Khachatur of Taron

Who is Khachatur of Taron?

Khachatur of Taron or Khatchatur Taronetsi was a poet and musician who occupies a special place among the writers of Sharakans.

It is known that he was born in Taron and eventually settled in eastern Aarmenia during Zakarid Armenia The region was enjoying relative prosperity and development. In the 1230s he was put in charge of the monastery of Haghartsin, in the province of Dzorapor. From Western Armenia he brought with him to Dzorapor many spiritual chants transcribed in Khaz. Neumes were the musical notes used for the notation of Gregorian chants, among other things, and were called khazes in Armenian. As elsewhere, this system of musical notation was gradually replaced by the system still in use today.