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{{Short description|Armenian composer and priest (1869–1935)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Komitas
| honorific_suffix   = [[Vardapet]]
| image              = komitas 1902.jpg
| image_size         = 250px
| caption            = Komitas in 1901{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=46}} or 1902<ref>{{cite web|title=Etchmiadzin. 1902.|url=http://komitas.am/eng/gallery/photos/photos21.htm|publisher=Virtual Museum of Komitas|access-date=21 February 2014}}</ref>
| native_name        = Կոմիտաս
| native_name_lang   = hy
| birth_name         = Soghomon Soghomonian
| birth_date         = {{OldStyleDate|8 October|1869|26 September}}
| birth_place        = [[Kütahya]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=y|1935|10|22|1869|09|26}}
| death_place        = Paris, [[French Third Republic|France]]
| resting_place      = [[Komitas Pantheon]]
| nationality        = [[Armenians|Armenian]]
| known for          = [[Komitas Quartet]]
| education          = [[Gevorgian Seminary]]<br />[[Humboldt University of Berlin|Frederick William University]]
| occupation         = [[Musicologist]], composer, [[choirmaster]]
| years_active       = 1891–1915
| signature          = Komitas signature.png
| signature_size     = 
| website            = [https://komitasmuseum.am komitasmuseum.am]
}}[[File:Mokats Mirza.ogg|right|235px|thumb|Komitas singing Mokats Mirza.]]
'''Soghomon Soghomonian''',{{efn-ua|Սողոմոն Սողոմոնեան in [[Classical Armenian orthography|classical orthography]] and Սողոմոն Սողոմոնյան in [[Armenian orthography reform of 1922–24|reformed orthography]]. Sometimes [[anglicized]] as '''Solomon Solomonian'''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lang|first=David Marshall|title=Armenia: Cradle of Civilization|year=1980|publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]]|location=London|isbn=9780049560079|page=256|author-link=David Marshall Lang}}</ref><ref name="britannica"/>}} [[Ordination|ordained]] and commonly known as '''Komitas'''{{efn-ua|He is widely known as [[Mononymous person|simply]] Komitas (transliterated as '''Gomidas''' from [[Western Armenian]]). His church rank, [[Vardapet]], is sometimes used alongside: '''Komitas Vardapet''' (Կոմիտաս Վարդապետ), '''Gomidas Vartabed''' in Western Armenian. In the early 1900s, and as late as 1908, he signed his name as Soghomon Gevorgian (Kevorkian or Keworkian),<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Monthly Musical Record|journal=The Monthly Musical Record|year=1900|volume=30|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LvtLAAAAYAAJ&dq=komitas+keworkian&pg=PA15 15]|publisher=Augener|location=London}}</ref> after the [[Gevorgian Seminary]].{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=45–46}}}} ({{langx|hy|Կոմիտաս}}; {{OldStyleDate|8 October|1869|26 September}}{{spaced ndash}}22 October 1935), was an [[Armenians in the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman-Armenian]] priest, [[musicologist]], composer, arranger, singer, and [[choirmaster]], who is considered the founder of the [[Music of Armenia|Armenian national school of music]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Komitas|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/321606/Komitas|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=26 January 2014|quote=Komitas [...] created the basis for a distinctive national musical style in Armenia.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Editorial Board|title=Հայ ազգային երաժշտության հիմնադիրը [The Founder of Armenian National Music]|journal=[[Lraber Hasarakakan Gitutyunneri]]|year=1969|issue=11|pages=3–6|url=http://lraber.asj-oa.am/1552/|publisher=[[Armenian Academy of Sciences]]|location=Yerevan|language=hy|access-date=29 November 2014|archive-date=21 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521082006/http://lraber.asj-oa.am/1552/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is recognized as one of the pioneers of [[ethnomusicology]].{{sfn|Poladian|1972|p=|ps=: "He was among the pioneers in ethnomusicology, a younger contemporary of Carl Stumpf (1848–1936)."}}<ref>{{cite web|last=McCollum|first=Jonathan Ray|title=Music, Ritual, And Diasporic Identity: A Case Study Of The Armenian Apostolic Church|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/1379/1/umi-umd-1381.pdf|publisher=[[University of Maryland]]|access-date=4 February 2014|page=11|year=2004|quote=Komitas Vardapet, considered a pioneer in ethnomusicology, turned his attention to the anthropological, sociological, and historical aspects of comparative musicology.}}</ref>

Orphaned at a young age, Komitas was taken to [[Etchmiadzin Cathedral|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 [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Frederick William University]] in Berlin. He thereafter "used his Western training to build a national tradition".<ref>{{cite news|last=Crutchfield|first=Will|title=Music Noted in Brief; Choir From Armenia at Avery Fisher Hall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/05/arts/music-noted-in-brief-choir-from-armenia-at-avery-fisher-hall.html|access-date=26 January 2014|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 October 1987|author-link=Will Crutchfield}}</ref> 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 music|Kurdish folk songs]] titled ''[[Kurdish melodies]]''. His choir presented Armenian music in many European cities, earning the praise of [[Claude Debussy]], among others. Komitas settled in Constantinople in 1910 to escape mistreatment by ultra-conservative clergymen at Etchmiadzin and to introduce Armenian folk music to wider audiences. He was widely embraced by Armenian communities, while [[Arshag Chobanian]] called him the "savior of Armenian music".{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=51}}

During the [[Armenian genocide]]—along with hundreds of other Armenian intellectuals—Komitas was [[Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915|arrested and deported]] to a [[Internment|prison camp]] in April 1915 by the Ottoman government. He was soon released under unclear circumstances and, having witnessed indiscriminate cruelty and relentless massacres of other Armenians by the Ottoman Turks, Komitas experienced a mental breakdown and developed a severe case of [[post-traumatic stress disorder]] (PTSD). The widespread hostile environment in Constantinople and reports of mass-scale Armenian death marches and massacres that reached him further worsened his fragile mental state. He was first placed in a Turkish military-operated hospital until 1919 and then transferred to [[psychiatric hospital]]s in Paris, where he spent the last years of his life in agony. Komitas is widely seen as a martyr of the genocide and has been depicted as one of the main symbols of the Armenian Genocide in art.<ref>Soulahian Kuyumjian, Rita. ''Archeology of Madness: Komitas, Portrait of an Armenian Icon''. Edition: 2, Reading, England: Taderon Press; Princeton, NJ: Gomidas Institute, 2001, p. 3.</ref> Collection of Works of the Composer Komitas Vardapet is included to UNESCO [[Memory of the World]] Register.

==Biography==

===Childhood (1869–81)===
Komitas was born '''Soghomon Soghomonian''' in [[Kütahya]], [[Hüdavendigâr Vilayet|Hüdavendigâr (Bursa) Vilayet]], Ottoman Empire on 26 September (8 October in [[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style]]) 1869 to Armenian parents Kevork and Takuhi.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Essays on Armenian music|editor=[[Vrej Nersessian|Nersessian, Vrej]]|publisher=Kahn & Averill|year=1978|page=13|isbn=0-900707-49-6}}</ref> According to his autobiographical sketches, his parents' ancestors moved to western [[Anatolia]] from the [[Çənnəb|Tsghna]] village in [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhichevan]]'s [[Goghtn]] province at the turn of the century. His family only spoke [[Turkish language|Turkish]] due to restrictions by the Ottoman government. Soghomon was their only child. He was baptized three days after his birth. His mother was originally from [[Bursa]] and was sixteen at the time of his birth. People who knew her described her as melancholic, while his father was a cheerful person; but both were interested in music. She died in March 1870, just six months after giving birth to him. Her death left deep scars on him, whose earliest poems were devoted to her. Thereafter, according to different sources, either his father's sister-in-law or his paternal grandmother, Mariam, looked after him.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=10–12}}

In 1880, four years after he finished primary school in Kütahya, Soghomon was sent by his father to [[Bursa]] to continue his education. He possibly stayed with his maternal grandparents who lived in the city. He was sent back to Kütahya four months later, following the death of his father who had become an alcoholic. Although Soghomon was adopted by his paternal uncle Harutyun, his "familiar and social structure had collapsed." A childhood friend described him as "virtually homeless." He was completely deprived of paternal care and was "placed in circumstances that made him vulnerable to the mental illness he suffered later in life".{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=15–16}}

===Etchmiadzin (1881–95)===
{{multiple image|image1=Etchmiadzin Cathedral 1901 Lynch (edit).png|width1=240|caption1=[[Etchmiadzin Cathedral]] (1890s)|image2=Svet. Caucasus. 048. Armenian academy in Echmiadzin.jpg|width2=200|caption2=[[Gevorgian Seminary]] (1910)}}
His life took a radical turn in the fall of 1881. In September, the twelve-year-old Soghomon was taken to Etchmiadzin by Kevork Vartabed Tertsagyan, the local Armenian bishop, who was asked by the [[Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin|Holy See of Etchmiadzin]] to find an orphan boy with good singing voice to be enrolled in the prestigious [[Gevorgian Seminary]]. On 1 October 1881, Komitas was introduced to [[Catholicos of All Armenians|Catholicos]] Gevorg IV, who was disappointed with his lack of knowledge of Armenian, but was so impressed with his singing talent that he often asked Komitas to sing for visitors. After an unfortunate childhood, Komitas found "emotional and intellectual stability" in the seminary.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=21–24}}

Between 1881 and 1910, Komitas was mainly based in Etchmiadzin, although he did spend a significant time in Europe.{{sfn|Mooradian|1969|p=61}} During his first year at the seminary, Komitas learned the Armenian music notation ([[khaz (notation)|khaz]]) system based on ancient [[neume]]s developed earlier in the 19th century by [[Hampartsoum Limondjian]] and his students. He gradually discovered a great passion for music and started writing down songs sung by Armenian villagers near Etchmiadzin, who affectionately called him "Notaji Vardapet", meaning "the note-taking priest".{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=28}}

In the early 1890s, Komitas made his first attempts to write music for the poems of [[Khachatur Abovian]], [[Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (poet)|Hovhannes Hovhannisyan]], [[Avetik Isahakyan]] (his younger classmate) and others.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}} In 1891, the ''Ararat'' magazine (the Holy See's official newspaper) published his "National Anthem" (Ազգային Օրհներգ, lyrics by seminary student A. Tashjian) for polyphonic choirs. He finished the seminary in 1893, became a music teacher and was appointed the choirmaster of the [[Etchmiadzin Cathedral]], Armenia's mother church.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}}<ref name="Adalian"/>

His earliest major influence was [[Kristapor Kara-Murza]], who taught at the seminary only one year, in 1892. Kara-Murza composed and organized performances of European music for schoolchildren throughout Armenian-populated areas for educational purposes. And although Komitas criticized his works as not authentically Armenian, Kara-Murza was the person who taught Komitas the polyphonic choral structure around which he built his musical achievements.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=29–30}}

In 1894, Soghomon was ordained [[hieromonk]] (կուսակրոն աբեղա) and given the name of the 7th-century poet and musician [[Catholicos of All Armenians|Catholicos]] [[Komitas (Catholicos)|Komitas]].{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}} In February 1895,{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=32}} he was ordained [[vardapet]] (celibate priest) and became thereafter known as Komitas Vardapet.<ref name="Adalian">{{cite book|last=Adalian|first=Rouben Paul|title=Historical Dictionary of Armenia|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-8108-7450-3|author-link=Rouben Paul Adalian|page=391}}</ref> In the same year, his first collection of transcribed folk music, "The Songs of Agn" (Շար Ակնա ժողովրդական երգերի), was completed, which included 25 pieces of love songs, wedding tunes, lullabies and dances. It was disapproved by a reactionary and ultraconservative faction of the Etchmiadzin clergy, who harassed and sarcastically referred to Komitas as "the love-singing priest". Rumors of alleged sexual misconduct were spread, leading Komitas into experiencing an [[identity crisis]].{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=33}}

===Tiflis and Berlin (1895–1899)===
[[File:Berlin Universität um 1900.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Humboldt University of Berlin|Frederick William University]], c. 1900]]
In October 1895, Komitas left Etchmiadzin for [[Tiflis]] to study [[harmony]] under composer [[Makar Yekmalyan]], whose polyphonic rendering of Armenian liturgy is the most widely used and who became one of Komitas's most influential teachers.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}} At the time, Tiflis was the most suitable option for Komitas as it was both relatively close to the Armenian lands and had a [[rectory]], where he could stay. The six months Komitas spent with Yekmalyan deepened his understanding of European harmonic principles and laid the groundwork for his further education in European conservatories. As Komitas prepared for entrance exams, the wealthy Armenian oil explorer [[Alexander Mantashev]] agreed to pay 1,800 [[Russian ruble|rubles]] for his three-year tuition at the request of Catholicos [[Mkrtich Khrimian]].{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=33–34}}

Komitas arrived in [[Berlin]] in early June 1896 without having been accepted by any university. A group of Armenian friends helped him to find an apartment. He initially took private lessons with Richard Schmidt for a few months. Afterwards, he was accepted into the prestigious [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Frederick William University]].{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=39–40}} With little left of Mantashev's money after paying for rent and supplies, Komitas cut on food, having one or no meal each day.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=41}} However, this did not distract him from education and he effectively absorbed the erudition of highly accomplished German teachers. Among them were 18th–19th century folk music specialist [[Heinrich Bellermann]], [[Max Friedlaender (musicologist)|Max Friedlaender]], [[Oskar Fleischer]]. Fleischer in May 1899 established the Berlin chapter of the International Musical Society ({{langx|de|link=no|Internationalen Musikgesellschaft}}), of which Komitas became an active member. He lectured there on Armenian folk music and suggested that it dated back to pre-Christian, pagan times. His studies at the university ended in July 1899.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=43–44}}

===Main period of work (1899–1910)===
Upon his return to Etchmiadzin in September 1899, Komitas resumed teaching and composing. He assembled and trained a large polyphonic choir based on his acquired knowledge. Until 1906, he directed the Gevorgian Seminary choir.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|pp=44, 46}} It was in this period when he completed "most of the theoretical and research papers that earned him his place among the pioneers of ethnomusicology." Komitas spent summers in Armenian countryside, developing a unique relationship with villagers. He thus took the scholarly task of transcribing and preserving rural Armenian songs. In the fall of 1903 after three years of collection and transcription, Komitas published a collection of 50 folks songs titled "One Thousand and One Songs" (Հազար ու մի խաղ). Lyricist [[Manuk Abeghian]] helped him to compile the folk pieces. The same collection was reprinted in 1904, while in 1905 a further 50 songs were published.{{sfn|Soulahian Kuyumjian|2001|p=47–49}}

===Constantinople (1910–15)===
[[File:Komitas "Guzan" choir in Constantinople, 1910.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Komitas's "Gusan" choir in 1910]]
[[File:Komitas02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Komitas at [[Cairo]] in 1911]]
"Seeking to bring appreciation of Armenian music to a wider audience",<ref name="Adalian"/> Komitas moved to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the Ottoman imperial capital in 1910.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}} "There he trained a group of students in Armenian melody and formed a choir that toured Armenian communities and gave performances of the folk compositions that Komitas had arranged for four-part choir."<ref name="Adalian"/> He founded the ''Gusan'' choir (''Hay gusan'' since 1912), made up of tens of musicians.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}} With the aim to produce professional musicians, he taught musicology to [[Barsegh Kanachyan]], Mihran Tumacan, Vagharshak Srvandztian and others.{{sfn|Atayan|1979|p=539}}

===Deportation and final years (1915–35)===
On 24 April 1915, the [[Deportation of Armenian notables in 1915|day]] when the [[Armenian genocide]] officially began, he was arrested and put on a train the next day together with 180 other Armenian notables and sent to the city of [[Çankırı]] in northern Central Anatolia, at a distance of some {{convert|300|mi|km|order=flip}}. The Turkish nationalist poet [[Mehmet Emin Yurdakul]], the writer [[Halide Edib Adıvar|Halide Edip]] and U.S. [[Ambassador (diplomacy)|ambassador]] [[Henry Morgenthau Sr.|Henry Morgenthau]] intervened with the government, and by special orders from [[Talat Pasha]], Komitas was dispatched back to the capital alongside eight other Armenians who had been deported.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.devletarsivleri.gov.tr/kitap/belge/992/11.PDF |title=Kastamonu Vilâyeti'ne |access-date=20 April 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102093216/http://www.devletarsivleri.gov.tr/kitap/belge/992/11.PDF |archive-date=2 November 2006 }}</ref> [[Grigoris Balakian]]'s ''[[Armenian Golgotha]]'' offers details of his deportation, during which Komitas suffered tremendously and was afflicted with traumatic neurosis. In one passage Balakian recounts how:

{{quotation|The more we moved away from civilization, the more agitated were our souls and the more our minds were racked with fear. We thought we saw bandits behind every boulder; the hammocks or cradles hanging from every tree seemed like gallows ropes. The expert on Armenian songs, the peerless archimandrite Father Komitas, who was in our carriage, seemed mentally unstable. He thought the trees were bandits on the attack and continually hid his head under the hem of my overcoat, like a fearful partridge. He begged me to say a blessing for him ["The Savior"] in the hope that it would calm him.<ref>[[Grigoris Balakian|Balakian, Grigoris]]. ''Armenian Golgotha''. Trans. [[Peter Balakian]] and Aris Sevag. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, p. 66. {{ISBN|0-307-26288-X}}.</ref>}}

In the autumn of 1916, he was taken to a hospital in Constantinople, Hôpital de la paix, and then moved to Paris in 1919, where he died in a [[psychiatric clinic]] in [[Villejuif]] in 1935. Next year, his ashes were transferred to [[Yerevan]] and buried in the [[Komitas Pantheon|Pantheon]] that was named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hush.am/index.php?route=product/hush&grave_id=hush71ce261c7123152|title=The memorial of Soghomonyan Komitas Soghomon (Կոմիտաս Սողոմոն Սողոմոնյան Գևորգի) buried at Yerevan's Komitas Pantheon cemetery|website=hush.am|access-date=17 July 2019}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Statue of Komitas, Yerevan.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Komitas in [[Yerevan]]]]
[[Image:The Soviet Union 1969 CPA 3799 stamp (Komitas and Rural Scene).jpg|thumb|Komitas on a 1969 [[Soviet Union]] postage stamp]]
[[File:Komitas Statues in Ejmicin 002.JPG|thumb|Statue of Komitas in [[Vagharshapat]]]]
In the 1950s, his manuscripts were also transferred from Paris to [[Yerevan]].

Badarak was first printed in 1933 in Paris and first recorded onto a digital media in 1988 in [[Yerevan]]. In collecting and publishing so many folk songs, he saved the cultural heritage of [[Western Armenia]] that otherwise would have disappeared because of the genocide. His works have been published in [[Armenia]] in a thoroughly annotated edition by [[Robert Atayan]]. Lately, nine songs on German poetry, written during his stay in Berlin, have been excavated from the archives in Yerevan and interpreted by soprano [[Hasmik Papian]].

The [[Yerevan State Musical Conservatory]] is named after Komitas. There also exists a world-renowned [[Komitas Quartet|string quartet named after Komitas]].

On 6 July 2008, on the occasion of Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebration, a bronze bust of Komitas was unveiled near the Quebec National Assembly (provincial legislature, Auteuil street) in recognition of his great input to music in general and to Armenian popular and liturgical music in particular. Previously, a granite and bronze statue of Komitas was erected in Detroit in 1981 in honor of the great composer and as a reminder of the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide.
[[File:Komitas' tombstone in Yerevan's Komitas Pantheon.JPG|thumb|Komitas' tombstone in Yerevan's Komitas Pantheon]]

In September 2008, the CD ''Gomidas Songs'', sung by [[Isabel Bayrakdarian]] and accompanied by the Chamber Players of the Armenian Philharmonic and pianist [[Serouj Kradjian]], was released on the [[Nonesuch Records|Nonesuch]] label. This CD was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]] in the Best Vocal Recording category.<ref>"Bayrakdarian's 'Gomidas Songs' Nominated for Grammy," ''Loussapatz Weekly'' (Canada), No. 772, 2009, p. 41.</ref> A major North American tour by Ms. Bayrakdarian in October 2008 featured the music of Komitas, with concerts in Toronto, San Francisco, Orange County, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Boston and New York's [[Carnegie Hall]]. She was accompanied by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra conducted by Anne Manson, and pianist [[Serouj Kradjian]]. The ''Remembrance Tour''<ref name="urlSongs of the homeland">{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=b3b21d16-e608-4ceb-af5a-de8f4725b5e3&sponsor= |title=Songs of the homeland |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107231325/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=b3b21d16-e608-4ceb-af5a-de8f4725b5e3&sponsor= |archive-date=7 January 2016 }}</ref> was dedicated to victims of all genocides and sponsored by the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (a division of the [[Zoryan Institute]]). 

The complete piano works of Komitas are recorded by [[Şahan Arzruni]] on [[Kalan Müzik]] label in 2010 and remain the definitive interpretation of these compositions. Among the other performers of his music are [[Evgeny Kissin]] and [[Grigory Sokolov]].

Since 2018 Komitas appears on the 10000 [[Armenian dram]] banknote.
[[File:10000 dram 2018 Obverse.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Komitas on the 2018 10000 Dram banknote]]
In 2019, the [[The Gurdjieff Ensemble|Gurdjief Ensemble]] debuted in New York City performing Komitas's folk songs on traditional instruments.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Gurdjieff Ensemble Celebrates Komitas at 150|url=https://www.symphonyspace.org/events/vp-the-gurdjieff-ensemble-celebrates-komitas-at-150|access-date=2020-11-24|website=[[Symphony Space]]|date=27 September 2019 }}</ref>

Modern performers, like [[Rewşan Çeliker]] and [[Pervin Chakar]], reinterpret and promote his collected works, ensuring their continued relevance.<ref>{{Citation |title=Rewşan {{!}} Destmala Min |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Atok_AoRs |access-date=2024-03-19 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-13 |title=Turkey’s Kurdish opera singer inspires Kurds by singing in native tongue |url=https://arab.news/2dad5 |access-date=2024-04-14 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref>

===Landmarks===
The following landmarks in Armenia have been named after him: 
*The central square of [[Vagharshapat]].
*The [[Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory|Yerevan State Musical Conservatory]].
*[[Komitas Avenue]], the main thoroughfare of Yerevan's [[Arabkir District]].
*The writers' and poets' [[Komitas Pantheon|pantheon]].
* The [[Komitas Museum]] adjacent to the Pantheon.

==Selected works, editions and recordings==
* ''The Music of Komitas'' – double LP released on the centenary of Komitas's birth. KCC, 1970.
* ''The Voice of Komitas Vardapet'', Komitas Vardapet – archival performances recorded in 1908–1912, featuring Komitas on vocals and piano, and [[Armenak Shahmuradyan]] on vocals. Traditional Crossroads, 1995.<ref name="urlThe Voice of Komitas Vardapet – Komitas | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-voice-of-komitas-vardapet-mw0000602012 |title=The Voice of Komitas Vardapet – Komitas &#124; AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref>
* ''Gomidas – Songs'', [[Isabel Bayrakdarian]], [[Serouj Kradjian]] (arrangements and piano), chamber players of the [[Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra]], conducted by [[Eduard Topchjan]]. Nonesuch, 2005<ref>Booklet includes sung texts in Armenian transliteration and English translation</ref>
* ''Komitas – Complete Works for Piano'', [[Şahan Arzruni]]. [[Kalan Müzik|Kalan]], 2012<ref>Booklet includes a historical discussion of the music in Armenian, Turkish and English</ref>
* ''Hommage à Komitas'' – audio CD containing 9 songs on German poetry (world premiere, first recording) and 26 songs in Armenian, [[Hasmik Papian]] (soprano) and [[Vardan Mamikonian (musician)|Vardan Mamikonian]] (piano). Recorded at Bavaria Studio, Munich, in July 2005. Audite (Germany) in cooperation with Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2006.
* ''Music by Komitas'' – audio CD featuring instrumental arrangements performed by the Gurdjieff Ensemble, directed and arranged by Levon Eskenian (with notes). [[ECM Records]], 2015.
* ''My Armenia'' – audio CD dedicated to the 100th Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, ''[https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8077498--my-armenia My Armenia]'' offers a very personal, touching and brilliant tribute to Armenian music by [[Sergey Khachatryan]] and Lusine Khachatryan. [[Naïve Records]], 2015.
* ''Komitas Vardapet – Six Dances'', Keiko Shichijo (piano). Makkum Records, 2016.
* ''Komitas: Songs'' (arranged for piano by Villy Sargsyan), CD by Yulia Ayrapetyan [piano] under the label Grand Piano (GP895)

==Works on Komitas==
* {{cite book|last=Kuyumjian|first=Rita Soulahian|title=Archaeology of Madness: Komitas, Portrait of an Armenian Icon|year=2001|publisher=Gomidas Institute|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=9781903656105|url={{Google Books URL|pZIwJWLuqb4C}}|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Tahmizian|first=Nikoġos Kirakosi |author-link=Nikoghos Tahmizian|title=Komitasẹ ev hay žoġovowrdi eražštakan žaṙangowt'iwnẹ|trans-title=Komitas and the Musical Legacy of the Armenian Nation|year=1994|publisher=Drazark Hrat.|language=hy|location=Pasadena, California|ref=none}}

==Films==
* ''Komitas'', 1988, director: [[Don Askarian]], actor: Samvel Ovasapian<ref>[http://www.don-askarian.com/films/komitas.html Films] by [[Don Askarian]] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211082427/http://www.don-askarian.com/films/komitas.html |date=11 February 2015 }}</ref><ref>[[Harvard Film Archive]]. [http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2002janfeb/hieroglyphs.html Hieroglyphs of Armenia: Films by Don Askarian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307083133/http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2002janfeb/hieroglyphs.html |date=7 March 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.007-berlin.de/de/artikel/don-askorjan.htm |title=Don Askarian |website=007-berlin.de |access-date=16 November 2017}}</ref>
* ''[[Songs of Solomon]]'', 2019, directed by Arman Nshanian, Komitas depicted by Samvel Tadevosyan<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=2020-12-15 |title=Armenia's ''Songs of Solomon'' to Compete for International Feature Film Oscar |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/armenian-movie-songs-of-solomon-international-oscar-1234853733/ |access-date=2020-12-16 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist-ua}}

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
*{{cite book|chapter=Կոմիտաս|trans-chapter=Komitas|author-link=Robert Atayan|last=Atayan|first=Robert|title=[[Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia]]|editor=[[Viktor Hambardzumyan|Hambardzumyan, Viktor]]|volume=5|language=hy|location=Yerevan|year=1979|publisher=Armenian Encyclopedia|pages=539–541}}
*{{cite journal|last=Mooradian|first=M.|title=Կոմիտասի վերջին այցելությունը Հայաստան|trans-title=Komitas's Last Visit to Armenia|journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]]|year=1969|issue=4|pages=61–69|url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/1400/|publisher=[[Armenian Academy of Sciences]]|location=Yerevan|language=hy|access-date=29 December 2014|archive-date=29 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229071005/http://hpj.asj-oa.am/1400/|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal |last=Poladian |first=Sirvart |author-link=Sirvart Poladian |title=Komitas Vardapet and His Contribution to Ethnomusicology |journal=[[Ethnomusicology (academic journal)|Ethnomusicology]] |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=82–97 |jstor=850444 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] on behalf of [[Society for Ethnomusicology]] |date=January 1972 |doi=10.2307/850444}}
*{{cite book|last=Soulahian Kuyumjian|first=Rita|title=Archeology of Madness: Komitas, Portrait of an Armenian Icon|year=2001|publisher=[[Gomidas Institute]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=1-903656-10-9}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|editor-last=Atayan|editor-first=Robert|editor-link=Robert Atayan|year=2001|title=Essays and Articles, The musicological treatises of Komitas Vardapet|translator=Vatche Barsoumian|location=Pasadena, California|publisher=Drazark Press|oclc=50203070|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|title=Gomidas Vartabed: His Life and Importance to Armenian Music|author-link=Harry Begian|first=Harry|last=Begian|publisher=University of Michigan|year=1964|ref=none}}
* {{cite news|last=Church|first=Michael|title=Komitas Vardapet, forgotten folk hero|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/apr/21/komitas-vardapet-folk-music-armenia|access-date=26 January 2014|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=21 April 2011|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Karakashian|first=Meline|title=Կոմիտաս՝ Հոգեբանական Վերլուծում Մը [Gomidas: A Psychological Study]|date=2011|publisher=[[Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia]]|location=Antelias, Lebanon|isbn=978-9953021638|language=hy|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|author=Komitas, Vardapet|title=Armenian Sacred and Folk Music|translator=Edward Gulbekian|location=Surrey, England|publisher=Curzon Press|year=1998|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last1=McCollum|first1=Jonathan|last2=Nercessian|first2=Andy|title=Armenian Music: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Discography|year=2004|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=9780810849679|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Melikian|first=Spiridon|author-link=:hy:Սպիրիդոն Մելիքյան|title=Կոմիտասի ստեղծագործությունների անալիզը|trans-title=Analysis of works of Komitas|date=1932|publisher=Melikian Fund|location=Yerevan|language=hy|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Tahmizian|first=Nikoghos|author-link=Nikoghos Tahmizian|year=1994|title=Komitas ev hay Zhoghovoordi Erazhshtakan Zharanguty'yun|trans-title=Komitas and the Musical Legacy of Armenian Notation|language=hy|location=Pasadena, California|publisher=Drazark Press|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Terlemezian|first=Ruben|title=Կոմիտաս վարդապետ: Կեանքը եւ գործունէութիւնը|trans-title=Komitas Vardapet: Life and Activities|date=1924|publisher=Mkhitarian Press|location=Vienna|language=hy|ref=none}}
* {{cite news|last=Toumani|first=Meline|author-link=Meline Toumani|title=Songs Lifted in Praise of an Armenian Hero|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/arts/music/19toum.html|access-date=14 February 2014|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=17 October 2008|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|title=Representative Secular Choral Works of Gomidas: An Analytical Study and Evaluation of His Musical Style|first=Violet|last=Vagramian|publisher=University of Miami|year=1973|ref=none}}
* {{cite web|last=Wolverton|first=Cynthia Kay|title=The Contributions of Armenian Composers to the Clarinet Repertoire|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3299/m2/1/high_res_d/dissertation.pdf|publisher=[[University of North Texas]]|access-date=14 February 2014|date=December 2002|ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Komitas Vardapet}}
* {{IMSLP|work=Category:Komitas Vardapet/Collections|cname=Komitas Vardapet/Collections}}
* [https://anmmedia.am/en/musician/komitas/2 "Komitas Vardapet"], Armenian National Music
* [https://komitasmuseum.am Komitas Museum]
* [http://nonesuch.com/artists/isabel-bayrakdarian Isabel Bayrakdarian: Gomidas Songs on Nonesuch]
* [http://www.armenianmusicarch.com/komitas.html Biography #1]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040629054408/http://www.don-askarian.am/articles/biography_of_komitas.htm Biography #2]
* [https://www.facebook.com/notes/komitas/komitas-and-the-international-music-society/10150102615398476 Biography #3], [[Facebook]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040605050834/http://www.hayastan.com/music/k3.htm Some songs in .rm format]
* [http://www.audite.de/sc.php?cd=92570 36 Komitas-songs] on [[Super Audio CD]] by German independent label [[Audite]]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120425014537/http://www.vicdanfilmleri.org/?see=rixa1 Short movie about Komitas Vartabed]}}
* {{vimeo|80247412|Ամպել ա ("Ambel a", "Clouded Over")}}, performed by the [[Dilijan]] String Quartet
* {{vimeo|80249258|Շողեր ջան ("Shogher jan")}}, performed by the Dilijan String Quartet
* {{vimeo|80251008|Կաքաւիկ ("Kakavik", "Little Partridge")}}, performed by the Dilijan String Quartet

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Komitas}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kütahya]]
[[Category:Armenian composers]]
[[Category:Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Composers of Christian music]]
[[Category:Armenian ethnomusicologists]]
[[Category:Armenian Apostolic Christians]]
[[Category:Armenians from the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Witnesses of the Armenian genocide]]
[[Category:Armenian academics]]
[[Category:Armenian male classical composers]]
[[Category:Gevorgian Seminary alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century male composers]]
[[Category:People with post-traumatic stress disorder]]
[[Category:Burials at the Komitas Pantheon]]