Komitas Mix
2000 (33′48″)
Sound collage
For the radio production ‘From Geghard to the Hollywood Bowl , a programme about Armenia produced by Dorotheé Forma and me, I made a collage about the Armenian priest, musicologist, ethnologist and composer Komitas Vardapet (1865-1935), who similar to Bartok had collected, written down, arranged and sung Armenian songs and melodies. Musical basis for this were old sound recordings on which one could hear Komitas himself singing. These songs, restored as much as possible, gave me the idea of comparing and mixing the same titles with contemporary arrangements.
You can hear Komitas singing along with a new version of the same piece. (1st Komitas collage).
During the Stalinist period, many of the songs were blown up, taken out of context and packaged in pompous musical arrangements, the state just wanted to celebrate and show off its glory. An acoustic fragment of the era that also reflects the history of the Armenians. (2nd Komitas collage).
The 3rd Komitas collage is a quiet, sometimes meditative conclusion to the now and the future.
During our trip through Armenia, Dorotheé and I, together with a broadcasting company in Yerevan and its editor Setrak, we broadcasted these three collages. The response of the listeners was overwhelming. On the one hand, many had not heard Komitas before, and on the other, this mix gave an aural insight into the country’s history.
Michael and Dorotheé in radiostudio in Erivan