [Song o f the ploughmanl, 1906- 7, A , F ii, G . Andzrevn ekev [Rain fell], 1906-7, A , F ii, G . Sareri v r o v gnats [ H e r o a m e d the mountains], 1906-7, A , F ii, G . Yeri, yeri jan, 1906-7, A , F ii, G . Lousnakn anoush [Tender moon], 1906¬ 7, A , E, F ii, G . Shogher jan [Dear Shogher], 1906-7, A , E, F ii, G . A r a v o t o u n b a r i lous [ M o r n i n g welcome], 1907-10, B, E, F ii, G . Shorora, Anoush [Step lightly, Anoush], 1907- 10, B, E, F ii. H o v l i n i [Blow, cool breeze], 1907-10, B, Fii. Kuzhn afa [I took a jug], 1907-10, B, E , F ii, G . Saren elav [He went up the mountain], 1907-10, B, F ii. Gna, gna [Go, go], 1907-10, B, E, F i i , G. Oror, Adino, 1907-10, B, E, F ii. Sona yar [Beloved Sona], 1907-10, B, F ii. Khoumar, 1907-10, B, E, F ii. K'aghban [Weeding song], 1907-10, B, E, F ii, G . Nanik-nananik, 1907-10, F iii. Lousnak sari takin [The moon under the mountain], 1907-10, C vii, F iii, G .

K a k ' a v i erg [Song o f the partridge], 1908, C v, F ii. O y , Nazan, 1908, C v, F ii, G . A k h , Maral jan [Ah, dear Maral], 1909, F ii, G . Ekek' tesek' inchn em keri [From the songs of Shrovetide], 1910-11, F. Kaynel es, kanchum el ches [You stand and do not call], 1910-11, F iii. H i n g ets' ounem [I have five she-goats], 1910-11, F iii. Zar, zang, 1910-11, F iii. Esgisher, lousnak gisher [This night, moonlit night], 1910-11, F iii. M e r baghoum nfni ts'ar [There is a pomegranate in our garden], 1910¬ 11, F iii. K a l i erg ev ayl erger [Threshing and other songs], 1912, F ii. Second Suite of Wedding Songs, 1912: 1. M e r t ' a g v o r i n i n c h p i t i [Presentations to the groom]; 2. Gatsek berek t'agvoramer [Presentations o f the parents]: 3. Orhnyal barerar astvats' [Consecration of the wedding tree]; 4. M e r t'agvorn er khach [Extolling of the groom]; 5. E n dizan [The comic]; 6. D o u n halal merik [The bride's farewell]: 7. V a r d , dzk'e chem siri [From the bride's songs]; 8. Eghnik [From the bride's songs]: 9. T ' a g v o r i m e r , dous a r i [Addressing the b r i d e g r o o m ' s mother]: all F iii; 1-5, 9, C vii. Songs o f Girls Fortune-telling. 1912: Erknk'i astgher [Stars in the sky]; Es g y o u l e m [I a m a flower]; Ts'aghik unem narenji [I have an orange flowerj; all in F iii. First Suite of Peasant Songs and Dancesongs, 1912: Ampel a kamarkamar [The clouds thickened]: Erevan bagh em arel [A garden was laid in

182

WORKS OF KOMITAS Erevan]; T o u n ari [Come home]; Horom-horom [Comie song]; Arev kayne kesor [ W h e n m i d d a y comes]; all F iii. H o v arek, sarer jan [Give coolnes, dear mountains] 1913 -14. ,F iii. Chinar es, kefanal m i [You plane tree, do not die!], F'm. Papuri [Dance-song], iii. Inchu Bingyol mtar [Why did you come to Bingyol?], iii. Sousan smboul, iii. Es afoun jour a gali [In the stream runs water], F iii. Sanda erg [Mortar song], iii. Second Suite o f Peasant Songs and Dance-songs, Yaris anoun Balasan [ M y beloved's name is Balasanl]; A g h c h i , anound Shoushan [The girl named Shoushan]; Kaleri ch'ambin ketsa [I stopped on the road]; Baghi pat ddoum a [Along the wall grows a p u m p k i n ] ; P o u c h ' o u r aghchik sevavor [The little girl i n black]; V a r d a yars [ M y beloved is like a rose]; O y i m nazani yar [O m y gracious beloved]; all F iii. T h i r d Suite o f Peasant Songs a n d Dance-songs, Alagyaz acherd [ Your eyes are l i k e the Alagyaz]; Sev a chobani shun [The shepherd has a black dog]; M i yar ounem [I have a sweetheart]; Elek' tesek' dous [Go out and look]; A y tgha mer geghetsi [Hey, the fellow from our village]; Shakhirshoukhir; a l i i i i i . F o u r t h Suite o f Peasant Songs a n d Dance-songs, 1913 -14, Saren kouga j o u k h t g h o c h [ T w o rams are coming down from the mountain]; Ervoum em [I'm burning]; Yar jan, ari [ C o m e , m y beloved]; E s o r

1913-14, 1913-14^ 1913-14^ 1913-14^ 1913-14, 1913-14^ 1913-14:

ourbat'e [Today it's Friday]; Jour k o u g a v e r i n saren [ F r o m the mountain streams water]; Jaghats mani-mani [The windmill turns]; Afnem ert'am en sar [I will go up to the m o u n t a i n w i t h m y sweetheart]; all F iii. Fifth Suite of Peasant Songs and Dancesongs, Kanach art ban yeka [She w o r k e d o n the green cornfield]; N o r em nor matsoun merel [She prepared fresh yoghurt]; H a r a y , e l l i yar [ Y o u are m y sweetheart]; Lousnak bak a brnel [A full moon came up], all F iii. Sixth Suite of Peasant Songs and Dancesongs, Ekan Mokats' harsner [Brides came from Moks]; M e r bagh ts'af a [There are trees in our garden]; Im chinar yarin [To my beloved like a plane tree]; H o v n anoush [The breeze is sweet]; all F iii.

1913-14:

7

183

1913-14:

1913-14:

SONGS (for iv, pf unless otherwise stated) Ts'ets'efnak [Swallow], 1898, D , F i, H . A k h , Maral jan [Ah, dear Maral], 1899, D , F i. H o v arek, arer jan [Give coolness, dear mountains], A , D , F i, H . Habrban, S, T , pf, A , D , F i, H . Erkink'n ampel a [The sky covered with clouds], A , D , F i, H . Antouni [Sons of the homeless], A , D , Fi, H . Garun a, dzoun a arel [Spring, but snow has fallen], A , D , F i, H . Ts'irani ts'af [Apricot tree], C iv, D , F i, H . Chinar es, kefanal m i [You plane tree, do not bend!], C ii, D , F i, H . Oror [Lullaby], 1905, C ii, D , F i .

1905-6, 190S-6, 19005-6, 1905-6,

1905-6,

1905-6,

1905-6,

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Garun [Spring], 1907, C ii, D , F i . C h e m kfna khagha [I cannot dance], 1907- 8, C i v , D , F i H . K a k ' a v i erg [Song o f the partridge],

i o8,Cv,Fi, H .

1908¬ 1908-11, 1908¬

9

K'eler, tsoler [He walked, radiant], B, D , F i H . K'ele, k'ele [March, march], B D , F i, H . Sar, sar [Mountains, mountains], B, D , F i. K a n c h e , k f o u n k [You crane, sing!], n , B , D , F i. Es saren kougai [I returned from the mountains], B, D , F i. Zinch ou zinch [What and what], B, D , F i. Alagyaz sarn ampel a [Mount Alagyaz has clouded over], B, D , F i, H . K h n i k i ts'af [Incense wood], B, D F i, H . A l ayloukhs [ M y scarlet kerchiefj, S, T ,

11,

11, 1908-

1908-11,

11,

1908¬

1908-11, 1908-11,

pf, 1908-11, B, D, Fi, H. 1908-11,

Kouzhn afa [1 took a jug], B, D , F i, H . Es afoun ch'ur a gall [In the stream runs water], B, D , F i, H . A l a g y a z bardzr sarin [ O n the h i g h M o u n t Alagyaz], B, D , F i.

1908-11,

1908-11,

1908-n,

O y , Nazan [Oh, Nazan], B, D , Fi, H. A m p e l a kamar-kamar [The clouds thickened], 1911, C vii, F i . Es aghchik em [I am a girl], 1911, C vii, Fi. Ervoum em [I'm burning], 1911, C iv, D , F i. T o u n ari [Come home], 1911, C vii, F i , H. Gout'an hats em beroum [I am bringing bread], vii, F i.

1911,0

184

Voghberg [Mournful songj, 1911, C vii, Fi. Lousnak sari takin [The moon under the mountains], 1911, C vii, F i , H . Es gisher, lousnak gisher [This night, moonlit night], 1911, F i. Kfounk [The crane], 1911, C iv, D , F i , H. Jour kouga verin saren [Water streams from the mountain], 1912, F i. Shogher jan [Dear Shogher], 1912, F i, H. Mokats' mirza [The M o k prince], 1914, Cvii,Fi, H. Le, le yaman, F i . Shakhkr, shukhkr, F i . PIANO Dances: Erangi, Unabi, Marali, Shushiki Et-arach, Shoror, C i . U n p u b l i s h e d dances: M a n u s h a k i , Shoror. FOLKSONG COLLECTIONS SharAkna zhoghovrdakan ergeri [Series of A k n folksongs], (Vagharshapat, 1895) [Armenian notation]. ed., with M . Abeghyan, Hazar ou mi khagh khagher], (Vagharshapat, [texts only]. K'rdakan eghanakner [Kurdish melodies], (Moscow, Zhoghovrdakan erger [Folksongs], (Erevan, ed., with M . Abeghyan, Zhoghovrdakan khaghikner [ L i t t l e folksongs], (Erevan, 1940) [texts only]. Hay zhoghovrdakan erger ev parerger [Armenian folksongs and dances], (Erevan,

[1,001 1903-5, 2/1969) 1904).

1931).

1950).

GLOSSARY OF M U S I C A L T E R M S AS U S E D B Y K O M I T A S

uil| ak wheel uiif uiGuilj amanak rhythm, time, value, duration unfuiGuiljJi if |ini_pjii_G amanaki miwt'iwn (metrical unit) beat uiuuiauijG asadzayn keynote uiGduijG andzayn aphonic ui2junjd ashkhoyzh briskly uipuKj arag lively, allegro uiuinJiGuiG astich'an degree uij q^bptj aygerg evening song uinna.uiGni_pjii_G aroganout iwn

pGm|ij oumljuiG bnakhòsakan physiological cj.uiGà gandz 'gandz' qGuijni_G gnayoun moderato qnil inp|il| goghtrik delicate q n j G goyn timbre, quality, colour q^br^cj.bquiGf geghgeghank' embellishment aJiri ^ n d j geghjouk countryfolk c^jiLr^uigJi giwghatsi villager

prosody uiGg|il| ants'ik passing note; durchgehende uipuicpLG aragoun allegretto unfijiniji -unf uiGuilj- amp 'op' (amanak) u n i uiGfGGb^Ji ank'nneli ineffable uiuuijiGuiGuiljuiG i|uijpui2br^ 2iui|ljiuu| astich'anakan vayrashegh shaghkap descending link mpinmpbpni if artaberoum intonation uiG^pujbui anjrp'et intervalle

n-ui2Guil| dashnak harmony, chord n.ui2Guil| ijinf puicj.njG dashnak p'ok'ragoyn minor harmony n.uipàni_uicyf dardzouatsk' modulation b^bLh^ elevej scale, intonation; gamme biiuiGuilj eghanak tune br|mGuil|im[np eghanakavor tuneful bnuiàuijG eradzayn tritone bnbuil| ereak third; tierce bpuid2uinLpni-G erazhshtut'oun music bp(j erg song bpljuip erkar pause bpljuip n i erkar ou dzig prolonged; (trille) indefini bpl|buil| erkeak second bopbuilj edt'eak seventh bopGbuil| edt'neak septuplet (?), heptachord

puiduiGni_if bazhanoum bar puiquiduijG baghadzayn consonant (grammar) puiriJunLif baghkhoum beat puiu°p bamb bass p u i n uiubj^ bar asel to declaim puiduiG -uiifuiGuilj- bazhan (amanak) divise

185

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music bpuiGcjuiLnpnLif erangavoroum chromatisme bppbuilj erreak tierce c[uipn.uiauijG zardadzayn ornamental note qmpn-uipuuGf zardarank'fioriture (juiplj zark beat, stress c[uipumi_rini_p|iLG zartoughout'iwn modulation pGn-uipauilj dndardzak largo pGpuigf dntatsk'tempo pGpuigJilj dntatsik regular pGn.|^uijGnLif dndlaynoum développement p b f n L i f tek'oum variation pfiL tiw recitative p[iL uxuhy tiw asel to declaim pnji^f

incMTeap

ljpl|Guilj krknak refrain lluipq-uijIiG hJiifGuiduijG kargayin himnadzayn tonique d u mode Ijniiif koghm side (plagos), i.e. piagai tone l|inpni_l| ktrouk abrupt huiGn-uipm handart tranquil, calm huiGn.uipin[ilj handartik adagio, leisurely hunnuiò hatats phrase; takt (?) huiumLuiò hatouats section hbGuipuiG henaran foundation h[iu GuiduijG himnadzayn tonic, keynote hJiGqmLGuili hingounak pentachord h G ŒJJ uilj hngeak fifth hGq^uijjiG cj.[iò hngayin gits stave, staff hncjji hogi spirit p

G dzayn note, sound, mode àuijGui2uip dzaynashar scale auijGuiljuiG dzaynakan vocal duijGuiuinJiGuiG dzaynastichan degree of the scale; ton, degré AuijGuinnLpJiLG dzaynafout'iwn pedal note àuijGuiGif uiGnLpJiLG dzaynanmanout'iwn consonance, imitation, assimilation àuijGuicj.pb|^ dzaynagrel to transcribe (kujGuiifuiGiul| dzaynamanak time signature (?) auijGb[ dzaynel to vocalise àuijGbpuiGq dzaynerang colour (?), timbre àuijGni-d dzaynouzh intensity àuijGuiLnpni_p]ii_G dzaynavorout'iwn intonation abi_ dzev form dbmnJinJunLpJiLG dzevap'okh out'iwn variation dbi-uiLnp uiu°uiGuil| dzevavor amanak figuré

Q U I J

p p p n u i g n L U trtrats'oum leap; trille d[ip zhir animato dnn.ni|pn.uil|uiG zhoghovrdakan folk 0

jiGGbuil| inneak ninth |i£ifuiG h}iGc[.ni_Guil| ichman hingounak descending quintuplet (?)

[uirj_ lad mode [uuiq khagh 'khagh\ singing dance; grace note |uuir|ni_G khaghoun vibrant Juouf khdsk'words Ijuijinuin. kaytar lively, vigorous L|2h kshif rhythm l|2nnLpJiLG kshrout'iwn rythme I j t u q.njG}i kes goyni demi-ton lj]iuuiauijG kisadzayn semitone l||iuuiGJi2 [uuiq kisanish khaz a khaz w h i c h signifies a semitone rL

186

GLOSSARY OF MUSICAL TERMS auijGmu°|i£ng dzaynamijots interval

octachord nLpduijG outdzayn octoechos

if bà mets major ¿111 iji chap*tempo £uiiJiuil|uiGni_p|ii_G chap'akanout'iwn rhythm; mesure £ni_p chout' plough

ifbàuiqnjG metsagoyn augmented if b q i f meghm gentle u°bi|bn-[i meghedi 'meghedi (melody) if Jiuilj miak unison (?) ifji^ng mijots'interval (?) ifbà bL ijinfp mets ev p'ok'r longues et brèves ifb&uiuuip metsasar trochee

ujuij&uin paytsar brightly upuinuipuici. patarag H o l y Liturgy, Mass ujuip^ [hGqbuif ]parz (hngeak') perfect (fifth) u|uipni_l|uiAbi_ paroukadzev circonflexe

juipui2uip yarashar auxiliary GuiJuuin-uiunLpJiLG

nakhadasout'iwn

sentence G b p n.ui 2 G ui lj n i_p|i i_ G nerdashnakout'iwn harmony, harmonization G2uiGuil| nshanak symbol G2uiGui|uifpbp nshanakhmber group signs Gni_ui(j nuag music GppnLpJiLÛ nrbout'iwn subtleness

uuiif |i sami axle uinbqji steghi 'steghi'(cantata) uinnpjiG storin sub- (dominant) uinbri G steghn dactyl unLp 2b2^ sour shesht aigue unulj sosk tenor i[uiGI| vank syllable ijbp^uipuiG verjaban cadence i[bp2uiduijG verjadzayn final tone,

2uiqljuiu| shaghkap l i n k 2uipuil|uiG sharakan 'sharakan' (hymn) 2uipuiIjGng sharaknots' 'sharaknots (hymnal) 2uipdni_G sharzhoun vivace 2b2in shesht accent 2b2inuin.pni_p|n_G sheshtadrout'iwn accentuation 2b2inui|^uip sheshtalar accent tonique 2jiGuiljuiG shinakan peasant

inuir^ tagh 'tagh' (chant) inuir[ui£uii]inLp[ii_G taghachap'out'iwn versification, rhythm inuipuiàni_G taratsoun larghetto inbi_ni_if G tevoumn duration ijinfp p'ok'r minor; mineur ijinf pui cj.nj G p 'ok 'ragoyn diminished ijinf puiujuiinjiljp'okWapatik (lowest), double diminished

nq.[i ogi soul (spirit) nG och'style nuin|n_G ost'iwn to leap/skip npuilj orak quality njnpifni_Gf olormunk'coloration ni_pbuil] out'eak octave ni_pGbuilj out'neak octuplet (?),

fuinuijmp k'aralar tetrachord; tétrachorde fuinbuilj k'areak fourth, tetrachord f uinbuiI|Gbpni_ rj.pnLp|ii_G k'afeak'nerou drout'iwn

187

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music tetrachord system fui 2 kash value

l'eupheme fGfni_2 k'nk'oush tender

f uir^gpuiduijGnLpliLG

k aghts 'radzaynout'iwn

188

INDEX

Af k'ez Astuats 128, 134 Abeghian, Manouk 17 Ach'k'n tsov 129 Akn, province 16 Alexandria 18 Alexandropol 26 Alishan, Father Gh. 109, 112, 113 Amatouni, Sahak 15 Amenayn srbovk' 136 Amen ew ?ndHogwouydk'oum 169 Anatolia 169 Antiquities of Akn 16 Arabs 108 Aragats 26 Ararat 15 Ararat, plain 15 Arewelts'i 116 Argeles 111 Ari im sokhak 161 Ark'akaghin, monastery 108 Armash 171 Armenia, Turkish (Western) 169 Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church

Babaian, Margarit & Shoushanik Barekhdsout'eamb 132, 138 Barsegh (Basil) 110 Basil of Caesarea 112 Batum 18 Beethoven 161 Bellermann, F. 16 Berberian, Haig 14 Berlin 16 beyati 15 9 beyati arapan 160 Boypd bardzr 161 Cairo 18 cantor see tirats'ou ch'arch'arandk 139 ch'argeah 171 Chamberlain, H . S. 13 chashou sharakans 137 Chirak 26 church melodies 124 church musician 163 Cherchian, Hambardzoum 171 Cheomlek'chian, Petros 168 Cilicia 108 Cilician monasteries 108 City of London Polytechnic 14 Cldrchens Tdo 161 Constantinople 18, 106, 107, 157,

20

Armenian Divine Liturgy 18 Armenian Youth Society 14 Asap' 112 ashough 160 At'ayan, R. 19, 21 Avetis ('Gospel/good news') 100 Awag Hingshabt'i 140 Aysor harsn lousoy 129 Aysor mefealk' 129 Aysor yareaw 171 Aysor zhoghoveal 13 9 Azatamart 18, 20

David (king & prophet) 111 David of Sassoun 13 Davit' Anhaght' 107 Derdzakian, Georg Vardapet 15 dervish musician 163 Dit'oum 112 Diwzian Yovhannes Ch'elebi 164 Dowsett, C. J. F. 14

baba 163

189

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Drazark, monastery 1098 dzayn 106 Eap' 112 Easter 171; processions 140 Eastern 126; nations 108, 162 Edeos111 Educational Council 168, 169 Eghizarian, L. 15 9 Egmont 161 Ekmalian, Makar 123, 127, 140 Elias 112 Epéan, Rev. Abraham K'ahanay 157 Eranian, Tiratsou Gabriel 166 Erevan 19 Ergaran 98 Ergets 'oghout'iwnk' Srboy Pataragi 123 Erznkian, Eznik K'ahanay 126 Etchmiadzin 15, 16, 123

Fiambardzumian, Lewon 20 hamkal darnoum 59 Haridj, monastery 26 Harts'p'ars 108 Harut'yunyan, Hakob 143 Hayr Mer (Lord's Prayer) 123, 131, 132 Hayrik, tsawal tsawal 160 Haysmavourk' 97, 109, 112 heptachord 126 Herik' ordeakk '159 Hnut'iwnk' Aknay 16 Hodvatsner Yev Usumnasirut'yunner 19 Hornbostel, Eric von 19 imastoun 107 Indo-European 126 Institute of Armenian Music 20 instrument, Turkish-Arabic 164 International Musical Society 17 International Musical Society Congress (Paris) 18 International Society for the Study of European Ideas (Denmark) 13 Izmir 18

Fleischer, Oscar 16 folk melodies 124; songs 159 Folklore 13 Friedrich Wilhelm University 16 Friendlander, G. 16 Galata Church 169 gandz 100 Gandzaran 98 Garabedian, Dikran 14 Gayané, church of Saint 16 German 126 Ghazarian, R. S. 19 Ghewond, Alishan 109 Ghorghanyan 143 Gohanamk' 124, 132 Gospel 100 gousan 160 Gousan choir 18 goussans 25

Joachim, J. 16 K'ework'ian Theological Seminary 15,16 Kristos i mej mer yaytnetsav 169 K'ristos patarageal 132, 133 KarmirVank' (Red Monastery) 108 Kavkazakaya Muzika 143 Kazarenko 161 Keworkian, Komitas 17 (and see Komitas) khagh 127 Kharberd 163 Khatchonts', D . 20 khaz {nzumé) 20, 106, 107, 112, 113, 127 khazgirk' 108 Khorenats'i see Movsés Khorhourd khorin 129, 130, 135, 139 Khorhourdmets 101, 104 khoroz 15 9 Khosrovayin 116 Khrimian Hayrik 16 Kilikia, erb or bats'vin 160 Komitas 16 Komitas I Aghts'ets'i 16 Komitas: Erkeri Zhoghovatsu 19

Govyea, Erousaghem 129, 137 Grakan Nshkhark'Komitas Vardapeti Beghun Grch'en 19 Grell, Eduard 20 Gulbekian, Edward 21 Géorg IV of Constantinople 15 Géorg V Sureneants' 18 Hambardzoum, Sargis 163 Hambardzoum, Tiratsou Baba 163

I90

INDEX Komitas: Met'odomatenagitakan Niwt'eri Zhogovatsu 19 Komitas (Soghomonyan Soghomon Gevorgi) Bibliografìa 19 Krohn, Ilmari 19 Kurdish 126 Kurds 108 Kutahya (Turkey) 15

neume see khaz Normandy 160 not'aji 166 notation: European 123; Armenian musical 168; modern 164 Nouyn ev nman ('Same and similar') 104 Nor Dar 17 octachord 125 Oghloughian, Abel 19 Orhneal e Astuats : K'ristos patarageal 131 Orpheus 124 Ovram 112

L'Aurore 17 Lachmann, Robert 19 Le Courier Musical 17 Le Mercure Musical 17 Le Monde Musical 17 Le Muséon 13 Lewonian, Garegin 17 Liszt 20 Lord's Prayer 12 3 Lori 59

p'ilisop'a 107 P'iéghéges in, 112 Palian Karapet Amira 171 Palian, Grigor Amira 163 Pantheon of Armenian Artists 19 Paris 17 Patkanian, Rafayél 161 Persian-Arabic 126 Persian-Arabic music 124 Persian 126 Persians 108 Pipanos in, 112 pitch 127 Plough Song of Lofi 20 polyphonic music 123

maght'ank' 100 m*z«* 169

Manrousoumn 106, 113 Mantashev, Alexander 16 manuscript breviaries 108 Maskhalachi 164 Matt'eos II, Catholicos 18 Mayr Arak si ap 'erov 15 9 Mécérian, Jean 14 Meghvinian, Gr. 12 3 Melik'yan, Spiridon 18 melody, Eastern 136; Persian folk-minstrel

Rousinian, N . 160 Safrastian, Arshak 14 Sahak, Saint 97, 109, 112 Saint George church (Galata) 164 Samiav 112 Sardianos the T'ezbian 111 Schmidt, Richard 16 Senegés 111, 112 Sevan, monastery 18 Shahmouradian, Armenak 17 Shar Aknay Zhoghovrdakan Erger 16 sharakan 97, 103, 105, 106 shark'is 159, 169 Shirini 160 Siamant'o 18 Sion 143 Sisuan 112

161

Menology 109 Miayn sourb 131 minor, European descending 124 modes 108, 121 Morgenthau, Henry 19 Moses 112 Movsés Khorenats'i 13, 98, 100 music, Greek church 168 Nagorno-Karabagh 14 nani 169 National Religious Congress 169 Nawasard 5 9 nerboghs 98 Nersés Shnorhali 104, 106, 107, 109

191

Armenian Sacred & Folk Music Skevra, monastery 108 Smbateants', Archbishop Mesrovb 16 Société Internationale de Musique 20 Soghomonian, Gëorg 15 songs, Eastern 160 Sop'eklës (Sophocles) 111, 112 Sourb Sourb 132 srbasats'out'iwn 140 steghi 106 Step'annos (musician) 109, no Step'annos P'ilisop'a no Tachar 157 tagh 98, 140 Tagharan 98 T'ahmizyan, N . G . 111 Tajirian, Archbishop Mashtots' 13 tambour 164 Tchobanian, Arshak 20 Teghi berkranats' 139 T'eop'ilian 111 T'erlemezyan, Ruben 19 Ter Mkrtchian, Karapet 16 Ter oghormea 13 5 Tër-Minasian, Eruand 17 tetrachord 124, 132 T'eymurazyan, N . A . 19 time 127 tirats'ou 106, 163, 168 Tjanikian, Yovsep', 16 Tntesian, Eghia 165, 169, 171 Tosp 160 Transfiguration 26

T'umanyan, Hovhannes 15 T'umayian, Psak Vardapet 143 tiirki 169 Turkish, melody 15 9 Turks 108 ürük' semayi 159 Vardablour 59 Varouzhan, Daniel 18 Varzhapetian, Nersës Patriarch 164 Verdi 20 versification, Turkish 15 9 Wagner 20 Wallington Grammar School 14 Yaghags dzaynits t'ë oustigtav no Yaghags dzaynits' te ousti its'en ew kam yoummëgtan no Yareav K'ristos 137 Yays bark' 130 yeghitsi 108 Yorzham mtts'es 132, 137 Young Turks 19 Yovhannisian, Aristakës 165, 169, 172 Yovhannisian, T'aguhi 15 Yowsep'ian, Garegin Vardapet 17 Zak'aria 112 Zarbhanalian, Garegin 107 Zennë, Pöghos Varzhapet 164 Zim glkhin 160 Zohrab, Grigor 18

192