A Brief Introduction to Georgian Singing
Georgian folk music is a living yet ancient tradition. Most songs, both sacred and secular, are sung unaccompanied in three-part harmony, symbolically associated with the Trinity. Unlike western music, the Georgian scale is based on the fifth rather than the octave. There are considerable regional differences in singing styles, and some songs, particularly from the Caucasus Mountains in the north of the country, are known to date from pre-Christian times.
Singing is an essential component of Georgia's legendary hospitality and comprises a major part of the Georgian feast or supra. A supra can last for several hours and will include long and eloquent toasts, each followed by an appropriate song. There is considerable interest in Georgian singing among the young people of the country and all the major choirs support youth choirs of a high standard, whose members keep the tradition going.
Background Information
Audio, Video and Scores
- Meshveliani : resources including Soviet-era films of a Svanetian choir, with dances and scenic shots for a bonus - hugely evocative.
- Village Harmony : this US based site provides some music samples and, in their background to various song books, much detail about Georgian singing.
- Khobi Fund : lots of Mingrelian resources, including recordings, video and songbooks. The songbooks are only available via the Georgian or Russian pages, but have transliterated lyrics and an English introduction. The music and video files are compressed using RAR format, which can be extracted using a variety of free software, for example 7-zip.
- David Mchedlishvili's site : traditional folk songs by Rustavi, Mtiebi and others.
- Georgian Music Scores : prepared by choir member Derek Wilcox.
- Best Georgian Music : samples of Georgian folk and sacred music. These samples may no longer be accessible.
Choirs in Georgia
