About a Musical – Theoretical Concept Concerning Avet Terteryan’s Music

Mher Navoyan:
About a Musical – Theoretical Concept Concerning Avet Terteryan’s Music

The concept of “dzayn” (“voice”), in the meaning of “sound”, was one of the core concepts of the theoretical thought in ancient and medieval Armenia. Its philosophical classification comprises all the possible kinds of tone in a sound space. In the same time, its musical contents developed within the frames of these classifications. In the 5-6thnbsp;centuries, the sound of a musical instrument has been considered senseless, according to the classification by the philosopher David Anhaght (the Invincible). Then, in the 11th century, the prominent Armenian theorist Hovhannes Sarkavag already distinguished the musical tone in the rank of meaningful expressions, alongside with human voice.

Together with this understanding of sound, an emotional impact and cognitive process have been considered in medieval Armenia as attributive to the music. These features of the sound are well preserved in A. Terteryan’s art. However, the boundaries of their cognition are extended up to the cosmic forms. The sound as expression of music also amplifies its borders, including almost all the manifestations that the ancient philosophers considered in the Space.

In other words, the understanding of the sound-tone concept in the context of Terteryan’s art can be considered as a new but extremely appropriate expression of Armenian cultural traditions. It is innovative, consonant to the 20th century world music tradition and in the same time concordant to the national traditions.