Armenian folk music is a genre of Armenian music. It usually uses the duduk, the kemenche, and the oud. It is very similar to folk music in the Caucasus and shares many similar songs and traditions with countries around Armenia, namely Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The Importance of Armenian Folk Music For The Armenian Nation And Musical Culture The original Armenian folk music forms the basis of national self-awareness and defines the socio-cultural identity of the Armenian people, along with other attributable components of the socio-cultural life of the Armenian ethnicity.Беляев В. М., Музыкальная культура Армении, в кн.: Очерки по истории музыки народов СССР, М., 1963 — С. 27.Авдалян Карине Акоповна, доктор искусствоведения, профессор, заслуженный деятель искусств РА, «Национальный стиль в армянской музыкальной культуре XX века» (Диссертация, Специальность: Теория и история культуры, ВАК 24.00.01, Артикул: 423551 Год: 2011, Москва, РГГУ: „Универсальность и динамичность армянского национального стиля музыки сложилась в эксклюзивных геополитических и культурно-исторических условиях. С одной стороны, армянская культура — одна из древнейших в мире — сохранила в своих недрах архаические пласты культурной семантики, лежащие в основании многих мировых культур, обладающих длительной историей. С другой стороны, занимая пограничное положение между многочисленными цивилизациями древности и средневековья, относящихся к Западу и к Востоку, армянская музыкальная культура впитала в себя интонации как восточной, так и западной музыки. Это сделало армянскую музыку и художественную культуру в целом «всемирно отзывчивой», открытой разным влияниям, но в то же время устойчивой в плане собственной культурной идентичности.“
Being one of the oldest,Божественный Комитас: Секретарь берлинского отделения Международного музыкального общества, профессор кафедры истории музыки Королевского университета Макс Хайферт писал Комитасу:Вы дали нам возможность близко познакомиться с величественными творениями совершенно от нас далекой и высокоразвитой цивилизации... having vividly expressed originality,Шахназарова Н. Г., Национальная традиция и композиторское творчество (Об эволюции национального в армянской музыке) // Музыкальная культура Армянской СССР. М., 1985 С. 14—15 melodic richnessАсафьев Б. В., Очерки об Армении. М., 1958.— С. 23 — 25. and compositional nobility,Геодакян Г. Ш., Функциональные связи тонов в звуко-высотной системе армянской народной музыки // Сборник «Традиции и современность. Вопросы армянской музыки». Книга 2. Ер., 1996 — С. 11. Armenian folk music has had a significant impact on the development of musical culture worldwide.Tagmizyan N., Monodische Denkmäler Alt-Armeniens, Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft. Berlin, 1970, Heft 1.— С. 12.Wellesz E., Die armenische Messe und ihre Musik, «JbP», Lpz., 1921 — С. 19 — 23.
Origin Story Armenian folk music dates back to ancient times. Its scientifically noticeable history has more than three millennia.Тигранов, Г. Г. Вопросы изучения музыкального наследия в Армянской ССР // Музыковедение и музыкальная критика в республиках Закавказья. М., 1956. — С. 9. This process already began in the 20th-18th centuries B.C.Музыкальный энциклопедический словарь, 1990:Армянская музыка формировалась начиная с 20-18 вв. до н. э, во взаимодействии с муз. культурой древних народов Передней и Малой Азии...
In the territory of the Armenian highlands (geographical and cultural area, within the boundaries of which the ethnogenesis of the Armenian nation took place), many artifacts were found, which testify that the art of music flourished here in B.C. since at least the second millennium.Кушнарев Х. С., Армянская музыка от зарождения до XIX века, Ереван, 1963. — С. 29. Such artifacts are ancient musical instruments discovered by archaeologists, as well as various images of people playing music (including petroglyphs) and ancient written (mainly cuneiform) monuments that tell about certain events, ceremonies and actions that were accompanied by music.Tagmizyan N., Essays on Armenian Music, London, 1978. — С. 25.
The original features of Armenian folk music were formed in its bosom due to the constant cross-breeding of Balkan and Western Anatolian musical traditions with the musical traditions of such ancient cultures of the Middle East as Hittite, Aramaic, Assyro-Babylonian and Persian, as well as a result of its complete assimilation with the culture of the state Urartu, which was advanced for its time.Вопросы истории и теории армянской монодической музыки, Государственное музыкальное издательство, Ленинград, 1958. Музыкальное искусство древнейшего периода, С. 18 -19„запутанный музыкально-стилевой «клубок» армянской народной музыки восходит к древнейшим пластам архаической музыкальной культуры Месопотамии и Средиземноморья.“ Асафьев Б. В., Очерки об Армении. М., 1958.— С. 22.
Among the main (vocal, instrumental, mixed) genres and types of ancient Armenian folk music, according to the nature of their applied functions (religious and social significance), one can distinguish ritual, calendar, work, wedding, military, epic, dance, party, lyrical- love, lullaby, household, game, funeral and other categories of songs.Барсамян А., Арутюнян М., История армянской музыки. — Ереван, 1968. С. 13 — 14
A special place in Armenian folk music is occupied by peasant songs, which include arable horovels,Комитас, Армянская крестьянская музыка, Париж, 1938 — C. 19-20. as well as the songs of Skitalians (travelers) belonging to the "Antun" (homeless) genre.Мурадян М. О., Очерк истории армянской музыки. Ер., 1963. — С. 17.
Development stages of Armenian folk music Information about Armenian folk singers (rhapsodes), gusans, whose work, in turn, originates from the earlier musical tradition of novelists, folk singers who told stories of epic poems of ancient Armenia, reaches us from the depths of the centuries. In particular, ancient Armenian authors of the 5th century such as Agathanghegos, Pavstos Buzand, Movses Khorenatsi, Yeghishe and others report about Gusan songs.Гусаны հոդվածը Սովետական մեծ հանրագիտարանում
At first, the servants in the temple of God Gisane were called gusans, and in the Hellenistic era, the participants of farcical and satirical representations. Gusans sang songs accompanied by playing musical instruments, especially at parties, weddings, and funerals. They also performed the songs of the wandering homeless (Gharibi), epic songs, mythical tales, etc.
Uniqueness of Armenian folk music Many Armenian historians, writers, philosophersGrigor Suni, Armenian music, Yerevan, 2005, P. 98-99, , С — 13 and music theorists,Комитас, Армянская крестьянская музыка, Париж, 1938 — C. 23-25. since ancient times to one degree or another, have been engaged in researching the aesthetic characteristics of Armenian folk and spiritual musicКак об этом иследниютуют иследование от менякой хорошой музыковедов, Armenian spiritual music borrowed the intonation structure of the Armenian peasant song, cm. Kushnarev Kh. S., Questions on the history and theory of Armenian monodic music, Gosudarstvennoe muzikalnoe izdatelstvo, Leningrad, 1958. С 153 — 155 of artists such as Mesrop Mashtots,Мовсес Хоренаци, «Истории Армении», кн. III, гл.54 Sahak Partev, Hovhannes Mandakuni, Stepanos Syunetsi (senior), Komitas Aghtetsi, Barsegh Tchon, Sahak Dzoraporetsi, Stepanos Syunetsi, Davit Anhaght, Davit Kerakan, Hakob Sanahnetsi, Grigor Narekatsi, Khachatur Taronatsi, Nerses Shnhorali, Hovhannes Imstaser, Hovhannes Yerznakatsi, Arakel Syunetsi, Hakob Krimetsi,Ken Parry. The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. — John Wiley and Sons, 2010. — С. 33. Grigor Narekatsi, Frick, Hovhannes Tlkurantsi, Mkrtich Naghash, Minas Tokhatetsi, Petros Kapantsi, Baghdasar Dpir, Arakel Syunetsi, Mateos Dvugayetsi, Grigor Khlatetsi, Arakel Baghisetsi, Avetik Pakhtasaryan, Zenne Poghos, Khachatur Erzrumtsi, Mkhitar Sebastasi, Grigor Dpir Gapaskalyan (of four musicological treatises author) and others.Тагмизян Н. К., Теория музыки в древней Армении. С. 31Don Michael Randel. The Harvard dictionary of music. — 4th edition. — Harvard University Press, 2003. — С. 51.
Such famous Armenian composers and folklorists of the 19th-20th centuries as Makar Yekmalyan, Spiridon Melikyan, Grigor Syunin, Nikoghayos Tigranyan, Kristapor Kara-Murza collected a large collection of samples of Armenian folk and spiritual music. However, the greatest merit in the coordination, study and deep aesthetic meaning of Armenian musical folklore belongs to Komitas, the founder of the National School of Scientific Folklore,Ataian R., Komitas (Creative portrait of the composer). New York, 1969. — 42. he managed to collect, process and prepare for publication more than 2000 folk songs.
As a result of the tireless collective and scientific activity of Komitas, the ethnographer who created a real anthology of Armenian folk song and revealed the patterns of peasant musical thinking and musical speech, the questions of the antiquity of traditions, genre differentiation, genealogy and the crystallization of the means of artistic expression of secular ethnographic singing, at once and in the most convincing way, entered into the main problematology of Armenian monodic music. The latter very simply presented two branches: People-peasant and spiritual.Тагмизян Н. К.. Теория музыки в древней Армении, Предисловие Արխիվացված 2013-08-20 Wayback Machine
From the beginning, Armenian folk music was monodic, but enriched with various elements of polyphony (stretched tones, use of some types of antiphonal singing, etc.).Музыкальный энциклопедический словарь, 1990
Komitas discovered the tetrachord structure of the fundamental sounds of Armenian folk music and the typical ways of connecting tetrachord-cells in it.Комитас — собиратель и исследователь армянской народной песни (VII Международный конгресс антропологических и этнографических наук). М., 1952 (на рус. и франц. яз.)
H. Kushnarev continued Komitas' musicological research in the field of Armenian folk music, who defined the basic diatonic sound system of Armenian music as a combination of three pure series of quarts (Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian), clarified the methods of forming chromatic sounds of Armenian folk music and gave a detailed description of the relationship of the tones arising in that examination base.Кушнарев Х. С., Вопросы истории и теории армянской монодической музыки, Государственное музыкальное издательство, Ленинград, 1958. Музыкальное искусство древнейшего периода, С. 548 — 554
In general, music theory in Armenia has always been inextricably linked with musical aesthetics,Музыкальная эстетика стран Востока, Л., 1967. С — 58. so since ancient times, the melodic richness of Armenian folk music was explained purely from a musicological point of view by the fact that it has an extensive system of diatonic scales (including (i.e., illiterate hypolades in the middle position of the tonic, with the presence of a side support on different degrees, using different alterations, etc.),Komitas К. V., La musique rustique armenienne, "Mercure musical et Bulletin franзais de la Societe Internationale de musique", Paris., 1907, No 5 — 21 as well as extremely rich, (often variable, asymmetric, synchronic) rhythmic, using all kinds of (including mixed) meters and measures .