This subtitle commentary offers an alternative
to the usual audio commentary track.
I want viewers to listen to the film as well as watch it,
since the soundtrack is every bit as extraordinary
as the film's justifiably famous images.
The version presented here
is the restored Armenian release version,
which premiered in Armenia in October 1969.
It was the product
of a protracted censorship battle
and multiple compromises,
but it represents the version signed off for release
by Parajanov and the Armenian filmmaking administration.
It was not widely available outside of Armenia until the 1990s,
when it began screening at festivals and retrospectives.
Before that, most people knew the film
through the version reedited by Sergei Yutkevich.
Yutkevich began his career in the silent era
and became known for his 1956 adaptation of Othello,
as well as a series of films about Lenin.
He directed some strikingly experimental films in the 1960s and 1970s,
so it is not difficult to see why he admired Parajanov's film
and wanted to get it released for Soviet audiences.
Initially Parajanov was upset that Yutkevich had changed the film,
but later in life he acknowledged
that Yutkevich had helped to get the film released.
Still, this Armenian version better reflects
Parajanov's mode of poetic thought.
This disclaimer was added
because Armenian Communist Party officials
objected to the liberties that Parajanov took
with the historical figure of Sayat-Nova,
the famed Armenian ashugh (poet-troubadour).
The authorities in Moscow also complained
that the film had failed in its educational mission.
This melody comes from the instrumental accompaniment for Sayat-Nova's song
"The World is a Window",
arranged by Tigran Mansurian for multiple duduks.
We will hear Sayat-Nova's song more fully later in the film.
"I am he whose life and soul are torment."
This phrase comes from the Russian translation of Sayat-Nova's poem
"I am Only the Servant of Experienced Ashughs".
Poetry: making wine from words.
Christ's miracle of the bread and the fish...
The musical instrument on the left is a kamancha, a type of upright fiddle
played throughout Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus.
Sayat-Nova devoted one of his most famous songs to it.
This reading from Genesis was removed from the Yutkevich version.
He also shortened the sequence slightly and altered the soundtrack.
The shooting location here is the Sanahin Monastery,
where Sayat-Nova may have been educated.
It is located in the mountains of northern Armenia.
Founded in the 10th century, it became a notable centre of learning.
The sequences later in the film depicting Sayat-Nova's life as a monk
were shot at the nearby Haghpat monastery.
Both monasteries are among the finest examples of Armenian architecture.
Here we see Sanahin's book depository.
Parajanov filled the old stone niches with books again for the film.
The frightened young boy's parents cover him with sheets to soothe him.
These chapter titles were not written by Parajanov but by Hrant Matevosyan,
a popular Armenian writer.
Many chapters in the film open with a striking image.
A detail from the scene, a portrait of a character,
or a strange visual effect.
Often, we understand the image's full significance only later,
as the scene unfolds.
Monks are pressing water out of the books that have become wet during the rain storm.
The sounds of water do not match the action on screen.
Rather, sound and image have a metaphorical relationship.
Books hold a special place in Armenian culture.
One of the country's most important institutions is the Matenadaran,
a repository of ancient manuscripts.
Notice how Parajanov arranges the stack of books
so that the gilt edges gleam before the camera.
The elaborately carved stone cross on the right is known as a khachkar.
They are arguably the most distinctive feature of Armenian architecture.
The Sanahin monastery complex has many beautifully carved khachkars.
The young Arutin carries books up to the rooftop to dry out.
These are miniature paintings from medieval Armenian Gospels
preserved at the Matenadaran.
These examples include manuscripts by Taron (1038) and Melkhizedek (1338).
"Yarlo" (Beloved) - a song in the Vaspurakan dialect
sung by the man pictured here, who plays Sayat-Nova's teacher.
From the colours and aromas of this world,
a poet's lyre my childhood did make, and offered it to me.
Sayat-Nova spent his childhood in the Havlabar district of Tbilisi,
which had a large Armenian community.
He came from a family of carpet weavers.
In this episode we see and hear various metaphors for music -
jangling anklets, plucked strings, and silver trays as drums.
Here the sound of tars playing suggests the jangle of the anklets.
As the young boy observes daily life, it sparks his poetic imagination
and he transforms into the poet-musician.
Here he is plucking the strings on a carpet weaving frame
like a stringed instrument,
and we hear a regular click on the soundtrack, like a metronome.
As the yarn drips and falls onto the tray,
it sounds like a drumroll.
This strange image combines the motif of dyeing wool
with the sacrifice of roosters that follow.
Prayer to Saint George in the Georgian language.
This scene is set at the Surp Gevork (Saint George) cathedral in Tbilisi,
the city's main Armenian cathedral.
In fact it was filmed at the Alaverdi cathedral in the eastern Georgia.
Saint George magically appears
with a red cloth flowing down - the blood of his martyrdom.
The Armenian church is one of the oldest branches of Christianity.
In some regions such as rural Armenia,
people continue to practise animal sacrifices.
Here the father is painting a cross with a rooster's blood on the boy's head.
The parents are played by the Georgian actors
Medea Japaridze and Spartak Baghashvili.
Now a woman is praying to Saint George in Armenian.
Parajanov shot additional footage of the boy Arutin
imagining himself riding on the horse with Saint George,
but it wasn't used in the film.
This scene is set in Tbilisi's sulphur baths,
though in fact it was shot elsewhere.
The script identifies this character as King Erekle Il.
He is played by Hovhannes Minasyan, an Armenian painter.
In fact he does resemble portraits of Erekle Il.
Parajanov shot an extended scene of King Erekle in the baths
together with his retinue,
but it was not included in the finished film.
Here and throughout the film Parajanov often uses jump cuts to join shots.
The still lifes in this segment are devoid of people.
The images contrast with the bustling noise on the soundtrack.
A very rare example of nudity in Soviet cinema of the era.
Flowing water as awakening sexual desire...
Sayat-Nova as a young poet is played by the Georgian actress
Sofiko Chiaureli (1937-2008).
She plays multiple roles in the film,
including Sayat-Nova's beloved, Princess Ana.
This strange shot was excised from the Yutkevich version.
A saz, another musical instrument from the region, is spinning in the background.
The poet's palm is tinted with henna,
symbolising his ties to Persian culture.
Here Parajanov compares the body of the kamancha,
Sayat-Nova's favourite instrument,
to a female breast.
The hollowed-out body of a tar...
The mother of pearl echoes the milk splashing on the female breasts
in the previous episode.
We were searching for ourselves in each other...
This image opening the chapter was cut from the Yutkevich version.
In casting Sofiko Chiaureli as both Sayat-Nova and his beloved,
Parajanov took his inspiration from Persian miniature paintings
in which the lovers resemble each other.
It is also an example of the androgyny that appears in Parajanov's later films.
The musical instrument on the soundtrack is a kamancha.
The rustling sound seems connected to Princess Ana's lacemaking.
More kamancha on the soundtrack.
Here, as elsewhere, the flattened perspective and frontal poses
allude to Persian and Armenian miniature painting.
"...has gone beyond measure."
This musical fragment comes from the Sayat-Nova song
"The World is a Window", which we hear later in the film.
Note Tigran Mansurian's audacious sound editing.
The poet pours black earth on a piece of lavash bread.
This motif reappears later in the film.
This pose is echoed by the Poet's Muse at the end of the film.
One of the film's underlying themes
is the region's suffering under Persian occupation.
A white rose that has shed its leaves...
This symbol first appears in the prologue.
It perhaps represents the doomed love
of Sayat-Nova and Princess Ana.
The lace is like a window through which Princess Ana looks at the world.
Another recurring motif - a shell or bowl cupped over the breast.
Ana snags and cuts a thread with her ring...
and the sound cuts off as a result.
This play with rings recalls a similar scene
in the screen tests for Kyiv Frescoes.
Some sources identify this scene as mimes at King Erekle II's court,
commenting on Sayat-Nova and Princess Ana.
The mime is played by Sofiko Chiaureli.
The statue of the Virgin Mary links the colour blue
and the innocence of Sayat-Nova and Princess Ana's love.
The link between Princess Ana and the Virgin Mary will reappear later.
Parajanov associates drinking from a bowl or cup
with sexual desire or spiritual longing throughout the film.
In this healthy and beautiful life only I have been made to suffer.
Why is it so?
Princess Ana poses against Georgia's Khakuli icon triptych,
known for its extraordinary cloisonné enamel work and precious stones.
The original icon dates from the 8th-10th century.
The gold and silver covering was created in the 12th century.
The music is "Shen Khar Venakhi" ("Thou Art a Vineyard").
The text praises the Virgin Mary,
though it does not mention her by name.
It is the most famous of Georgia's remarkable polyphonic hymns.
This episode depicts King Erekle II's court
on a hunt in the countryside.
The location is the Old Shuamta monastery complex
in the Kakheti region of Georgia.
The oldest basilica dates to the 5th century,
making it one of the oldest surviving churches in Georgia.
Another composition inspired by Persian miniatures.
Note King Erekle II's Persian-style crown.
These shots most likely were filmed
in the hills by the Davit Gareja monastery complex in Georgia.
Davit Gareja was one of Parajanov's favourite places in Georgia,
and he returned there to shoot The Legend of the Surami Fortress
and Ashik-Kerib.
Note the attendants shaking liturgical fans in the background.
Similar fans reappear as props later in the film.
They are commonly used at solemn moments during the liturgy
in Eastern Orthodox and Armenian churches.
The beauty and vanity of life in the king's court...
Sayat-Nova and Princess Ana prepare for a horse ride, away from the court.
More liturgical fans...
Parajanov celebrates both male and female beauty.
We were searching for a place of refuge for our love,
but instead, the road led us to the land of the dead.
The Nardaran fortress, just outside of Baku, Azerbaijan.
This scene was shot in Baku's Old City
inside the Shirvanshah's Palace,
another of Parajanov's favourite shooting locations.
In this episode Sayat-Nova and Princess Ana
wander off during the hunt and come upon a crypt,
where they realise the doomed nature of their love.
In the script, the crypt is full of black bat dander
that flies up when it is disturbed.
The same epitaph is read in three different languages -
Azeri Turkic, Armenian and Georgian -
the three languages in which Sayat-Nova composed his poems.
Parajanov loved the sound of languages,
and was just as interested in their texture as what was being said.
How am I to protect my wax-built castles of love
from the devouring heat of your fires?
One of the many legends associated with the film's production -
while shooting this scene Sofiko Chiaureli supposedly had red eyes,
so Parajanov had the lace dyed red to match them.
Earlier cuts of the film called this chapter "The Red Palace".
The first chapter with Princess Ana was called "The Blue Palace".
"You are fire, clothed in fire."
This line comes from Sayat-Nova's poem
"I Have Travelled the World, Even to Ethiopia".
Tigran Mansurian incorporates and transforms the phrase
in a haunting, avant-garde music composition.
This chapter emphasises the colours red, black, white, gold and silver.
These colours are used together in various combinations -
an example of Parajanov's colour dramaturgy,
perhaps inspired by Sergei Eisenstein.
Note that Sofiko Chiaureli is wearing a different costume here.
It is a remnant of a costume concept that was used in some scenes
but was later discarded.
This hissing sound contrasts with the rustling sound
in the first chapter with Sayat-Nova and Princess Ana.
The peacock's cry - a harbinger of death.
Sayat-Nova is withdrawing from Princess Ana and the court.
Llamas are not native to the region, but Parajanov used the creature
as a perverse object of sexual desire in his script and the film.
This scene was shot outside the Alaverdi cathedral,
which also stood in for the Surp Gevork cathedral earlier in the film.
Go then and find your refuge of selfless love.
I will go and search the monasteries one by one.
Here Sayat-Nova sheds his worldly clothing and takes a monk's cassock.
Sayat-Nova's years as a monk were shot primarily at Haghpat,
the actual monastery where Sayat-Nova spent his later years.
As mentioned earlier, it is located close to Sanahin
in the Lori region of northern Armenia.
Here we see the main church, Surb Nshan (Holy Sign).
It was founded in the 10th century,
and other buildings were added through the 13th century.
It is likely that Parajanov had the background covered by black matting
to emphasise the monastery's isolation from the world,
and also because the landscape is distractingly picturesque.
Parajanov mostly avoids showing the landscape around the monastery,
focusing instead on the buildings themselves.
The imaginative sound design emphasises the main theme
of this episode.
Although Sayat-Nova seeks refuge in the monastery,
he is constantly reminded of the sensual world,
and of his past identity.
Vilen Galstyan, who plays Sayat-Nova as a monk,
was a dancer in the Yerevan Opera and Ballet.
This scene was shot at the covered spring adjacent to the Haghpat monastery.
The local villagers still use the spring on a daily basis.
Here monks are washing their feet
before they stomp grapes to make wine.
Here the monks are supposedly cleaning jars buried in the ground
to prepare them for storing wine or oil.
In fact the sequence was shot in the monastery's book depository,
and the jars were used to hide scrolls during invasions.
What is the name?
Harutin!
During this episode, the name Harutyun and its variant Arutin are spoken repeatedly,
reminding Sayat-Nova of his past identity.
The name Harutyun means "resurrection",
so it is also heard as part of the many religious ceremonies
seen in the film.
This shot was filmed in the yard outside the main church.
The altar curtain in the background is an example
of the ecclesiastical and folk handicrafts that Parajanov displays throughout the film.
This scene was shot in the refectory.
Grinding sunflower seeds to make oil.
The quilt that wraps the infant is reused throughout the film,
including to cover King Erekle's nude body.
Parajanov also liked to reuse some of his favourite props
in multiple films.
Harutin!
Sayat-Nova, sneaking a drink of wine.
This shot was shortened in the Yutkevich version.
The bas-relief sculpture above represents Smbat and Gurgen,
the sons of Queen Khosrovanuish, holding up a model of the church.
Ghazaros (Lazarus) I, the Catholicos who passed away in this episode,
was a real historical figure.
However, the date of his death, 1751,
occurred years before Sayat-Nova would have arrived at the monastery.
Sayat-Nova is given the honour of burying the Catholicos.
As a crowd of naïve victims we come from this world to you as an offering...
According to Tigran Mansurian this hymn was performed
by a children's choir at Etchmiadzin.
Sayat-Nova witnesses a miracle as he is digging the grave.
A cloud appears inside the church, followed by a flock of sheep.
This was supposedly inspired by a real-life event.
When Parajanov was visiting a church,
it mysteriously filled with fog and a flock of sheep took refuge inside.
The next few episodes showcase Armenian ecclesiastical art.
We see a series of mitres, crosiers, vestments and other priceless objects
borrowed from Etchmiadzin,
the seat of the Armenian church.
They were transported across the country over rough, mountainous roads
and required careful inventory control during the production.
Parajanov was said to have given away some of these objects to visitors
in a fit of impulsive generosity.
The crew member responsible for the artefacts had to retrieve them afterwards.
The "singing" children do not move their lips.
This is one of the ways that Parajanov and Mansurian play with expectations
on the soundtrack.
This was shot in the vestibule of the main church, Surb Nshan.
This shot was taken from the church's altar.
One has to wonder how the locals felt about bringing sheep inside the church.
To say nothing of digging up the floor...
Brothers of mine in soul and blood,
Heaven has sent upon us to this world, grief, grief, grief...
Brothers of mine in soul and blood,
grief, inconsolable grief has been sent to us from Heaven today.
During this night of the revelation of Saint Sarkis,
our Holy Father Ghazaros has died at Etchmiadzin.
Catholicos of all Armenians...
A wonderful example of Parajanov's playful use of animals in his films.
I asked for a shroud to wrap the dead body.
Instead they showed the frenzied convulsions of their living bodies.
Where can I find selfless love?
This shot was filmed outside the vestibule of the Surb Nshan church.
Sofiko Chiaureli appears again as a nun in the lower right.
According to people present during the shoot,
when she first began to stroke the donkey, it became visibly aroused
and they had to replace it with a female donkey.
Now she is the Nun in White Lace...
In the script, Sayat-Nova travels to the convent at St Hripsime
to obtain a shroud for Father Ghazaros.
This sequence was also shot at Haghpat.
Displaying art objects before the camera's gaze...
Also dragging religious artefacts lightly over the floor...
All in a day's work on a movie shoot.
This shot was excised from the Yutkevich cut.
A male stunt double stands in for the nun in white.
The nuns vie for Sayat-Nova's attention with their shrouds,
but also try to tempt him...
The shroud created by the Nun in White Lace appears earlier in the film.
Sayat-Nova sits on it in Princess Ana's chamber.
This time the temptation is more difficult to resist,
since this nun resembles his great love, Princess Ana.
Another possible joke with obscene implications,
as scholar Levon Abrahamian has pointed out to me.
This shot was cut from the Yutkevich version,
most likely for reasons of pacing.
A reading of the Lord's Prayer on the soundtrack.
It is not difficult to see why the Soviet authorities raised concerns
about the religious atmosphere in the film.
At the same time, the live recordings of church services
ground the film in the living spiritual world of the Armenian people.
Another shot trimmed from the Yutkevich version.
Crosiers passing between the hands of the dead and the living.
The crosier has magically turned into stone.
In the sunny valley of distant years
live my longings, my loves and my childhood.
A right hand reliquary from the Etchmiadzin treasury.
Notice how Parajanov and his editor Marfa Ponomarenko
cut together substantially different takes of Sayat-Nova,
with different bed sheets.
The editing recalls Ivan's dream in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
You're fire, you're clothed in black.
An angel with stag horn wings and a llama grace Sayat-Nova's dream...
A repeated action joined by a jump cut,
one of Parajanov's signature editing devices.
King Erekle II's woolly black hair against black wool...
Ana's golden blonde hair may be a reference to Parajanov's ex-wife.
This autobiographical motif also appears in his script
for the unfilmed project Confession.
A parody of the Nativity, with Princess Ana on the bed of childbirth.
King Erekle Il and Father Ghazaros are on the right.
The other groups of characters were also filmed separately,
but that footage was not included in the finished film.
The outtakes survive.
An example of the frequent swaying or metronome-like movements
of characters in Parajanov's films.
Yutkevich shortened this shot.
On the soundtrack, Mansurian cuts together two songs by Komitas (1869-1935).
"Kele kele" compares the beloved to a quail.
The second song is "Vardan, Soul of My Fatherland".
It is a hymn dedicated to Vardan Mamikonyan,
who died leading the Armenians in defence against the Persians
during the battle of Avarayr in AD 451.
Komitas was a priest, composer and ethnomusicologist
who collected many Armenian folk songs.
He was sent to an Ottoman prison camp in 1915, during the Armenian Genocide.
Although he survived the Genocide,
he suffered severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
and spent most of his remaining years in psychiatric hospitals.
Thus Tigran Mansurian reaches across the centuries on the film's soundtrack.
This combination of zurnas and a drum
is traditionally played at events like weddings and funerals.
Georgian language on the soundtrack -
women are mourning the death of one woman's son.
In the script, a sudden wind tears off the cupola of a church,
and it flies around before crashing.
Parajanov shot more extensive footage of the cupola flying around.
Monks are chiselling khachkars into the basalt wall of the church.
This cupola torn off a church by a strong wind
recalls an event that Parajanov witnessed in his childhood.
Cut from the Yutkevich version.
I saw everything, clear and strangely blunt,
and I understood that life had abandoned me.
An earlier title for this episode was "Spring".
Yutkevich cut some shots in this episode
and moved others toward the end of the film.
Variations on a theme.
Ivan carries a lamb in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors,
as does Osman-Agha in The Legend of the Surami Fortress.
Sayat-Nova as an old man is played by the Georgian actor Giorgi Gegechkori.
He also appeared in Tengiz Abuladze's The Wishing Tree (1977).
The sound of chirping swallows on the soundtrack
is connected to springtime,
but it is also realistically motivated.
There are large flocks of swallows at the Haghpat monastery,
and they make a great deal of noise.
Filmed from Haghpat's bell tower.
Monks sunning themselves with the arrival of spring.
Saghmosavank monastery 13th century, Aragatsotn province.
These shots were cut entirely from the Yutkevich version.
Back to Haghpat...
Yutkevich moved this entire episode much earlier in the film,
in the chapter depicting Sayat-Nova's daily life as a monk.
The village fountain at Haghpat.
Sacrifices are still performed there.
I witnessed a ram being slaughtered several years ago
when I visited the monastery.
In fact, Parajanov's original script opened with a scene of sacrifice.
The chapter was entitled "Miniature in which the peoples of Transcaucasia
"play a lament in memory of Sayat-Nova".
Thus, that sacrifice represented the shared historical suffering of the region.
The sacrificial meat is salted and boiled as a simple stew, then shared with others.
In the script, monks are gossiping behind Sayat-Nova's back
about a new ashugh in Tbilisi who surpasses him.
This spurs Sayat-Nova to leave the monastery for Tbilisi.
Earthy humour, cut from the Yutkevich version.
In the square there were baths and we went there together.
- We had a nice bath. - What are you saying?
Now everybody knows we went to the baths!
Give these chickens to the virgins.
Then we wanted to have some skewers,
but somebody told us about an ashugh.
So we went see.
He was a charlatan.
"Kani vur jan im" - "As long as you're my dear".
Another popular Sayat-Nova song,
transformed by Tigran Mansurian into a multi-layered composition.
Sayat-Nova descends the ladder,
reversing the movement from his childhood at Sanahin.
The footage in this section of the film has always had weaker colour
on the available prints.
The problems may be inherent to the source material.
At the time of the production, Parajanov complained repeatedly
about the poor quality film stock he and Suren Shahbazyan had to work with.
In general, the smaller republic studios such as Armenia's Hayfilm often lacked access
to the same quality colour film stock as the large Russian film studios
such as Mosfilm and Lenfilm.
This angel is carrying his stag horn wings.
Cut from the Yutkevich version.
This sequence is set in the Akhtala monastery (10th century), near Sanahin and Haghpat.
It is known for its beautiful frescos,
but the domed fresco of the Holy Mother and Child is partially damaged.
Sayat-Nova imagines that an invader's arrow
has caused the face of the Holy Mother to fall away.
In these next few shots we see actual frescoes from Akhtala.
Kobayr monastery, 12th century, Lori province, Armenia.
I hear calls of homecoming and hope, but I am weary.
Who has spread all this sorrow upon this old and weary earth?
This sequence was shot at the St Hovhannes monastery near the village of Ardvi,
in the Lori region of Armenia.
It is known for its cemetery full of beautiful khachkars,
used throughout this sequence.
The complex was built from the 8th to the 17th centuries.
The "Angel of Death" wraps up black earth in lavash bread...
a meal of sorrow.
In the script, Sayat-Nova encounters a funeral party
mourning the death of their mother.
The face of the mother resembles the Holy Virgin of Akhtala.
In fact, the deceased mother was played by Medea Japaridze,
who played Sayat-Nova's mother throughout the film.
Her face was also used for the Holy Virgin of Akhtala
in outtakes for the film.
"Ashkhares me panjara e" - "The World is a Window".
One of Sayat-Nova's most famous songs,
also heard in the prologue.
In the script, Sayat-Nova led the funeral party in a different lament.
"My wounds will flow anew with blood!"
"Oh, woe! There is no mother in the sublunary choir!"
Yesterday was better than today.
I'm weary of tomorrows.
The drummer plays his drum silently.
We only hear a voice on the soundtrack.
This is a beautiful example
of how the soundtrack works in counterpoint to the image,
enriching the emotional resonance of the scene.
This stained glass window also appears in the episode of the young Arutin at Sanahin,
framing the shot of his parents throwing rugs over him.
And I am tired of any play.
Sayat-Nova said...
My suffering
has gone beyond measure.
This is the audio fragment that appears in the first episode
depicting Sayat-Nova in Princess Ana's chamber.
Sayat-Nova's poetry has become the voice of the people's sufferings and joys:
The world is a window...
This third utterance is left unfinished...
Yutkevich moved these shots to the very end of the film.
Medea Japaridze again as Sayat-Nova's mother,
bringing the maternal theme full circle.
The off-centre framing of the father's face
greatly enhances the shot's aesthetic impact...
It is the sort of touch that sets Parajanov apart as a master visual stylist.
Halos sitting unused in this incomplete composition.
Now the miniature is complete.
Bidding farewell to the sensual world...
The bread you gave was beautiful, but the soil is more than beautiful.
Let me go and turn to earth. I am weary, I am weary.
The Alaverdi cathedral in Georgia, also seen earlier in the film.
Most of the footage in this final chapter is shot there.
Cut from the Yutkevich version.
Sayat-Nova is believed to have been killed in 1795,
when the Persian army sacked Tbilisi.
This Armenian chant is the service for the repose of the dead,
Gospel of John, 12:24-26.
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He that loveth his life shall lose it;
and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal.
If any man serve me, let him follow me;
and where I am, there shall also my servant be:
if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
(Thanks to Der Antranig Baljian for identifying this passage.)
In the script, this androgynous youth wears a wreath of grape vines
and appears to be associated with Dionysus.
This figure has been transformed,
but the symbolism retains its ancient, pre-Christian roots:
wreath, vines, sacrifice and wine.
In this scene, a mason is laying resonator jars in the wall of a church.
When Sayat-Nova sings, the mason captures his voice in the jars.
Sing!
In this world...
Sing!
In this world...
Die!
The poet repeats a gesture from his childhood -
wiping the cross drawn in blood from his forehead.
This spectacle probably will never be repeated inside the Alaverdi Cathedral.
Sayat-Nova's voice echoes and multiplies,
becoming the voice of the people.
Buried in the walls of the church,
the resonators jars preserve these voices for eternity.
Cut from the Yutkevich version...