The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Sayat-Nova

(pen name of Aruthin Sayadian). Born 1712 in Tbilisi; died there 1795. Armenian poet.

The son of an artisan, Sayat-Nova became renowned as a gusan (folk singer), composing songs in Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani. For a time, he lived at the court of Irakli II but was exiled as a result of his opposition to the aristocracy. He took vows as a priest and in 1768 retired to the Haghbat Monastery. He was brutally slain when Persian troops invaded Tbilisi.

Sayat-Nova’s poetry is permeated with longing for a life filled with love and harmony. In contrast to medieval religious dogmas, his philosophy of love is optimistic; he treats love as the source of life-giving strength and creative energy. His poetry influenced Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani fine arts.

WORKS

Sayat-Nova [khagher.] Lus gts’ats ashkhatasirut’enov. G. Akhverdyan. Moscow, 1852.
Hayeren, vrats’eren, adrbeshaneren khagheh zhoghovatsu, kazm. Khmb. Ev tsanot’agr. M. Hasrat’yan. Yerevan, 1963.
In Russian translation:
Stikhotvoreniia. Leningrad, 1961.
Sayat-Nova. Pesni: Vperevodakh Valeriia Briusova. Yerevan, 1963.
Lirika [Introductory article by I. Grishashvili.] Moscow, 1963.

REFERENCES

Harut’yunyan, S. Ergi hancharě: Sayat’-Nova. Yerevan, 1963.
Sargsyan, Kh. S. Sayat’-Nova. Yerevan, 1963.

M. M. MKRIAN

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

This song became the "Song of the Year" in Armenia, and is available in Youtube under the name "Kamancha", written to the words of the Armenian ashug Sayat-Nova.

"Back in 2014, the Turkish newspaper Sabah reported that the song "Chirpinirdi Qara Deniz" allegedly refers to an Armenian ashug Sayat-Nova, who wrote most of his works in Azerbaijani," the message said.

Intellectual Property Agency talks on Armenian plagiarism of Azerbaijani song

I'm proud to live in the country that gave birth to Fayrouz and honored to be a descendant of Sayat-Nova (Georgian-born Armenian poet) and Komitas (Armenian priest and musicologist).

An ode to Aznavour, a great artist and human being

The music is either composed by Kradjian or features his arrangements of music by Ravel and the 18th-century Armenian troubadour, Sayat-Nova. exotic Mediterranean fare, steeped in medieval styles, sonorities and colours.

Troubadour & the nightingale

Sayat-Nova worked first as a weaver and later (1750-65) became the court minstrel of Irakli II of Georgia.

Sayat-Nova

roses) dedicated to Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova. The holiday was celebrated in Tbilisi, Georgia online reported.

Ivanishvili described Vardaton as a common holiday for both Georgians and Armenians, deeming Sayat-Nova as a symbol of

Bidzina Ivanishvili congratulates Armenians of Georgia

registered at an apartment of house # 80 in Avetisian Street in Yerevan, but lives in an apartment of house #33 in Sayat-Nova Street.

the declaration submitted to Central Election Commission on January 14, he has two apartments - in Avetisian and Sayat-Nova Streets of

Central Electoral Commission presents Transparency Return of candidates for president, according to which incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan is the most well-off