Traditional Armenian repertoire, in the 110 years since the genocide.

There are musical repertoires in which one rarely encounters in life. Yet, when this happens, the listening imprints itself in memory not only intellectually but even more so in the heart.

For the story it holds, Armenian singing is among the most touching repertoires.

Very little is known about the dramatic events that struck the Armenian people 110 years ago, while the first world conflict raged across the European continent. A bloodbath, of unspeakable cruelty, upon a gentle and cultured people, in a fertile and productive land, within a context of general well-being.

Their song bears traces of this very close relationship with nature, of an intimate and delicate soul; and the sacred repertoire is rich with an aura of light that is nourished by the lively dialogue between the human and the divine.

History has made it such that a few decades before the genocide, at the end of the nineteenth century, much of this repertoire passed down orally from generation to generation was transcribed, so as not to be lost and to become material for preservation, study, and even elaboration.

It was particularly the merit of Father Komitas (1869-1935), one of the most renowned Armenian composers, that today we preserve over 3000 melodies of ancient tradition, representing the sensitivity, culture, and favorite themes of the Armenian people, often through his own polyphonic arrangements that highlight the beauty of that singing, while preserving the spirit of the text and the melos.

Today, thanks to the research and study of those with Armenian ancestors, such as Justine Rapaccioli, director of the Ensemble Edesse, musicologist and fine composer, we can listen to particularly refined performances of Armenian singing, traveling through the time of the rural cult of which they are the voice, within their beautiful places of preserved nature.

Free entry with conscious donation.