The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony ...

Ornamented Structural Formulas in the Easter Heirmoses
477
It is these three types of ornamentation that occur in the samples of the ornamented mode of Gelati School
which I have touched upon.
A number of stereotypical structural units (with deviations from the chant mode) stand out sharply in the
Easter heirmoses, which prove that the ornamentations of this type are characteristic not only of troparia but of
the heirmos genre as well. <strong>The</strong>refore in spite of the changeable nature and improvisation of the ornamentation,
the emergence of their stereotypical formulas seems to have been a characteristic feature of Georgian
ecclesiastic hymns of various genres.
Notes
1 (from the editors) An alternative view on this subject see in Shugliashvili paper in 2004 symposium materials “Some Peculiarities
of Chanting Traditions from Eastern Georgia”
2 As it is usually known, in the twelfth-thirteenth centuries there was the so-called Kondakion chanting of the melismatic-virtuoso
style, which was written down in Kondakions by means of special two-line Kodrakion notation. <strong>The</strong> primary source of Russian
Kondakions is the Byzantine Psalticon – a collection of melismatic-virtuoso hymns, i.e. in Byzantium the virtuoso-melismatic style
of chanting was in popular use beginning from earlier centuries, it was so widespread that at this period special collections of the
hymns were even created about the. tenth-eleventh centuries (Oniani, 2009:3)
3 As D. Shughliashvili notes, the diversity of Georgian chanting schools is based on the individual character of ornamentation. It is
clear that it concerns both the top, canonic voice and the types of voice harmonizing (Shughliashvili, 2006: 11)
4 <strong>The</strong> stereotype character of the improvised variants of the troparia of the ornamented mode and of movement formulas are dealt
with in M. Sukhiashvili’s dissertation (Sukhiashvili, 2006: 83)
References
Koridze, Pilimon. (1904). Aghdgomis sagalobelni. Partitura No.4 (Easter Chants. Scores No.4). Tfilisi: Mstsrafl-mbechdavi, ar.
kutateladze (in Georgian)
Oniani, Ekaterine. (2009). Kartuli galobis mravalkhmianobis sakitkhisatvis (On the Problem of Polyphony of Georgian Chant).
Handwriten. Private archive
Shughliashvili, Davit. (2006). Kartuli saeklesio galoba. Shermokmedis skola. Artem erkomaishvilis chanatserebis mikhedvit
(Georgian Sacred Chant. Shemokmedi School. According to Artem Erkomaishvili’s records). Tbilisi (in Georgian)
Sukhiashvili, Magda. (2006). Galobis kanonikis dziritadi aspektebi dzvel kartul sasuliero musikashi (Basic aspects of the Canonics
of Chant in Old Georgian Sacred Music). Dissertation presented for the academic degree of PhD in Musicology. Tbilisi State
Conservatoire (in Georgian)
Manuscripts Sources
Kereselidze, Ekvtime. Manuscript of handwritten scores. National Centre of Manuscripts. Fund Q692; book No.25:62-132
Translated by Liana Gabechava