The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony ...

Ancientness and Traditionality in Georgian Traditional Vocal Music
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behavior or action (such as Georgian vocal music), a tradition can not be a tradition. Guilbault connects
this idea with Williams’ statements regarding “selective tradition” as “an intentionally selective version of a
shaping past and pre-shaped present, which is then powerfully operative in the process of social and cultural
definition and identification” (Guilbault, 2007: 6). In other words, the attitudes of Georgian ethnomusicologists
surrounding their polyphonic vocal music illustrate the affective power of history on their perceptions of
Georgian traditional vocal music. Traditionality, then, describes a flexible practice of belief that asserts a direct
link to the past and to one’s ancestors. Where ancientness suggests a distance to an object, practice, or people,
traditionality suggests a closeness or proximity.
<strong>The</strong> application of traditionality to the Georgian case does not suggest a lack of authenticity. It is meant
as an acknowledgement of potential influences and obstacles that people anywhere would experience as they
practicing any tradition or ritual, musical or otherwise.
<strong>The</strong> work of preservation of Georgian traditional music has been a difficult task. Established in 1860,
the “Chant Reviving Committee” worked to preserve Georgian traditional vocal music for the younger
generations through musical education and transcription of songs (Shughliashvili, 2002: 433). From 1880 to
the 1910’s, researchers and composers such as Filimon Koridze, Polievktos and Vasili Karbelashvili, Razhden
Khunadaze, and Ekvtime Kereselidze transcribed approximately five thousand Georgian traditional songs
into Western notation (Shughliashvili, 2002: 432). Most likely, there were choices made about which songs
and kilos to teach, transcribe, and record, and access to some musical practices were probably limited for a
variety of reasons. Initially, it would seem a safe assumption to conclude that some of the original character
of the collected songs has been lost due to standardization though the use of Western staff notation and
deterioration of written documents and audio recordings. While specific points of Georgian scholars differ, as
would be expected nearly anywhere, the surviving traditional vocal music is accepted by all Georgians I have
encountered so far as authentic, with all the heavy baggage that accompanies that term.
With that point in mind, there is the acknowledgment in Georgian ethnomusicological literature and
in my interviews that some elements of their vocal music tradition has been lost or changed to be various
degrees. One such example of this commonly encountered loss is the fact that remaining descriptions of the
Svetitskhoveli school of sacred chant are few and tenuous (Shughliashvili, 2002: 432-433). This school of
chant has a strong connection to Georgia’s historical identity. <strong>The</strong> eleventh century Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is
located a former capital city of Mtskheta, one of the oldest cities in Georgia dating back to at least 1000 B.C.
Mtskheta was the honored burial site of Georgian kings and the place associated with Georgia’s adoption of
Christianity. To many Georgians, it is the center of Georgian Orthodoxy. As such, the mysteries around the
Svetitskhoveli school of chant are particularly intriguing.
Influences stemming from the Soviet period upon Georgian vocal music – such as the drastic increase
in ensemble size, removal of improvisational harmony, adoption of Western tonal modes, changing of texts
to better fit the Soviet ideology, moving the folk songs into the public performance context, and frequent
suppression of sacred chants – most likely longer in some form, even as the recovery efforts continue. In
discussing this influence and the rise of the “urban folksong”, Tamar Meskhi notes: “Despite the contemporary
re-evaluation of the Soviet ‘modern folklore’ it is impossible to exaggerate its role in twentieth century cultural
life… Side by side with the people’s traditional culture of ancient origin appeared a folklore of new formation,
inspired by the ideology of the times. A circle of song samples with a new meaning and different musical
language was established, visibly reflecting the pulsation of socialism, the world outlook changes of the
important historical period, and the interests and principles cherishing it” (Meskhi, 2002: 499).