Komitas william

“Had Komitas only composed the one song, ‘Adouni,’ even then, he would have been recognized as a great artist.” - Debussy

Who he was

Komitas, Soghomon Soghomonian, was an Armenian priest whose work in recording Armenian folk songs, as well as composing new ones, has made him one of the most well known Armenians within the Armenian world and beyond it. His extensive and meticulous work, happening just before the total destruction of the Armenian Genocide, was instrumental in recording and saving vast swathes of Armenian culture that may have otherwise been lost. 

Born in Kuthaya, in the western part of the Ottoman Empire, Komitas was orphaned at a young age. He was taken to Echmiadzin, the seat of the Armenian Church, and entered into Gevorgian Seminary. His exceptional singing talents were recognized early on and the Catholicos would frequently call upon him to perform for guests.

He began collecting folk songs from local villages while at the seminary, before moving to Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) to continue his studies with Markar Yekmalyan. At the behest of Khrimy

Komitas

For other uses, see Komitas (disambiguation).

Armenian composer and religious figure

Soghomon Soghomonian,[A]ordained and commonly known as Komitas[B] (Armenian: Կոմիտաս; 8 October [O.S. 26 September] 1869 – 22 October 1935), was an Ottoman-Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national school of music.[4][7] He is recognized as one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology.[9]

Orphaned at a young age, Komitas was taken to Etchmiadzin, Armenia's religious center, where he received education at the Gevorgian Seminary. Following his ordination as vardapet (celibate priest) in 1895, he studied music at the Frederick William University in Berlin. He thereafter "used his Western training to build a national tradition".[10] He collected and transcribed over 3,000 pieces of Armenian folk music, more than half of which were subsequently lost and only around 1,200 are now extant. Besides Armenian folk

Komitas Vardapet

Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, (Armenian: Կոմիտաս; 8 October [O.S. 26 September] 1869 – 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national school of music. He is recognized as one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology.

Orphaned at a young age, Komitas was taken to Etchmiadzin, Armenia's religious center, where he received education at the Gevorgian Seminary. Following his ordination as vardapet (celibate priest) in 1895, he studied music at the Frederick William University in Berlin. He thereafter "used his Western training to build a national tradition". He collected and transcribed over 3,000 pieces of Armenian folk music, more than half of which were subsequently lost and only around 1,200 are now extant. Besides Armenian folk songs, he also showed interest in other cultures and in 1903 published the first-ever collection of Kurdish folk songs titled Kurdish melodies. His choir presented Armenian music in many European

Copyright ©boottry.pages.dev 2025