Hymnographic Indicators of the Armenian Renaissance

ABSTRACT The common viewpoints across perspectives in the history of the study of the Armenian Renaissance are its distinction from the Italian Renaissance, its comparability with Eastern cultural phenomena, and particular musical‐poetic expressions within the medieval Narek School . The characteristics of Armenian Renaissance hymnography encompass the creation of a novel genre system—the art of tał —rooted in ancient cultural layers; the development of free melodic thinking , grounded in medieval mystical and ideological frameworks, etc. Indicators of innovative musical‐poetic thinking inherent in tał include the epic character of its texts, the incorporation of symbols anchored in image theory and Areopagite's mystical theology. The free melodic thinking is marked by an emphasis on the initial prosodic intonations of the texts, the development of diverse melodic structures, improvisational elements, instrumental characteristics and ornaments. Indicators of this style are evident in the medieval Armenian xaz notation. Alongside the evolution of free melodic thinking, the emergence of free musical intonation, following language characteristics, contrasts with the template‐based modal thinking in Armenian hymnography. This led to the creation of symbiotic forms and the elimination of the Ut'jayn System in certain genres.