HISTORICAL DATA ON THE MUSIC OF ARMENIANS IN TRANSYVANIA

Abstract

This paper aims to present the Armenian music - especially the Armenian liturgical music - from Transylvania, based on the scant research conducted so far and also starting from the research carried out by the author, based on some recently discovered musical materials. The troubled history of the Armenian people largely defines the way the arts developed, and moreover how the vast and rich culture that characterizes the Armenian people spread throughout the world. The article briefly presents the historical process of migration and the settling of Armenians on the Transylvanian lands, the founding of cities, and the construction of Armenian churches, followed by the assimilation of this large ethnic group into the Hungarian population, the gradual transformation of religious worship, and the almost forced transition of Armenians to the Catholic rite. The paper also presents the local traditions and the influence of the Hungarian people, with whom the Armenians came into contact, the reciprocal receptive attitude, the cultural interpenetration that contributed to the change of the musical art. References are made to folk music, and afterward a large part of the article is dedicated to information related to Armenian religious music in Transylvania. The article - as mentioned above - presents only briefly this little researched topic, a quite intriguing one, while the in-depth study of the issue and the analysis of the manuscripts discovered will be carried out as part of the doctoral studies of the author.