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Georgian Music
Georgian Traditional Folk Songs
Anchiskhati Church Choir
Anchiskhati Folksongs Introduction, by John Graham
Searching for the heart of Georgian folk music, one is bound to find oneself seated at a long table laden with food and drink, engaged in a ritual meal of singing and exuberant toasts. In modern times, folk music seems to be connected hand in hand with the act of hosting, and as a guest with ‘high musical taste,’ expect the best in homemade eggplant cooked with walnut sauce, fresh grilled lamb, and local wine while you inquire into the nature of the Georgian folksong.
On one such occasion, after a respectful toast to the highland ancestors - an eloquent elegy in memory of their struggle for independence, commitment to family and clan, and enduring traditions of song and religion - a man across the table from me stood and with deliberate drama, growled the beginning of a stanza from Rustaveli’s twelfth century epic poem, ‘Knight in the Panther’s Skin.’ His posture became tall and transforming into the hero narrator, his rising voice hurled the colors of medieval banners and sea battled ships into our company for all to experience.
As hearty applause and joking followed this performance, another voice cut through the din like a bell, sounding the beginning of a three part polyphonic song called Me Rustveli, again lyrics from the epic poem. A second voice quickly entered, then a third, and as the voices twined their way about one another, rising playfully into the canopy of grape leaves hanging from the balcony arbor and back into the living room where children played, we were removed from a present time and seated side by side with Georgians of old singing these very songs.
Georgian folksongs are not merely words and notes, but reflect a culture that has delivered people through centuries of struggle. They are a living connection to those who have passed before, to the land, and to an understanding of their unique history. The hardships of endless invasion instilled in the people of Georgia a tremendous joy for living expressed in their music and captured by the phrase ‘Mravalzhamier,’ which translates as ‘Long life, Many years’, but means in essence, ‘Peace, prosperity, and live in glory, my dearest friends.’
Throughout the centuries, Georgia was invaded by Assyrians, Turks, Persians, Mongols, North Caucasian Highlanders, Ottoman Turks, and Persians again. A brief era of peace occurred from the 11th to 13th century when Georgia was unified for the first time, and enjoyed a brief period of strength in the region. During this ‘Golden Era’ arts and the Church flourished, and seemingly overnight, cathedrals were erected in every province, great works of epic poetry were written and recited, and Georgians prospered from increasing trade as caravans passed through from India to Europe on the Silk Road.
Mongols destroyed this prosperity in the early thirteenth century and the Persian empire held eastern Georgia in servility for another five hundred years. During this time, many rebellions were brutally supressed. In 1620, Shah Abbas, the Persian Emperor, killed an estimated two thirds of the Eastern Georgian population, including five thousand monks in one day at the cave monastery of Davit Garegi. Perhaps as a result of the constant threat of invasion, elements of Georgian culture remained strong. While cathedrals and castles crumbled, Georgians clung to their religious and cultural traditions, passing their sacred and folk songs to the next generation as heirlooms of survival.
A new era began in the early nineteenth century as Tsarist Russians moved into Georgia and brought western culture and music with them. The advent of professional chorus’ for the Opera and Theater lead to choral arangements of Georgian folk songs for the stage. Professional choirs condensed village work songs that might have lasted several hours or longer into palatable three minute arrangements. At the same time, a vibrant musical culture in the city centers spawned a genre of ‘urban songs.’ This movement combined folk themes and three voiced harmony with western chord structures and instrumentation. While the concertization process brought many folksongs back to life, it was also an indicator that the village work songs and the folk tradition at large was no longer relevant to city life.
As political events churned in the Caucases in the early part of the Twentieth Century, culminating in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1921, folk songs were used by various groups as symbols of national sentiment. Composers were encouraged to add fourth voice parts and arrange songs for mixed choirs of one or two hundred singers in the western style. These arrangements were very popular in Russia as Georgian big choruses won ‘folk competitions’ every year, but the village folk tradition was in decline. Fewer and fewer singers maintained or passed on their traditional songs.
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in discovering the traditional Georgian folksong. Ethnomusicologists have sought out and recorded those village singers who harbored their tradition. Large collections of gramophone recordings from the beginning of the 20th century also hold secrets to rediscover village singing.
This book is a selection of songs collected by members of the Anchiskhati Choir. The ensemble follows in the footsteps of pioneer choir Mtiebi, directed by the late Edisher Garakanidze, who brought together village singers in the 1970s to sing in their natural, undirected, untrained manner. The Anchiskhati ensemble was born out of the inspiration of a group of Conservatory students, who gathered under the leadership of Malkhaz Erqvanidze to begin learning traditional folksongs and medieval Georgian chanting. When they began in 1987, they practiced chants in secret at the secluded Betania Monastery for fear of KGB suspicion. These singers developed their unique blend of brusque folksy sound with highly tuned professional voices, mimicking old folk recordings and village singers.
In 1988 the ensemble was given a blessing by Patriarch Ilia II to sing in the sixth century Anchiskhati basilica in Tbilisi. Since that time they have produced nearly a dozen recordings of folk and sacred music, six publications of sacred chant, and taught many students and beginning choirs.
In choosing songs for this publication, the editors sought to represent the many genres of folksongs as well as the various regional styles within Georgia. Traditionally, songs accompanied all aspects of life including working in the fields, celebrating birth, the passing of loved ones, festivals, songs to accompany travel and war, historical ballads, children’s lullabies, and feasting table songs. These genres of songs exist all over Georgia yet many regions are inaccessible to one another and over the centuries developed independently. For example, while the Black Sea coastal areas feature fast paced polyphony with techniques such as yodeling, the singing in the steppe country of eastern Georgia, where vineyards and long vistas prevail, features a strong drone bass playfully harmonized by two soloists singing long, interweaving melismatic phrases.
Several songs come from Guria, a region of lush hills on the Black Sea coast known for highly complex polyphony and a form of specialized yodeling called ‘krimanchuli’ (Adila Ali-Pasha). The songs of neighboring Mingrelia, a subtropical coastal plain thought to have been visited by Jason and the Argonauts from Greek Mythology, are in the local language and reflect an agrarian culture several millenia old (Arti Vardi). The Caucasus mountain valleys have long been inhabited by fierce warrior tribes who have maintained an ancient bardic tradition of ballad singing as well as myriad genres of folksongs for all walks of daily life. These songs, notably from the Svanetian region, are often simple in harmony, serious in mood, and long in verses (Mirangula). Inland, a five thousand year old vineyard culture has thrived in the arid climate and rich soils of Kakheti and Kartli, where folksongs are stately and long in phrase (Shemodzakhili).
As Georgian music becomes more accessible to performers and scholars in the west, interest is bound to increase. It is important that performers stay true to the tradition to the best of their ability, using the recordings as guides. Most importantly, as the Georgians will attest to, sing from the heart. Enjoy this wonderful collection of folk songs from the Anchiskhati Choir repertoire.