The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony ...

From <strong>The</strong> Editors
Gelashvili (Georgia) discussed the traditional music of the Kists (Chechens and Ingushes) living in the Pankisi
Gorge of Georgia. Maka Khardziani (Georgia) discussed the transformation of three-part songs into one-part
songs in Georgian music. Her research was based on material from the mountain regions of western Georgia
(Racha and Svaneti). Manana Shilakadze (Georgia), who sadly passed away while the symposium was in
preparation, had a poster presentation on typological parallels between Georgian and Adyghe polyphony.
<strong>The</strong> theme Regional Styles and Musical Language of Traditional Polyphony as usual, was represented
by a large group of papers at the symposium. Žanna Pärtlas (Estonia) presented the peculiarities of the
processes of change in the scales of the Setu polyphonic songs from South-East Estonia. Tamaz Gabisonia
(Georgia) discussed the importance of the starting voice in Georgian traditional polyphony. Gerald Florian
Messner (Australia) had a presentation on Corinthian polyphony as a part vocal polyphonic tradition in the
south-eastern Alpine Adriatic region. Davit Shughliashvili (Georgia) presented a paper dedicated to Georgian
polyphonic songs based on nonsense syllables. Jelena Jovanović (Serbia) talked about the new hybrid forms
of polyphony in central Serbia, formed as a mixture of older and more recent vocal styles in the Jasenica
region. Continuing their research into the harmonic language of Georgian traditional polyphony, Simha
Arom (France) and Polo Vallejo (Spain) presented a paper dedicated to the syntax of chord progressions in
Megrelian songs. Andrea Kuzmich (Canada) talked about the transnational ancestry of Georgian polyphony,
represented in the traditional narratives. Daiva Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė from Lithuania presented a comparative
analysis of Lithuanian and Ainu (north Japan) vocal polyphony. Mikhail Lobanov (Russia) had a presentation
on communal singing of the Vepses and some archaic phenomena in peasants’ multipart singing in Baltic
countries. Anna Piotrowska (Poland) had a presentation on the tradition of improvisation in Gypsy music. Nino
Razmadze (Georgia) discussed the dynamics of the evolution of a single Georgian polyphonic song (based on
the example of the Gurian My Little Love).
<strong>The</strong> topic Polyphony in Sacred Music united several papers, displayed as board presentations, and
chiefly dedicated to Georgian church music. Ekaterine Oniani (Georgia) discussed some issues of the
Polyphony of Georgian Chant. Jeremy Foutz (USA) presented his understanding of the notion of “archaic”
and “traditional” in Georgian music and culture. Svimon (Jiki) Jangulashvili (Georgia) presented materials
for the topic on musical texture in so-called decorated chant. John A. Graham (USA) had a presentation on
Ivliane Nikoladze, the editor of the Georgian heirmoi. Ekaterine Diasamidze (Georgia) discussed the early
forms of polyphony in Russian chant, Baia Zhuzhunadze (Georgia) discussed the new tendencies in Georgian
chanting tradition in the nineteenth-Century, and finally Nino Naneishvili (Georgia) presented materials on the
ornamented structural formulae in the Easter Heirmoses.
Two papers were presented on the topic of Historical Recordings of Traditional Music, both from
Austria. Gerda Lechleitner (Austria) and Nona Lomidze (Austria, Georgia) presented a joint paper on the
interpretation of multipart music on early sound documents, and Franz Föedermayr (Austria) discussed three
masterpieces of Megrelian song, recorded by Robert Lach during the first World War.
Another group of papers was dedicated to the topic Study of Traditional Polyphony by the Application
of Digital Media. This group consisted of papers from Japan and Austria, arguably the leaders of scholarly
research in this sphere. A group of Japanese scholars, consisting of Morimoto Masako, Honda Manabu,
Nishina Emi, Kawai Norie and Oohashi Tsutomu presented their findings on the study on a quantitative
analysis of the fluctuation structure of Georgian traditional polyphony. Norie Kawai, Morimoto Masako,
Honda Manabu, Onodera Eiko, Nishina Emi and Oohashi Tsutomu presented the results of a study of the
tempered structure of Georgian traditional polyphony. Nona Lomidze (Austria, Georgia) presented the new
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