Komitas and Grigor Gapasakalian. Neumological Connections
Komitas and Grigor Gapasakalian. Neumological Connections

Summary/Abstract: In his neumological studies Archimandrite Komitas (Soghomon Soghomonian, 1869-1935), founder of the Armenian national composers’ school, musical, folkloristic and medievalist studies, has referred in detail to the neumological observations of Acolyte Grigor Gapasakalian (1740-1808), whose works are among the first ones devoted to Armenian national musicology. As Komitas’ neumological rough copies evidently show, he not only widely used works by François-Joseph Fétis, Guillaume André Villoteau, Oskar Fleischer and Eghia M. Tntesian, but also gave great importance to Gapasakalian’s musicological treaties. Studies show that in his neumological investigations, Komitas mostly followed principles set up by Gapasakalian, considering him the most skilled and credible writer. In almost every page of Komitas’s neumological manuscripts, one can see references, citations and comparisons with Gapasakalian’s neumological explanations. Even now, these explanations, alongside investigations made by Komitas, can be a great contribution to the decipherment of Armenian khazq (neumes).

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