I don’t understand Armenian at all, and I don’t know much about Armenian culture. There may be many errors in this article, and I welcome corrections.

The terms Ashugh (?) and Gusan (?) refer to traditional Armenian musicians: they are poets, singers, and composers.

Ashugh is a bard. They went from city to city, from village to village, improvising in different languages. They are accompanied only by their own musical instrument: perhaps a saz, a tar, or a kamancha. Their creative themes are diverse, the most common of which is love. In fact, the very word ashugh comes from the Arabic word (?ā?iq), which means lover.

Ashugh is not unique to Armenia. It is called ? (a?u?i) in Georgian, a?q in Azerbaijani, and a?k in Turkish. This tradition probably originated in Türkiye and was introduced to Armenia in the 17th century. At that time, Armenia had been divided between Ottoman Turkey and Persia. Armenian ashugh music, then, inevitably takes on Middle Eastern overtones. The three musical instruments mentioned above all originate from Persia or Türkiye.

The Middle Eastern influence is also reflected in the way poems are signed: they often mention their names in the last paragraph of the poem. Therefore, as long as the poem can be sung, people will not forget the author's name. This operation also occurs in other poetic genres in the Middle East.

The most outstanding and legendary of Armenia's many ashughs was Sayat-Nova (?-, 1712 - 1795). He was the leading actor in the Soviet film "The Color of Pomegranates" directed by Parajanov. Sayat-Nova's original name was Harutyun Sayatyan (? ). He was born in Tbilisi, worked as a court musician in the Georgian palace, was exiled for falling in love with Princess Anna, and finally spent the rest of his life in a monastery in Armenia. The musical works he left behind are written in Armenian, Georgian, Azerbaijani and other languages. His title, Sayat-Nova, comes from Persian and means "King of Songs."

?Gusan is less Middle Eastern than ashugh. It's also much older than ashugh. The Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi (? ) wrote about gusan as early as the fifth century. But I didn't understand the meaning of this word. It seems that several different traditional musicians, from court musicians to folk bards, were all called gusan.

The founder of modern gusan art was the nineteenth-century Armenian musician Gusan Sheram (1857-1938). His original name was Grigor Talian ( ), and his stage name Sheram means "silkworm" in Armenian. He was trained as an ashugh from an early age. From here on, the words ashugh and gusan become a bit tangled.

In today's Armenian language, ashugh and gusan are basically synonyms, with gusan being more commonly used than ashugh. Some traditional ashugh, such as Jivani (?, 1846 - 1909), are sometimes called gusan. Some modern gusans, such as Gusan Ashot (?, 1907-1989), also put their names at the end of the lyrics. However, there is one difference between ashugh and gusan: gusan often performs in an orchestra, while ashugh is always alone, with only his beloved saz, tar, or camancha by his side.

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