By Rita Soulahian Kuyumjian

Komitas, the founder of Armenian classical music and the most popular Armenian composer of his time, became a symbol of the Armenian suffering of the 1915 Genocide in Turkey. After surviving a death camp, he developed a sever form of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and spent 20 years in virtual silence in mental asylums, ending his creative work too early.

In this thoughtful biography, Rita Kuyumjian examines three seldom-addressed aspects of the composer's life: his relationship with an Armenain singer, Margaret Babaian; his mental illness; and his relationship with the Armenian Church. The author's gently flowing narrative, based on extensive archival research, brings to life Komitas's mutilated soul.

This book will engulf you in the tempest that once roared in the great Armenian composer's afflicted mind.

241 pages, hard cover

ISBN 1903656109