Essays On Armenian Music

The Armenian hymnary contains some 1200 songs, all remarkable for their character and for their links, implied or actual, with Byzantine tradition, with Hellenic theatre, and with the pagan cults and rituals of the pre-Christian era.
The present volume includes seven essays in English, French and German, reproduced with minor corrections from a variety of journals not otherwise readily accessible. Each carries a precis in English where necessary, and the Editor has provided an introduction. Included are essays on Komitas, the khaz notation system, khaz notation in Armenian manuscripts, the modes of Armenian music, Armenian folk music and psalmody, and current lines of research in the field. There are also reproductions of early manuscripts, as well as an extensive number of music examples and transcriptions in Western notation, together with original Armenian texts where relevant.