Simon Broughton talks to pianist Lusine Grigoryan about her new Komitas recording on ECM
Ask someone to name an Armenian composer and the first name on the list is likely to be Aram Khachaturian, famous for his Gayane and Spartacus ballet scores. But for Armenians, their most treasured composer is Komitas (1869-1935), often described as the Armenian Bartók or the father of Armenian music. A new recording of his piano music shows him forging, like Bartók, a pioneering course ahead of his time, but unable to realise it because of historical circumstances.
Little-known abroad, but treasured at home, Komitas was born in what is now Turkey and trained as a priest at the seminary of Etchmiadzin, the centre of the Armenian Church. He collected 3000 Armenian folk tunes, composed liturgical and .....
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