KOMITAS' CHORAL ARRANGEMENTS

The central achievement of Komitas' creative work is polyphony. Being the most essential means of the creative development and enrichment of one-voice folk material, Komitas' polyphonic work brightly solves a complicated and top priority task of combining the advanced experience of contemporary world music art with the originality, image content and expressive forms of Armenian folk art.
The originality and integration of Komitas' polyphony lies in his method of making polyphonic versions of songs. He never harmonizes them and the chordal type of vocal writing is only scarcely found in his choral treatments. Komitas chooses a way of creative, "intonational" development of the melody, proceeding from the interior system of its expressive means. Even in the works where the accompaniment is transparent and laconic, with a limited number of sounds, the texture is deliberately polyphonic, and each voice has an image and a specific role within the whole texture.
There are different variants of the same song, treated both for a chorus and for a solo voice with piano accompaniment, e.g. "Garun a", "Tsirani tsar", "Keler-tsoler", "Alagiaz", "Khnki tsar", "Hoy, Nazan"; this proves the depth of Komitas' creative activity in this field. For all of this, Komitas not only tries to avoid repeating textural peculiarities, but also every time he makes a new modal-harmonic composition. He felt very precisely the expressive potentialities of each musical instrument or voice and used them in a masterful manner. In spite of it all, the choral variants turn out to be more strained, complicated and wealthy when compared to the solo variants.
The "horovels", labor songs, are of particular interest in Komitas' choral treatments. In fact, while treating the original folk music, Komitas aims to create a folk chorus praising labor. One of the most significant samples is "Erkragortsi yerg" ("Ploughman's Song"), based on the famous song "Gutanerg of Lori", which Komitas studied and analyzed in his ethnographic papers. It can be considered one of his richest and most advanced choral compositions, filled with the delicacy and skill so inherent in his work. The means used are of the utmost modesty: a four-voice chorus and soloists. Though restricting his means of performance, Komitas nonetheless managed to write an extensive choral poem. "Kali yerg" ("Reaper's song"), another immense praise of labor, can be ranked on the same level as "Erkragortsi yerg". This innovative work is many-themed, dynamic in its development and generally unique. It unites and freshly develops four "horovels", written down and studied by Komitas. "Kali yerg" represents a four-voice chorus (only in a few bars do the parts of the tenors and basses grow, thus giving the impression of a six-voice chorus) with a substantial part for the solo tenor and a few phrases for the solo soprano. The score of "Kali yerg" is imbued with reserved, sparing traits; there are no extravagances or inventions. Using modest means and the simplest "frame", Komitas precisely exposes the expressive wealth of the chosen folk tune and discovers concise, honest ways of writing its polyphonic development. As innovative works, "Kali yerg" and "Erkragortsi yerg" reveal fresh horizons for Armenian professional music.
Komitas has a variety of choral pieces based on dancing and ritual songs hitherto widely spread in peasants' daily lives. They are mainly wedding and dance songs, which were included in the collection published by the Komitas Commission in Paris in 1937. According to the researcher A. Shaverdian, in this collection, Komitas tried to reproduce in a consecutive order various episodes of the colorful ceremony of an Armenian peasant wedding. Among them are the songs "Pesin govk" ("Praise of the Groom"), "Pesin arduzard" ("The Groom's Clothes"), "Katak" ("Joke"), and "Makhtank" ("Wish"), among others. For example, the song "Pesin arduzard" shows the bridegroom's garb in a humorous way, whereas "Makhtank" is an episode depicting people's blessings, their best wishes and congratulations. "Pesin govk" is a witty praise of the bridegroom, his skills and merits.
One of the brightest and largest choral canvases in that genre is "Aravotun bari lus" ("Good Morning"). It is an extended scene with the bridegroom, bride and chorus. Its text includes blessings to the couple, a festive procession and a wedding ceremony; meanwhile its refrain praises the bride called "lorik" ("quail").
Komitas very adeptly uses the expressive range of a four-voice chorus and soloists, creating a bright, contrasted composition with the effective configuration of tender solo fragments and stormy, energetic choral parts in massed revelry. "Shogher djan", "Khumar", "Gna, gna", and several others belong to the same type of choral treatment. In these comic songs, Komitas tries to evoke the sounds of folk instruments in order to give the listener an authentic sense of folk dances.
Researchers rank "Sona yar", a mighty round dance-march, very highly.
There are 8 choral and 2 solo parts - soprano and tenor. The chorus is based on a most simple melody: a dancing song. The impressive power of this work lies in Komitas' mastery of polyphony through which he encircles the folk theme with 7 independent voices - sometimes melodic and tender, sometimes sharp and rhythmic, in imitation of folk instruments. "Sona yar" is also a song of dialogue, telling the story of a girl and a young man during Vardavar, a traditional Armenian holiday. This treatment by Komitas features a sparkling dramatization of the ceremony.