Sahakdukht
Sahakdukht
Sahakdukht and her brother
Life
Extremely little is known about the life of Sahakdukht,
"1200 years ago the Armenian took great interest in women's education. It may come as a surprise when I say that Stephan Siunetsi's sister, Sahakdukht, established a music school in eighth-century Armenia; today such schools, which are the mark of a civilized nation, do not exist."[9]
— Sibil, 1909
Works
External audio | |
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A brief introduction and reading of "Srbuhi Mariam" by Sargis Najaryan | |
"Srbuhi Mariam" |
Sahakdukht is recognized as the first known woman composer and poet of Armenia,[10] followed by her slightly later contemporary Khosrovidukht.[1] She purportedly wrote many now-lost Christian religious compositions, including ktsurds (antiphons and anthems), šarakans and other melodies.[4] The poetry for such genres included both rhyme and fixed verse.[1] Sources say that such works were often written for the Virgin Mary, making them roughly equivalent to the contemporaneous Byzantine tradition of theotokions.[5]
The only composition by Sahakdukht to survive is the šarakan "Srbuhi Mariam" ("Saint Mary"), an homage to Mary.[11] It is a nine-stanza acrostic verse, where the first letter of each quatrain spells out 'Sahakdukht'.[4] This piece is aligned stylistically with šarakans of the 'Metzatsustse' (Magnificat) type.[4] In addition, "Srbuhi Mariam"—and presumably much of Sahakdukht's lost oeuvre—is modeled after the Byzantine kanon like the works of her brother.[10] This may be explained by the fact that Stepanos lived in Constantinople for many years, where Germanus I, an important proponent of early kanons, was active.[10] See Hovanessian & Margossian (1978, pp. 45–47) for an English translation of "Srbuhi Mariam". Some scholars, including Ghevont Alishan, Malachia Ormanian and Grigor Hakobian attribute Khosrovidukht's šarakan "Zarmanali e Ints" to Sahakdukht instead.[12]
Like the sole surviving work of Khosrovidukht, Sahakdukht's šarakan has not garnered a position in the official collection šarakans.[7] It is not found among the apocryphal šarakans either.[7] Nevertheless, Sahakdukht's šarakans are thought to have had a considerable impact on subsequent generations; ethnomusicologist Şahan Arzruni notes that they "helped to shape the development of the genre during subsequent centuries".[5] In addition, according to historian Agop Jack Hacikyan, phrases appearing in "Srbuhi Mariam" such as "incorruptible temple," "ray of divine light," and "tree of life" have since become standard and popular in Armenian religious poetry and music.[4]
"Srbuhi Mariam" ("Սրբուհի՜ Մարիամ")
Սըրբուհի՛ Մարիամ, |
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d Hovanessian & Margossian 1978, p. 43.
- ^ a b c d e f Arzruni 1995, p. 400.
- ^ Rowe 2003, p. 17.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hacikyan 2000, p. 162.
- ^ a b c d e Arzruni 1995, p. 401.
- ^ Hovanessian & Margossian 1978, p. 45.
- ^ a b c Hacikyan 2000, p. 163.
- ^ Rowe 2003, pp. 84–85.
- ^ Rowe 2003, p. 85.
- ^ a b c Jeffery 2001, p. 181.
- ^ Arzruni 1995, pp. 400–401.
- ^ Hacikyan 2000, p. 161.
- ^ From the Armenian WikiSource
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-333-51598-3.
- ISBN 978-0-8143-3023-4.
- ISBN 978-0-231-04565-0.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-800-6.
- Rowe, Victoria (2003). A History of Armenian Women's Writing, 1880-1922. Newcastle: ISBN 978-1-904303-23-7.
Further reading
- doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.2021310. (subscription or UK public library membership required) This article is essentially a reprint of Arzruni 1995, pp. 400–401
- OCLC 20294768.
- OCLC 900239628.