Music of Georgia
Encyclopedia
Georgia has rich and still vibrant traditional music, which is primarily known as arguably the earliest polyphonic tradition of the Christian world. Situated on the border of Europe and Asia, Georgia is also a home of variety of urban singing styles with the mixture of native polyphony, Middle Eastern monophony and late European harmonic languages. Georgian performers are well represented in World’s leading opera troupes and concert stages.
Eastern Georgian group of musical dialects consist of the two biggest regions of Georgia, Kartli and Kakheti (Garakanidze united them as "Kartli-Kakheti"), several smaller north-east Georgian mountain regions: Khevsuteti, Pshavi, Tusheti, Khevi, Mtiuleti, Gudamakari, and a southern Georgian region Meskheti. Table songs from Kakheti
in eastern Georgia usually feature a long drone
bass with two soloists singing the top two parts. Perhaps the most well-known example of music in Kakhetian style is the patriotic "Chakrulo", which was chosen to accompany the Voyager
spacecraft in 1977.
Western Georgian group of musical dialects consists of the central region of western Georgia, Imereti, three mountainous regions - Svaneti, Racha and Lechkhumi, and three Black Sea coastal regions: Samegrelo, Guria, and Achara. Georgian regional styles of music are sometimes also grouped into mountain and plain groups. Different scholars (Arakishvili, Chkhikvadze, Maisuradze) distinguish musical dialects differently, for example, some do not distinguish "Gudamakari" and "Lechkhumi" as separate dialects, and some consider "Kartli" and Kakheti" to be separate dialects. Two more regions, Saingilo (on the territory of Azerbaijan) and Lazeti (on the territory of Turkey) are sometimes also included in the characteristics of Georgian traditional music.
. It is widely accepted in contemporary musicology, that polyphony in Georgian music predates the introduction of Christianity in Georgia (beginning of the 4th century AD). All regional styles of Georgian music have traditions of vocal a'cappella polyphony, although in the most southern regions (Meskheti and Lazeti) only historical sources provide the information about the presence of vocal polyphony until the 20th century.
Vocal polyphony based on ostinato
formulas and rhythmic drone
are widely distributed in all Georgian regional styles. Apart from these common techniques, there are also other, more complex forms of polyphony: pedal drone polyphony in Eastern Georgia, particularly in Kartli and Kakheti table songs (two highly embelished melodic lines develop rhythmically free on the background of pedal drone), and contrapuntal polyphony in Achara, Imereti, Samegrelo, and particularly in Guria (three and four part polyphony with highly individualized melodic lines in each part and the use of several polyphonic techniques). Western Georgian contrapuntal polyphony features the local variety of the yodel, known as krimanchuli .
Both east and west Georgian polyphony is based on wide use of sharp dissonant harmonies (seconds, fourths, sevenths, ninths). Because of the wide use of the specific chord, consisting of the fourth and a second on top of the fourth (C-F-G), the founder of Georgian ethnomusicology, Dimitri Arakishvili called this chord "Georgian Triad" . Georgian music is also known for colorful modulation
s and unusual key changes.
, a neutral third
, and a slightly stretched fourth
. Likewise, between the fifth and the octave come two evenly-spaced notes, producing a slightly compressed major sixth
and a stretched minor seventh
.
Because of the strong influence of the Western European music, present-day performers of Georgian folk music often employ Western tuning, bringing the seconds, fourths, sixths, and sevenths, and sometimes the thirds as well, closer to the standard equally tempered scale. This process started from the very first professional choir, organized in Georgia in 1886 (so called "Agniahsvili choro"). From the 1980s some ensembles (most notably Georgian ensembles "Mtiebi
" and "Anchiskhati", and American ensemble Kavkasia
) try to re-introduce original non-tempered traditional tuning system. In some regions (most notably in Svaneti) some traditional singers still sing in old, non-tempered tuning system.
Georgian folk songs are often centered around banquet-like feasts called supra, where songs and toasts to God, peace, motherland, long life, love, friendship and other topics are proposed. Traditional feast songs include "Zamtari" (“Winter”) , which is about the transient nature of life and is sung to commemorate ancestors, and great number of "Mravalzhamier" songs. As many traditional activities greatly changed their nature (for example, working process), traditional feast became the harbor for many different genres of music. Work song
s are widespread in all regions. The orovela, for example is a specific solo work song found in eastern Georgia only. Extremely complex three and four part working song naduri is characteristic for western Georgia. There are great number of healing songs, funerary ritual songs, wedding songs, love songs, dance songs, lullabies, traveling songs. Many archaic songs are connected to round dance
s.
Contemporary Georgian stage choirs are generally male, though some female groups also exist; mixed-gender choirs are rare, but also exist. (An example of the latter is the Zedashe ensemble, based in Sighnaghi
, Kakheti
.) At the same time, in Village ensembles mixed participation is more common, and according to Zakaria Paliashvili
, in the most isolated region of Georgia, Upper Svaneti, mixed performance of folk songs were a common practice.
During the Soviet period (1921-1991) folk music was highly praised, the revered folk musicians were rewarded by governmental prizes and were awarded salaries. At the same time some genres were forbidden (particularly Christian church-songs), and the tendency to create huge regional choirs with big groups singing each melodic part damaged the improvisatory nature of Georgian folk music. Also, singing and dancing, usually closely interconnected in rural life, were separated on a concert stage. From the 1950s and the 1960s the new type of ensembles (Shvidkatsa, Gordela) brought back the tradition of smaller ensembles and improvisation.
From the 1970s Georgian folk music was introduced to a wider audience in different countries of the World. Ensembles Rustavi
and later Georgian Voices were particularly active in presenting rich polyphony of various regions of Georgia to western audiences. Georgian Voices performed alongside Billy Joel
, Rustavi Choir was featured on the soundtrack
to Coen Brothers
' film, The Big Lebowski
. During the end of the 1960s and the 1970s an innovative pop-ensemble Orera
featured mixture of traditional polyphony with jazz and other popular musical idioms, becoming arguably the most popular ensemble of Soviet Union in the 1970s . This line of fusion of Georgian folk polyphony with other genres became popular in the 1990s, and the Stuttgart-based ensemble Shin
became the most popular representative of this generation of Georgian musicians.
From the middle of the 1980s the first ensembles of Georgian music, consisting of non-Georgian performers started to appear outside of Georgia (first in USA and Canada, later in other European countries). This process became particularly active after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the iron curtain
disappeared and the travel to the Western countries became for Georgians possible. Today visit of Georgian ensembles and traditional singers in Western countries for performances and workshops is a common practice.
See Performers of Georgian traditional music
, and “Kalmasoba” by Ioane Bagrationi
) discussed Georgian church singing traditions only.
Dimitri Arakishvili
and Zakaria Paliashvili
are considered the most influential figures of study of Georgian folk music. Arakishvili published several standard books and articles on Georgian singing traditions, musical instruments, scales, and is widely considered as “founding father” of Georgian ethnomusicology
.
Grigol Chkhikvadze and Shalva Aslanishvili, born during the last years of the 19th century, received professional education in Russia and became important figures of the study of Georgian traditional music. Historian Ivane Javakhishvili
published an influential work on the history of Georgian music, which is still considered as the most comprehensive work on historical sources on Georgian music. Otar Chijavadze, Valerian Magradze, Kakhi Rosebashvili, Mindia Jordania, Kukuri Chokhonelidze were the first Georgian scholars that were educated in Georgia and contributed to the study of different aspect of Georgian folk music. From the end of the 20th century a new generation of Georgian ethnomusicologists appeared, among them Edisher Garakanidze, Joseph Jordania
, Nato Zumbadze, Nino Tsitsishvili, Tamaz Gabisonia, Nino Makharadze, David Shugliashvili, Maka Khardziani.
Apart from Georgian scholars, non-Georgian musicians and scholars also contributed to the study of Georgian traditional music. Among them were German and Austrian scholars Adolf Dirr, Robert Lach, Georg Schunemann, and Siegfried Nadel, who were able to record and study traditional songs from Georgian war prisoners during the first World War. Siegfried Nadel published a monograph about Georgian music, where he proposed that Georgian polyphony possibly contributed to the emergence of European professional polyphony (this idea was developed by Marius Schneider for several decades). Russian musicians Ipolitov-Ivanov and Klenovsky also contributed to the early study of Georgian folk music. Russian scholar Steshenko-Kuftina contributed a highly revered monograph on Georgian panpipe.
After the fall of Soviet Union
number of Western Scholars started working on Georgian folk music, mostly on different aspects the traditional polyphony. Among them are Susanne Ziegler, Simha Arom
, Polo Vallejo, John Graham, Lauren Ninoshvili.
In the 21st century Georgia has become one of the international centres of the study of the phenomenon of traditional polyphony. In 2003 the International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony
was established (director Rusudan Tsurtsumia). The tradition of biannual conferences and symposia started in Georgia in the 1980s. These symposia are drawing leading experts of traditional polyphony to Georgia.
became the capital of Georgia in the fifth century, and was known as the cultural centre of Caucasus. Tbilisi was on the important routes connecting the East with the West, as well as the North with the South. This strategic position was attracting various ethnic groups, and Tbilisi early became a cosmopolitan city with many languages and many musical styles mixed together. Out of different styles the Middle Eastern monophony with augmented seconds, sensual melodies and instrumental accompaniment were particularly popular. There are not very early historical sources about Georgian urban music, but at least Georgian kings of the 17th and 18th centuries had Middle-Eastern style professional musicians serving at their courts. One of them, great Armenian musician Sayat Nova, served as a court musician of the King Erekle the Second, and was composing songs in Georgian, Armenian, and Azeri languages. Popularity of this style of music was particularly great by the end of the 19th century, when mostly agricultural Georgians were not attracted to the big cities, and businessmen from other countries (particularly Armenians) became the majority of city population. At the same time, polyphonic nature of Georgian music influenced monophonic melodies of the Armenian, Turkish and Iranian origin, and they became polyphonic (usually three-part with the original melody in the middle part).
From the second pat of the 19th century a new popular musical style came to Georgia. This was European classical music, based on parallel thirds and triadic harmonies. Opening of the opera
in 1950 had a profound influence on Georgian urban societies and soon a new style songs became very popular. The new European style of Georgian urban music consists of two genres: (1) a’cappella choral singing in three vocal parts, and (2) solo (or three-part) singing with the accompaniment of musical instrument (usually a guitar, or a piano).
in Georgian church-singing came from folk tradition. Georgian church-music has plenty of parallels with Georgian traditional music, although some elements of folk musical style were never used in church-singing (for example, very long drones of eastern Georgian table songs, of the yodel of Western Georgian counterpoint
. In some regions Christian chants have clear elements of pre-Christian traditions as well. Scholars usually distinguish two styles of Georgian church-singing: eastern Georgian and western Georgian. Both styles are based on similar principles, particularly the “simple mood” of singing, but in some western Georgian church-singing styles (particularly in so-called “Shemokmedi school”) the polyphonic mastery and the use of sharp dissonances reaches its climax. Study of church-singing was strictly forbidden in the Soviet Union, but aft the fall of the Soviet union this became one of the most actively researched spheres of Georgian musicology.
So called "new Georgian professional musical school" started in the second half of the 19th century. It was based on European classical musical language and classical musical forms (opera
, symphony
, etc). The greatest representatives of this school of Georgian composers (Zakaria Paliashvili
, Dimitri Arakishvili
, Niko Sulkhanishvili) merged European musical language with the elements of Georgian traditional harmony and polyphony. Among the composers of the later period were Andria Balanchivadze
(brother of George Balanchine
, Alexi Machavariani, Shalva Mshvelidze, Otar Taktakishvili
. The most prominent contemporary Georgian composer is Antwerp-based Giya Kancheli
.
), gudastviri (bagpipe), sting instruments changi (harp
), chonguri (four stringed unfretted long neck lute
), panduri (three stringed fretted long neck lute), bowed chuniri, known also as chianuri, and variety of drums.
Georgian musical instruments are traditionally overshadowed by the rich vocal traditions of Georgia, and subsequently received much less attention from Georgian (and Western) scholars. Dimitri Arakishvili and particularly Manana Shikaladze contributed to the study of musical instrument in Georgia
Wind instruments: larchemi-soinari, salamuri, pilili, gudastviri and stviri
Brass wind instruments: sankeri
String instruments: panduri, chonguri, chunir, chianuri and changi
Percussion instruments: doli, daira and diplipito
ed Chuniri in its original form. This instrument is considered to be a national instrument of Svaneti
and is thought to have spread in the other regions of Georgia from there. Chuniri has different names in different regions: in Khevsureti, Tusheti (Eastern mountainous parts) its name is Chuniri, and in Racha, Guria (western parts of Georgia) “Chianuri”. Chuniri is used for accompaniment. It is often played in an ensemble with Changi (harp) and Salamuri (flute). Both men and women played it. Accompaniment of solo songs, national heroic poems and dance melodies were performed on it in Svaneti. Chuniri and Changi are often played together in an ensemble when performing polyphonic songs. More than one Chianuri at a time is not used. Chianuri is kept in a warm place. Often, especially in rainy days it was warmed in the sun or near fireplace before using, in order to emit more harmonious sounds. This fact is acknowledged in all regions where the fiddlestick instruments were spread. That is done generally because dampness and wind make a certain affect on the instrument’s resonant body and the leather that covers it. In Svaneti and Racha people even could make a weather forecast according to the sound produced by Chianuri. Weak and unclear sounds were the signs of a rainy weather. The instrument’s side strings i.e. first and third strings are tuned in fourth, but the middle (second) string is tuned in third with the lowest string and second with the top string. It was a tradition to play Chuniri late in the evening the day before a funeral. For instance, one of the relatives (man) of a dead person would sit down in open air by the bonfire and play a sad melody. In his song (sang in a low voice) he would remember the life of the deceased person and the lives of ancestors of the family. Most of the songs performed on Chianuri are connected with sad occasions. There is an expression in Svaneti that “Chuniri is for sorrow”. However, it can be used at parties as well.
The Abkharza is a two-string musical instrument which is played by a bow. It is thought to have spread through Georgia from the region of Abkhazia
. Mostly the Abkharza is used as an accompaniment instrument. There are performed one, two or three part songs and national heroic poems on it. Abkharza is cut out of a whole wood piece and has a shape of a boat. Its overall length is 480mm. its upper board is glued back to the main part. On the end it has two tuners.
Folk music
Folk music of Georgia consists of fifteen regional styles, known in Georgian musicology and ethnomusicology as "musical dialects". According to Edisher Garaqanidze, there are sixteen regional styles in Georgia . These sixteen regions are traditionally grouped into two, eastern and western Georgian groups.Eastern Georgian group of musical dialects consist of the two biggest regions of Georgia, Kartli and Kakheti (Garakanidze united them as "Kartli-Kakheti"), several smaller north-east Georgian mountain regions: Khevsuteti, Pshavi, Tusheti, Khevi, Mtiuleti, Gudamakari, and a southern Georgian region Meskheti. Table songs from Kakheti
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
in eastern Georgia usually feature a long drone
Drone
-Nature:The male sex of social Hymenopterans, such as a* Drone * male wasp* male ant-Chemicals:An abbreviation referring to one of two psychoactive drugs:* Mephedrone* 4-Methoxymethcathinone, commonly known as methedrone-Vehicles:...
bass with two soloists singing the top two parts. Perhaps the most well-known example of music in Kakhetian style is the patriotic "Chakrulo", which was chosen to accompany the Voyager
Voyager program
The Voyager program is a U.S program that launched two unmanned space missions, scientific probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment of the late 1970s...
spacecraft in 1977.
Western Georgian group of musical dialects consists of the central region of western Georgia, Imereti, three mountainous regions - Svaneti, Racha and Lechkhumi, and three Black Sea coastal regions: Samegrelo, Guria, and Achara. Georgian regional styles of music are sometimes also grouped into mountain and plain groups. Different scholars (Arakishvili, Chkhikvadze, Maisuradze) distinguish musical dialects differently, for example, some do not distinguish "Gudamakari" and "Lechkhumi" as separate dialects, and some consider "Kartli" and Kakheti" to be separate dialects. Two more regions, Saingilo (on the territory of Azerbaijan) and Lazeti (on the territory of Turkey) are sometimes also included in the characteristics of Georgian traditional music.
Traditional vocal polyphony
Georgian folk music is predominantly vocal and is widely known for its rich traditions of vocal polyphonyPolyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
. It is widely accepted in contemporary musicology, that polyphony in Georgian music predates the introduction of Christianity in Georgia (beginning of the 4th century AD). All regional styles of Georgian music have traditions of vocal a'cappella polyphony, although in the most southern regions (Meskheti and Lazeti) only historical sources provide the information about the presence of vocal polyphony until the 20th century.
Vocal polyphony based on ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
formulas and rhythmic drone
Drone
-Nature:The male sex of social Hymenopterans, such as a* Drone * male wasp* male ant-Chemicals:An abbreviation referring to one of two psychoactive drugs:* Mephedrone* 4-Methoxymethcathinone, commonly known as methedrone-Vehicles:...
are widely distributed in all Georgian regional styles. Apart from these common techniques, there are also other, more complex forms of polyphony: pedal drone polyphony in Eastern Georgia, particularly in Kartli and Kakheti table songs (two highly embelished melodic lines develop rhythmically free on the background of pedal drone), and contrapuntal polyphony in Achara, Imereti, Samegrelo, and particularly in Guria (three and four part polyphony with highly individualized melodic lines in each part and the use of several polyphonic techniques). Western Georgian contrapuntal polyphony features the local variety of the yodel, known as krimanchuli .
Both east and west Georgian polyphony is based on wide use of sharp dissonant harmonies (seconds, fourths, sevenths, ninths). Because of the wide use of the specific chord, consisting of the fourth and a second on top of the fourth (C-F-G), the founder of Georgian ethnomusicology, Dimitri Arakishvili called this chord "Georgian Triad" . Georgian music is also known for colorful modulation
Modulation
In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a high-frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a modulating signal which typically contains information to be transmitted...
s and unusual key changes.
Scales and tuning system
There are different, sometimes conflicting views on the nature of Georgian scales. The most prevalent is the view expressed by Vladimer Gogotishvili, who suggested to distinguish diatonic scales based on the system of perfect fourths and perfect fifths. System based on perfect fourths is mostly present in Eastern Georgia, but scales based on perfect fifths are spread wider, both in eastern and particularly western Georgia (as well as in Georgian Christian chants). In East Georgian table songs the scale system is based on the combination of the systems of fourth and fifth diatonic scales. In such songs the principle of fourth diatonic scale is working above the pedal drone, and the system of fifth diatonic is working under the pedal drone. Because of the peculiarity of the scale system based on perfect fifths, there is often an augmented octave in Georgian songs and church-songs. Apart from this, as in many traditional musical systems, tuning of Georgian scales is not based on European equally tempered 12-tome tuning system. The fifth is usually perfect, however, the second, third and fourth are different from European intervals, producing a slightly compressed (compared to most European music) major secondMajor second
In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...
, a neutral third
Neutral third
A neutral third is a musical interval wider than a minor third but narrower than a major third . Three distinct intervals may be termed neutral thirds:...
, and a slightly stretched fourth
Fourth
Fourth can refer to:* ¼, one quarter* Fourth, the ordinal number following third* Preceded by the, refers to the United States holiday of Independence Day, celebrated on the fourth of July.-Music:* Perfect fourth in music theory...
. Likewise, between the fifth and the octave come two evenly-spaced notes, producing a slightly compressed major sixth
Major sixth
In classical music from Western culture, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six staff positions , and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two...
and a stretched minor seventh
Minor seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...
.
Because of the strong influence of the Western European music, present-day performers of Georgian folk music often employ Western tuning, bringing the seconds, fourths, sixths, and sevenths, and sometimes the thirds as well, closer to the standard equally tempered scale. This process started from the very first professional choir, organized in Georgia in 1886 (so called "Agniahsvili choro"). From the 1980s some ensembles (most notably Georgian ensembles "Mtiebi
Mtiebi
Mtiebi is a Georgian singing ensemble performing traditional vocal polyphony from Georgia .Ensemble Mtiebi was formed in 1980 by Edisher Garakanidze , noted Georgian ethnomusicologist, scholar and performer...
" and "Anchiskhati", and American ensemble Kavkasia
Kavkasia
Trio Kavkasia is a U.S. trio performing traditional vocal polyphony from Georgia .Trio Kavkasia was formed in 1994 by Alan Gasser, Stuart Gelzer and Carl Linich, three Americans who together have more than sixty years of experience singing the traditional music of Georgia.They sing concerts and...
) try to re-introduce original non-tempered traditional tuning system. In some regions (most notably in Svaneti) some traditional singers still sing in old, non-tempered tuning system.
Social setting
Singing is mostly a community activity in Georgia, and during big celebrations (for example, weddings) all the community is expected to participate in singing. Traditionally, top melodic parts are performed by individual singers, but the bass can have dozens or even hundreds of singers. There are also songs (usually more complex) that require a very small number of performers. Out of them the tradition of "trio" (three singers only) is very popular in western Georgia, particularly in Guria.Georgian folk songs are often centered around banquet-like feasts called supra, where songs and toasts to God, peace, motherland, long life, love, friendship and other topics are proposed. Traditional feast songs include "Zamtari" (“Winter”) , which is about the transient nature of life and is sung to commemorate ancestors, and great number of "Mravalzhamier" songs. As many traditional activities greatly changed their nature (for example, working process), traditional feast became the harbor for many different genres of music. Work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s are widespread in all regions. The orovela, for example is a specific solo work song found in eastern Georgia only. Extremely complex three and four part working song naduri is characteristic for western Georgia. There are great number of healing songs, funerary ritual songs, wedding songs, love songs, dance songs, lullabies, traveling songs. Many archaic songs are connected to round dance
Round dance
There are two distinct dance categories called round dance. The specific dances belonging to the first of these categories are often considered to be ethnic, folk or country dances...
s.
Contemporary Georgian stage choirs are generally male, though some female groups also exist; mixed-gender choirs are rare, but also exist. (An example of the latter is the Zedashe ensemble, based in Sighnaghi
Sighnaghi
Sighnaghi is a town in Georgia's easternmost region of Kakheti and the administrative center of the Sighnaghi District. It is one of the country's smallest towns with a population of 2,146 as of the 2002 census. Sighnaghi's economy is dominated by production of wine,traditional carpets and...
, Kakheti
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
.) At the same time, in Village ensembles mixed participation is more common, and according to Zakaria Paliashvili
Zakaria Paliashvili
thumb|250px|Zakaria Paliashvili portrait by [[Ucha Japaridze]]Zakaria Paliashvili was a composer from the nation of Georgia. He is regarded as a founder of Georgian classical music....
, in the most isolated region of Georgia, Upper Svaneti, mixed performance of folk songs were a common practice.
Performance practices
Georgian vocal polyphony was maintained for centuries and millennia by village singers, mostly local farmers. From the end of the 19th century – beginning of the 20th century great number of gramophone recordings of Georgian village singers were made. Anzor Erkomaishvili was paramount in recovering these recordings and re-issuing them on the series of the CDs. Despite the poor technical quality of the old recordings, they often serve as the model of high mastery of the performance of Georgian traditional songs for contemporary ensembles.During the Soviet period (1921-1991) folk music was highly praised, the revered folk musicians were rewarded by governmental prizes and were awarded salaries. At the same time some genres were forbidden (particularly Christian church-songs), and the tendency to create huge regional choirs with big groups singing each melodic part damaged the improvisatory nature of Georgian folk music. Also, singing and dancing, usually closely interconnected in rural life, were separated on a concert stage. From the 1950s and the 1960s the new type of ensembles (Shvidkatsa, Gordela) brought back the tradition of smaller ensembles and improvisation.
From the 1970s Georgian folk music was introduced to a wider audience in different countries of the World. Ensembles Rustavi
Rustavi
Rustavi is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the province of Kvemo Kartli, situated southeast of the capital Tbilisi. It stands on the Mtkvari River at...
and later Georgian Voices were particularly active in presenting rich polyphony of various regions of Georgia to western audiences. Georgian Voices performed alongside Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, Rustavi Choir was featured on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
' film, The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
. During the end of the 1960s and the 1970s an innovative pop-ensemble Orera
Orera
Orera is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 131 inhabitants....
featured mixture of traditional polyphony with jazz and other popular musical idioms, becoming arguably the most popular ensemble of Soviet Union in the 1970s . This line of fusion of Georgian folk polyphony with other genres became popular in the 1990s, and the Stuttgart-based ensemble Shin
Shin
Shin may refer to:* Shinbone, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates* Shin , the twenty-first letter in many Semitic alphabets* Shin , origin of Shin name, which means "new"...
became the most popular representative of this generation of Georgian musicians.
From the middle of the 1980s the first ensembles of Georgian music, consisting of non-Georgian performers started to appear outside of Georgia (first in USA and Canada, later in other European countries). This process became particularly active after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the iron curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
disappeared and the travel to the Western countries became for Georgians possible. Today visit of Georgian ensembles and traditional singers in Western countries for performances and workshops is a common practice.
See Performers of Georgian traditional music
Performers of Georgian traditional music
See Music of Georgia for an overview of Georgian music.- Rach'a :Onis Raionis Momgheraeta Sakhelkho Gundi - directed by Shalva Japaridze- Georgian non-regional ensembles :...
Study of Georgian folk music
The 1861 article by Jambakur-Orbeliani and 1864 article by Machabeli are considered as the first published works where some aspect of Georgian folk music were discussed. Earlier works (like the 18th century “dictionary of Georgian language” by Sulkhan-Saba OrbelianiSulkhan-Saba Orbeliani
Prince Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani was a Georgian prince, writer, monk and convert to Roman Catholicism.- Biography :...
, and “Kalmasoba” by Ioane Bagrationi
Ioane Bagrationi
Ioane Bagrationi was a Georgian prince , writer and encyclopedist....
) discussed Georgian church singing traditions only.
Dimitri Arakishvili
Dimitri Arakishvili
Dimitri Arakishvili was a Georgian composer and ethnomusicologist considered as one of the founding fathers of modern Georgian music...
and Zakaria Paliashvili
Zakaria Paliashvili
thumb|250px|Zakaria Paliashvili portrait by [[Ucha Japaridze]]Zakaria Paliashvili was a composer from the nation of Georgia. He is regarded as a founder of Georgian classical music....
are considered the most influential figures of study of Georgian folk music. Arakishvili published several standard books and articles on Georgian singing traditions, musical instruments, scales, and is widely considered as “founding father” of Georgian ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
.
Grigol Chkhikvadze and Shalva Aslanishvili, born during the last years of the 19th century, received professional education in Russia and became important figures of the study of Georgian traditional music. Historian Ivane Javakhishvili
Ivane Javakhishvili
Ivane Javakhishvili was a Georgian historian whose voluminous works heavily influenced the modern scholarship of the history and culture of Georgia...
published an influential work on the history of Georgian music, which is still considered as the most comprehensive work on historical sources on Georgian music. Otar Chijavadze, Valerian Magradze, Kakhi Rosebashvili, Mindia Jordania, Kukuri Chokhonelidze were the first Georgian scholars that were educated in Georgia and contributed to the study of different aspect of Georgian folk music. From the end of the 20th century a new generation of Georgian ethnomusicologists appeared, among them Edisher Garakanidze, Joseph Jordania
Joseph Jordania
Joseph Jordania is an Australian-Georgian ethnomusicologist and evolutionary musicologist. In some early publications his name was spelled as Zhordania...
, Nato Zumbadze, Nino Tsitsishvili, Tamaz Gabisonia, Nino Makharadze, David Shugliashvili, Maka Khardziani.
Apart from Georgian scholars, non-Georgian musicians and scholars also contributed to the study of Georgian traditional music. Among them were German and Austrian scholars Adolf Dirr, Robert Lach, Georg Schunemann, and Siegfried Nadel, who were able to record and study traditional songs from Georgian war prisoners during the first World War. Siegfried Nadel published a monograph about Georgian music, where he proposed that Georgian polyphony possibly contributed to the emergence of European professional polyphony (this idea was developed by Marius Schneider for several decades). Russian musicians Ipolitov-Ivanov and Klenovsky also contributed to the early study of Georgian folk music. Russian scholar Steshenko-Kuftina contributed a highly revered monograph on Georgian panpipe.
After the fall of Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
number of Western Scholars started working on Georgian folk music, mostly on different aspects the traditional polyphony. Among them are Susanne Ziegler, Simha Arom
Simha Arom
Simha Arom is a French-Israeli ethnomusicologist who is recognized as an expert on the music of central Africa, especially that of Central African Republic. His books include African Polyphony and Polyrhythm: Musical Structure and Methodology ISBN 0-521-24160-X. He also made some historical field...
, Polo Vallejo, John Graham, Lauren Ninoshvili.
In the 21st century Georgia has become one of the international centres of the study of the phenomenon of traditional polyphony. In 2003 the International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony
International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony
The International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony is an academic organization focused on the study of the phenomenon of traditional vocal polyphony. It is a part of Tbilisi Vano Sarajishvili State Conservatory...
was established (director Rusudan Tsurtsumia). The tradition of biannual conferences and symposia started in Georgia in the 1980s. These symposia are drawing leading experts of traditional polyphony to Georgia.
Urban music
Urban music must have started as soon as the first cities appeared in Georgia. TbilisiTbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
became the capital of Georgia in the fifth century, and was known as the cultural centre of Caucasus. Tbilisi was on the important routes connecting the East with the West, as well as the North with the South. This strategic position was attracting various ethnic groups, and Tbilisi early became a cosmopolitan city with many languages and many musical styles mixed together. Out of different styles the Middle Eastern monophony with augmented seconds, sensual melodies and instrumental accompaniment were particularly popular. There are not very early historical sources about Georgian urban music, but at least Georgian kings of the 17th and 18th centuries had Middle-Eastern style professional musicians serving at their courts. One of them, great Armenian musician Sayat Nova, served as a court musician of the King Erekle the Second, and was composing songs in Georgian, Armenian, and Azeri languages. Popularity of this style of music was particularly great by the end of the 19th century, when mostly agricultural Georgians were not attracted to the big cities, and businessmen from other countries (particularly Armenians) became the majority of city population. At the same time, polyphonic nature of Georgian music influenced monophonic melodies of the Armenian, Turkish and Iranian origin, and they became polyphonic (usually three-part with the original melody in the middle part).
From the second pat of the 19th century a new popular musical style came to Georgia. This was European classical music, based on parallel thirds and triadic harmonies. Opening of the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in 1950 had a profound influence on Georgian urban societies and soon a new style songs became very popular. The new European style of Georgian urban music consists of two genres: (1) a’cappella choral singing in three vocal parts, and (2) solo (or three-part) singing with the accompaniment of musical instrument (usually a guitar, or a piano).
professional music
Professional music in Georgia existed at least from the 7-8th centuries, when Georgian composers started translating Greek orthodox Christian chants, adding harmonies to the monophonic melodies, and also were creating original chants. It is widely accepted, that polyphonyPolyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
in Georgian church-singing came from folk tradition. Georgian church-music has plenty of parallels with Georgian traditional music, although some elements of folk musical style were never used in church-singing (for example, very long drones of eastern Georgian table songs, of the yodel of Western Georgian counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
. In some regions Christian chants have clear elements of pre-Christian traditions as well. Scholars usually distinguish two styles of Georgian church-singing: eastern Georgian and western Georgian. Both styles are based on similar principles, particularly the “simple mood” of singing, but in some western Georgian church-singing styles (particularly in so-called “Shemokmedi school”) the polyphonic mastery and the use of sharp dissonances reaches its climax. Study of church-singing was strictly forbidden in the Soviet Union, but aft the fall of the Soviet union this became one of the most actively researched spheres of Georgian musicology.
So called "new Georgian professional musical school" started in the second half of the 19th century. It was based on European classical musical language and classical musical forms (opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, etc). The greatest representatives of this school of Georgian composers (Zakaria Paliashvili
Zakaria Paliashvili
thumb|250px|Zakaria Paliashvili portrait by [[Ucha Japaridze]]Zakaria Paliashvili was a composer from the nation of Georgia. He is regarded as a founder of Georgian classical music....
, Dimitri Arakishvili
Dimitri Arakishvili
Dimitri Arakishvili was a Georgian composer and ethnomusicologist considered as one of the founding fathers of modern Georgian music...
, Niko Sulkhanishvili) merged European musical language with the elements of Georgian traditional harmony and polyphony. Among the composers of the later period were Andria Balanchivadze
Andria Balanchivadze
Andria Balanachivadze was a Georgian composer. He was the son of Meliton Balanchivadze, the composer, and brother of George Balanchine, the famous Georgian-American choreographer....
(brother of George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
, Alexi Machavariani, Shalva Mshvelidze, Otar Taktakishvili
Otar Taktakishvili
Otar Taktakishvili was a Georgian composer, teacher, conductor, and writer of music.Otar Taktakishvili graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatory, while still been a student he composed the official anthem of the Georgian SSR. By 1949 he became a Professor of the Tbilisi Conservatory and the ...
. The most prominent contemporary Georgian composer is Antwerp-based Giya Kancheli
Giya Kancheli
Giya Kancheli , born 10 August 1935, in Tbilisi, is a Georgian composer resident in Belgium.Since 1991, Kancheli has lived in Western Europe: first in Berlin, and since 1995 in Antwerp, where he is composer-in-residence for the Royal Flemish Philharmonic....
.
Traditional musical instruments
Rich variety of musical instruments are known from Georgia. Among the most popular instruments are: blown instruments soinari, known in Samegrelo as larchemi (Georgian panpipe), stviri (fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
), gudastviri (bagpipe), sting instruments changi (harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
), chonguri (four stringed unfretted long neck lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
), panduri (three stringed fretted long neck lute), bowed chuniri, known also as chianuri, and variety of drums.
Georgian musical instruments are traditionally overshadowed by the rich vocal traditions of Georgia, and subsequently received much less attention from Georgian (and Western) scholars. Dimitri Arakishvili and particularly Manana Shikaladze contributed to the study of musical instrument in Georgia
Brass wind instruments: sankeri
String instruments: panduri, chonguri, chunir, chianuri and changi
Percussion instruments: doli, daira and diplipito
- Chuniri
- Chiboni
- ChangiÇengThe çeng is a Turkish harp. It was a popular Ottoman instrument until the last quarter of the 17th century.The word comes from the Persian word "chang," which means "harp" ....
- PanduriPanduraThe pandura is an ancient Greek string instrument from the Mediterranean basin.It is derived from pandur, a Sumerian term for long-necked lutes...
- ChonguriChonguriThe chonguri is a plucked string musical instrument from Georgia. It has 4 nylon strings.-Choghur:The choghur dates back to the 12th to 16th centuries, the period between the gopuz and the saz. In the Caucasus, Iran and Anatolia, and in Sufi traditions, darvishes and ashugs used an instrument...
- Salamuri
- Duduki
- Doli
- DairaDayerehA dayereh is a medium-sized frame drum with jingles, used to accompany both popular and classical music in Iran , the Balkans, and many Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan...
- TsintsilaTsintsilaTsintsila |Georgian]] percussion instrument that represents a couple of oval plates with handholds.-History:During archeological excavations in a sepulchre near the territory of castle a couple of plates were found with other relics. The sepulchre is thought to date back to the 4th century A.D...
- GudastviriTulum (bagpipe)The tulum is a musical instrument, a form of bagpipe from Turkey. It is droneless with two parallel chanters, usually played by the Laz, Hamsheni people, and Pontic Greeks...
- ZurnaZurnaThe zurna , is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul in Anatolian folk music. The name is from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy, composed of sūr “banquet, feast” and nāy “reed, pipe”...
Chuniri-chianuri
Only the mountain inhabitants of Georgia preserve the bowBow
Bow may refer to:* Bow , an archery weapon that uses elasticity to propel arrows* Bowing , to lower the head or the upper body* Bow , the foremost point of the hull of a ship or boat...
ed Chuniri in its original form. This instrument is considered to be a national instrument of Svaneti
Svaneti
Svaneti is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svans, a geographic subgroup of the Georgians.- Geography :...
and is thought to have spread in the other regions of Georgia from there. Chuniri has different names in different regions: in Khevsureti, Tusheti (Eastern mountainous parts) its name is Chuniri, and in Racha, Guria (western parts of Georgia) “Chianuri”. Chuniri is used for accompaniment. It is often played in an ensemble with Changi (harp) and Salamuri (flute). Both men and women played it. Accompaniment of solo songs, national heroic poems and dance melodies were performed on it in Svaneti. Chuniri and Changi are often played together in an ensemble when performing polyphonic songs. More than one Chianuri at a time is not used. Chianuri is kept in a warm place. Often, especially in rainy days it was warmed in the sun or near fireplace before using, in order to emit more harmonious sounds. This fact is acknowledged in all regions where the fiddlestick instruments were spread. That is done generally because dampness and wind make a certain affect on the instrument’s resonant body and the leather that covers it. In Svaneti and Racha people even could make a weather forecast according to the sound produced by Chianuri. Weak and unclear sounds were the signs of a rainy weather. The instrument’s side strings i.e. first and third strings are tuned in fourth, but the middle (second) string is tuned in third with the lowest string and second with the top string. It was a tradition to play Chuniri late in the evening the day before a funeral. For instance, one of the relatives (man) of a dead person would sit down in open air by the bonfire and play a sad melody. In his song (sang in a low voice) he would remember the life of the deceased person and the lives of ancestors of the family. Most of the songs performed on Chianuri are connected with sad occasions. There is an expression in Svaneti that “Chuniri is for sorrow”. However, it can be used at parties as well.
The Abkharza is a two-string musical instrument which is played by a bow. It is thought to have spread through Georgia from the region of Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
. Mostly the Abkharza is used as an accompaniment instrument. There are performed one, two or three part songs and national heroic poems on it. Abkharza is cut out of a whole wood piece and has a shape of a boat. Its overall length is 480mm. its upper board is glued back to the main part. On the end it has two tuners.
See also
- IavnanaIavnanaIavnana is a genre of Georgian folk song, traditionally intended as a lullaby, but historically sung also as healing songs for the sick children...
- PolyphonyPolyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
- Choral singing
- CaucasusCaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
- SulikoSulikoSuliko is a Georgian female and male name meaning 'soul'. It is also the title of a love poem written in 1895 by Akaki Tsereteli, which became widely known throughout the Soviet Union as a song performed with music composed by Varenka Tsereteli. In that form it was often performed on radio during...
- International Research Centre for Traditional PolyphonyInternational Research Centre for Traditional PolyphonyThe International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony is an academic organization focused on the study of the phenomenon of traditional vocal polyphony. It is a part of Tbilisi Vano Sarajishvili State Conservatory...
- Tbilisi State ConservatoryTbilisi State ConservatoryTbilisi State Conservatoire is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi.-History:The Tbilisi Conservatoire was founded on 1 May 1917. It was formally recognised by the Russian Musical Society as a conservatoire later that year. A rival conservatoire was also founded in...
- Rustavi Ensemble
External links
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Polyphonic drinking songs and choral music. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Svaneti polyphony and Guria yodeling. Accessed November 25, 2010. Audio clips: Traditional music of Georgia. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- Shavi Princi - Ar Damelodo
- www.kavkasia.com
- www.alazani.ge
- www.GeorgiaCaucasus.com
- Georgian Music Collection