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ОБ АРМЯНСКИХ НАРОДНЫХ СКОРБНЫХ ПЕСНЯХ
Арутюнян А.Г.
Центр арменоведчесских исследований Ширака НАН РА, г. Гюмри
Кандидат искусствоведения, доцент
ABOUT ARMENIAN FOLK LAMENTATION SONGS
Harutyunyan H.
Shirak Centre for Armenian Studies of NAS RA, Gyumri PhD in Art, Associate Professor DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6884394
АННОТАЦИЯ
Одним из интереснейших жанров армянской народной монодической музыки является скорбная песня. Как обрядовая традиционная песня, она сохраняет свои социальные функции и в современной жизни.
Статья посвящена характеристике некоторых обрядовых и композиционных особенностей, а так же функциональных и выразительных компонентов скорбных фольклорных песен. Рассмотрены стилистические различия и композиционные особенности скорбных песен, созданных в древнейших традиционных пластах.
ABSTRACT
One of the most interesting genres of Armenian folk monodic music is the mournful song. As a ritual traditional song, it retains its social functions in modern life.
The article is devoted to the expressive description of some of the ritual-compositional components of the folklore lament song genre, their functional role. The stylistic differences and compositional features of the tragedies created during and after the mourning ceremony are observed.
Ключевые слова: армянская народная песня, жанр, традиционная музыка, песня скорби, древнейшие пласты музыки.
Keywords: Armenian folk song, genre, traditional music, song of sorrow, ancient layers of music.
Armenian song music, which has undergone various manifestations in the entrails of ancient cultural layers, has undergone transformations over the centuries. These layers are formed on the basis of powerful ritual-belief systems, conditioning the inseparable or monolithic form of art. The elaboration of the peculiarities of music as an organic component in them has occupied a significant place in the primary problems of Armenian music historiography. A number of important propositions examined in the context of the chronological data of the excavation instruments in the context of the problems of the typology of the Armenian national monodie, have given rise to relatively serious edges.
Armenian historiography presents concrete facts here, preparing a serious basis for music-historical observations. Although the records belong to the early Middle Ages, but the presented documentary material can be deciphered from different points of view, sometimes it gives an opportunity to notice some still ecological ritual manifestations.
The ritual characteristics of music were uniquely manifested in the ancient Armenian funeral or mourning ceremony. These characteristics were presented in different spheres: dances, dance songs, songs. "Despite its inseparable nature, music has presented itself as a unique sound element. Going deeper into the ancient layers of Armenian culture, with its strict tradition, this ritual system has not only
preserved its vitality, but over time has stimulated the development of a new, epic dramatic culture"[1, p.16-17]
As Komitas noted, Ask an Armenian peasant the name of the place where a certain song originated; whether he knows it or not, he will give you the name of a village. Ask him the name of the person who composed the song, he will refer you to the well-known singer of that village. When you question the singer, he will give you the name of some other person or will shrug his shoulders. The name of the author is known in songs which have memorable subjects, such as the story of one mauled by a hyena, or drowned in the sea, or asphyxiated by a blizzard, or assassinated, or of a daughter abducted, and so on. Such songs are composed by the gousans, ordinary, wandering, or unlettered poet singers who, after narrating the incident, give their names in the last stanza. But in time, when the song gets older, the author is forgotten or mistaken for another singer, because the song itself is what interests the peasant and not the author; the author can be this person today, another tomorrow. The talent of composing is a natural gift for the peasant; all peasants more or less know how to compose and sing songs. They study the art of composition from nature, which is their unfailing school.
In the village everyone knows more or less how to sing, for they all participate in the creation of a song. But nobody knows who "concocted" the song, for they
all take part in the creative process. Nobody knows where it is composed, for it could have been composed anywhere. Nobody knows how it is composed, for the creation of song is a spontaneous activity. Nobody knows when it appeared, for every moment brings with it a new variation.
The creation of songs for the peasant is as common as conversation. If one does not write down what is said, or if thoughts are not retained in our spirit, we will not remember them later. Villagers adhere strictly to the prescribed use of the different types of songs. Each song must be learned or sung in its proper place and time: They will sing work songs during work, and domestic songs while at home, and so forth. No villager will sing a threshing song when at home, for the place to sing the threshing song is on the threshing floor.
Each song is tied to a moment in village life and is related to just that moment. The peasant cannot comprehend, create, or utilize a song that is removed from that moment.
Armenian folk music is made up of solo and choral singing. Even though Armenian popular music rejects polyphony, there are often instances that reveal vestiges of two-part singing. [2]
We have received valuable memoirs that give us an idea of the special aspects of the invention and execution of tragedies. From the testimonies of historical sources, it is clear that the participants who performed the most important functions in the mourning ceremony, their highly regulated performances. They used to be solos, choirs, so-called goat dances. As M. Abeghyan mentions. "Wailing women are called vocalists, of course, to shout at the dead. In ancient times, the funeral of famous people, kings and generals was held in large numbers, with a large ceremony. The dead were especially mourned at that time. "Women and men attended the funeral crying, singing and playing, clapping, dancing and crouching."
Evidence suggests that in addition to mourning, the singers also performed a number of songs, often directing the choir. Alternating performances of a soloist and a choir were very common in the Middle Ages. Historians have spoken with emotional pathos about the high-sounding tragedies of their mothers-in-law, sometimes calling them dialects with beautiful zeal, which shows the variety of the content of these tragedies, as well as their inventive tricks and means of expression.
The stable system of ritual components, which is outlined in medieval written sources, had theatrical elements. Some theatrical scholars (G. Goyan, G. Lonyan, V. Khechumyan) claimed that the pagan burial ceremony turned into a theater in the Middle Ages. The mention of cows in a mourning ceremony in the History of Movses Kagankatvatsi is a vivid example. Referring to the regulation of the rite of burial in Vachagan Barepasht (484 - first half of the VI century) in the "Constitution canonical", the narrator quotes the following provision. "And those who lie, the landlord's guardian. "They will bind the king's door to the door, they will put a plague on it, the family will not rule after crying."[3. P. 268]
Thus, the art of vowels, as a unique phenomenon, formed in the deep past, reached a high level of development, especially in the enslaved society, when the tragic rite of burial of monarchs and high-ranking officials was a moment of great respect for them. It is clear that the ancient ritual retained its main features in the early Middle Ages. Thus, Pavstos Buzand, referring to the funeral ceremonies after the death of Nerses the Great, noted: "After Nerses's death, when the dead were mourned with money, they danced with goats and vines. "Beards were cut off, faces were torn, men and women were playing face-to-face dances, clapping and burying the dead."[4, p. 84]
The active state of the dance element is especially noticeable. The function of the instrumental music accompanying the worm dances is remarkable. The names of the instruments mentioned in historical sources are found in various descriptions of wedding bands. There are references to the use of both individual instruments and orchestras. It should be noted that some developed type of ensemble music may not have been in the viewer's eye. It should be noted that the names of wind instruments found in medieval bibliography had a general meaning. The first one meant a brass instrument in general, the second one a string instrument. Therefore, historiography does not allow to reveal the peculiarities of the original instrumental music, but certain details of the descriptions confirm the degree of its development.
Thus, in the centuries-old rituals of the Armenian people, along with other components, musical expressions have a special place, which are the product of special thinking and expression. According to an interesting observation, the first forms of self-expression in ancient rituals were various movements -dance, which were later joined by music, then - speech. "The more the speech improved in the progress of the society, the more the function of movements and dance in everyday life was limited. The dance accompanied all the traditional Armenian rituals. It's an indisputable part of the burial rite".[5, p. 21-24]
Historical references do not allow to reveal the peculiarities of the instrumental music itself, but their ritual characteristics are clearly expressed, which speaks of a ritual full of rather rich images.
If in the philology some ideas about the content of the ancient rituals and ritual songs or the verbal formulas and the literary basis have been formed, then their musical component remains unknown and unexplained. The specimens of later periods are presented in folklore specimens, mainly bearing the characteristic features of the oral tradition. According to M. Brutyan with precise description. "Mourners can appeal to different genres of folk songs with their themes. For example, tragedies are close to epic songs, when the deceased is a folk hero, worthy of praise, and in the cradles, when the deceased is a child, a lament corresponding to the child is made. With some of their poetic images, the mourners can appeal to exile and historical songs, even to the genre of wedding song, lament. The mourners do not have a specific structure, they are not subject to any compositional law.
Structural freedom stems from the irregular narrative inherent in mourners, as the mourner, mad with grief, sometimes expresses thoughts that have nothing to do with each other. they are inflamed especially by the thirst of those who come to offer condolences, each of which awakens in the mourner a new memory, which he immediately begins to tell".[6, p. 138]
Eyes is the inner variety of the tragedy genre, that is. begging with other genres in the stable components of the mourning ceremony. The most stable of these are the compositional or expressive elements of epic songs, historical songs of exile, as well as cradles. [7]
The manifestations of fiction in the form of enduring characteristic tragedies, as "the mourners tell the visitors the circumstances of the tragedy, reflect on the typical life holes of the deceased, talk about the efforts of relatives to take him from death, willingness to die for him, reveal their feelings about his death. Describes the deeds left unfinished by the deceased, unfulfilled dreams, praises his external and internal advantages. They respond to comforters with arguments for the invincibility of their grief, urging the deceased to walk calmly and carelessly through that world [...], not to take anyone after him, and if it is unavoidable, to take him to some hopeless patient or old man. "Sometimes they express the hope of meeting again, sometimes the despair of parting forever". [8, p. 136]
Thus, the ancient Armenian mourning ceremony has changed over time, but important ritual elements have been transformed and expressed in a unique way. Folk mourning songs or tragedies obviously have archaic layers of expression. There are expressions from the ancient culture (praise, glorification) and certain ritual elements. We will refer to the modern manifestations of tragedies in our future publications, here we can mention a unique system derived from the functions of this genre, the inventive mechanisms of which have shown amazing vitality in the passage of time.
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• http://www.komitas.am/eng/brief.htm
Komitas, a.k.a. Soghomon Soghomonyan, was born on September 26, 1869 in Anatolia, Turkey, in the town of Koutina (Ketaia). His father, Gevorg Soghomonyan was a shoemaker but he also composed songs and had a beautiful voice. The composer's mother - Tagui - was also singled out for her vivid musical abilities; she was a carpet weaver.
Komitas's childhood was joyless and full of deprivations. He lost his mother when he was less than one year old, and because his father was too busy his grandmother took care of him. At age 7 Komitas entered the local elementary school. As soon as he finished school his father sent him to Broosa to continue his education. However, he failed and 4 months later he came home having ultimately become an orphan: his father passed away and Soghomon was only 11 years old.
"He was a frail, weak, pale boy, always thoughtful and kind. He was dressed poorly," one of his classmates recalled about Komitas.
Soghomon was often seen sleeping on the cold stones of the laundry room.
He could sing perfectly, and no wonder in Koutina he was nicknamed "a little vagrant singer".
For his delightful voice Soghomonyan was also indebted to an event that fundamentally changed the entire course of his life.
In 1881 the priest of Koutina, G. Dertsakyan, had to leave for Echmiadzin to be ordained a bishop. At the request of the Catholicos he brought the gifted orphan boy with him to study at the Echmiadzin Church Seminary. Twelve-year old Soghomon was selected out of the other 20 orphans to study at the Seminary. As it was forbidden to speak Armenian at that time the boy spoke Turkish and when being greeted by the Catholicos Gevorg IV, he replied, "I don't speak Armenian, if you wish I will sing". Then with his fine soprano voice he sang an Armenian sharakan (a church hymn) without understanding the words. Due to his exclusive aptitude Soghomon overcame all the obstacles in a very short time and perfectly learned Armenian. In 1890 Soghomon was ordained a monk.
In 1893 he finished studying at the seminary, then he was ordained a "Vardapet" (priest) and acquired his new name "Komitas" - the name of the outstanding poet of VII century, the author of sharakans. At the seminary Komitas was assigned to teach music.
Along with teaching, Komitas organized a choir, an orchestra of folk instruments, and treated folk songs; he made the first researches in the field of Armenian Church music.
In 1895 Komitas was ordained an archimandrite. In the autumn of the same year he left for Tiflis to study at the musical college. However, when he met the composer Makar Yekmalyan, who had received his education at the conservatory of Petersburg, he changed his mind and started studying a course on harmony by that composer. These studies became the original forerunner and the firm basis for gaining the European technique of composition.
The further events of Komitas's life had to do with the large music center in Europe - Berlin, where he went to study under the protection of the Catholicos, being financed by the largest Armenian oil magnate Alexander Mantashyan.
Komitas entered the private conservatory of Professor Richard Schmidt. Within the conservatory Komitas took private classes on singing, elaborating his beautiful voice, fine baritone. Simultaneously with these classes, he also attended the lectures on Philosophy, Esthetics, General History and History of Music. During these academic years he had an opportunity to "communicate" with European music, continually enriching the supply of knowledge, and engaging in musical criticism. Upon the invitation of the International Music Association he held lectures devoted to the Armenian church and contemporary music in comparison with Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish music. In September 1899 Komitas returned to Echmiadzin and started his musical activity right away. In a short period he radically changed the system of teaching music in the seminary, organized a small orchestra and perfected the performance level of the choir.
He visited various regions of Armenia treating and putting down thousands of Armenian, Kurdish, Persian and Turkish songs.
He started serious scientific research work, studied Armenian folk and church melodies and worked on the decipherment of Armenian khazzes and on the theory of voices. In various countries of the world Komitas appeared as a performer and propagandist of Armenian music.
The composer began thinking over big, monumental musical forms. He had in mind to create the musical epic "Sasna tsrer" and continued working on the opera "Anush", which he started back in 1904.
Komitas focused on the themes concerning folk music and revealed the content of folk songs. No doubt, such world outlook had to result in an inescapable conflict between Komitas and the Church. Gradually the indifference of new leaders, negative attitude of the backward group of the church figures, gossip and slander increased so much that it poisoned the life of the composer: the man who remained in the imagination of the contemporaries as an absolutely worldly man.
The conflict turned so tense that Komitas sent a letter to the Catholicos begging him to release him and let him create and live quietly. This request remained unanswered, and the persecution of Komitas became more obvious.
In 1910 Komitas left Etchmiadzin and went to Constantinopole. There he expected to find the environment that would understand him, protect him, and encourage his activity; and here he would be able to fulfill his dreams. Komitas wanted to establish a National Conservatory with which he connected the further destiny of his people's music. But the composer failed to accomplish this plan (as well as many others). His inspired ideas were only faced with the cold indifference of the local authorities.
In Constantinopole Komitas organized a mixed choir of 300 men and called it "Gousan". It was very popular. Armenian folk songs constituted most of its concerto program.
Komitas would often spend his time touring, giving presentations and lectures; he also acted as a soloist and conductor. He had the baritone, original for its richness and expressiveness. Due to the wide range of his voice Komitas could also sing part of the tenor. He also wonderfully mastered the flute and the piano. He was endowed with great power to influence his audience.
The well-known musicians: Vincent D'Andy, Gabriel Fore, Camille Sen-Sans... fell in love with Komitas' creative work.
In 1906 after one of the concertos the outstanding French composer Claude Debussi exclaimed excitedly: "Brilliant father Komitas! I bow before your musical genius!"
In Constantinople Komitas could not find any unconditional like-minded people who would help him implement his plans. Moreover, while in Echmiadzin he was together with his native people and close to its living style and art, in Constantinople he was deprived of it. Nevertheless, he continued to work hard. Komitas
paid special attention to the composition of church music. His masterpiece "Patarag" ("Liturgy") is written for the male chorus.
Musicology was also an important field for him. In Paris at the Conference of the International Music Society he gave two presentations: "Armenian Folk Music" and "On Old and New Notation of Armenian Spiritual Music". These provoked great interest among the participants of the conference. Komitas was also requested to give a spontaneous presentation on the topic: "On Time, Place, Accentuation and Rhythm of Armenian Music."
In the period of World War I the government of Young Turks initiated their monstrous program on violent and inhumane extermination of part of the Armenian people. In April 1915, Komitas was arrested together with the number of outstanding Armenian writers, publicists, physicians, and lawyers. After the arrest, accompanied by violence, he was deported far in Anatolia where he became a witness of the brutal extermination of the nation's bright minds. And in spite of the fact that due to the intervention of influential figures Komitas was returned to Constantinople, the nightmare he had experienced left a deep ineradicable impression on his soul. Komitas remained in seclusion from the outer world, absorbed in his gloomy and heavy thoughts - sad and broken.
In 1916 Komitas' health deteriorated and he was put in a psychiatric hospital. However, there was no hope that he would recover. The medicine was powerless against the destructive disease.
The genius of Armenian music found his final shelter in Paris, in the suburban sanatorium Vil-Jouif where he spent almost 20 years of his life.
On the 22nd of October the life of the Great Komitas came to an end. In the spring of 1936 his remains were transported to Armenia and buried in Yerevan -in the Pantheon of prominent art figures.
No less tragic was the destiny of Komitas' creative legacy. The majority of his manuscripts were destroyed or lost all over the world.
"The Armenian people found and recognized its soul, its spiritual nature" in Komitas' songs. Komitas Vardapet is a beginning having no end. He will live through the Armenian people, and they must live through him, now and forevef'. (Vazgen I, the Catholicos of all Armenians)
References
1. UptqjmU U., Zmjng h^U qpm^mUntpjmU ^mmúnLpjnLU, h.1, fcphmU, 1944: Abegyan M., Hayoc' hin grakanut'yan patmut'yun, h.1, Yerevan, 1944.
2. Articles of Komitas about folk music http://www.komitas.am/eng/folk_music.htm
3. PpnLmjmU U., Zm] dnqn^pqm^mU tpmd2sm^mU umtq&mqnp&nLpjnLU, fcphmU, 2014: Brutyan M., Hay zogovrdakan erazstakan stegcagorcut'yun, Yerevan, 2014.
4. ZmpntpjntUjmU Z., fcpmd2snLp]nLUp V-XV q.q. hm] úmmtUmqpnLpjmU út2, fcpümU, 2010:
Harut'yunyan H., Erazstut'yuna V-XV d.d. hay matenagrut'yan mej, Yerevan, 2010.
5. ZmpnrpjnrUjmU fc., Zm] dnqn^pqm^mU uqn tpqtp // «¿m] mqqmqpnrpjnrU U pmUmhjnmnLpjnrU», h. 24, fcpUmU, 2007: Harut'yunyan., Hay sgo erger // «Hay azgagrut'yun ev banahyusutyun», t. 24, Yerevan, 2007.
6. Un^utu ^mqmU^mmnrmg^, ^mmtfnrp^rU UqnrmU^g m2^mph^: ßUUm^mU pUmq^pp U Uhpm&nrpjnrUp HUnmph^jmU^,
fcpUmU, 1983: Movses Kagankatuac'i, Patmut'yun Aghvanic asxarhi: k'nnakan ev neracut'yuna v.arak'elyani, Yerevan, 1983.
7. Om^urnnu PnrqmUq, ^mmtfnrpjnrU hmjng, pmpqümUnrpjnrUp Um.Umj^mujmUg^, fcpUmU, 1968: Pavstos Buzand, Patmut'yun hayoc', t'argmanut'yuna St.Malxasyanci, Yerevan, 1968.
8. Ommmnu^ PnrqmUqmgm] ^mmtfnrp^rU hmjng, HtUtrn^^, 1914: Pavstosi Buzandacwoy Patmut'iun Hayoc, Venetik, 1914.
