Komitas in the Ottoman Empire




Ottoman History Podcast show

Summary: The biography and intellectual legacy of Komitas Vardapet, an orphan from Kütahya who became one of the foremost Armenian intellectuals of his day, is firmly embedded within Armenian national lore. Yet, seldom has it been told as an Ottoman story. Drawing on sources in Turkish, Armenian, and English, this mixtape presents the life and works of Komitas through some of the earliest recordings of Armenian music, including his own performances. Part 2 of this historiographical mixtape deals with Komitas Vardapet's ideas regarding nationalist and his relationship with Turkish intellectuals in the context of the tumultuous and hostile years of the First World War.