Rusudan Tsurtsumia - International Research Center For Traditional ...
Rusudan Tsurtsumia - International Research Center For Traditional ... Rusudan Tsurtsumia - International Research Center For Traditional ...
631made. It was from them that scholars notated Georgian folk songs in separate voices.Due to the fact that their polyphonic musical cognition preserved many of suchmultipart “scores”, it was not difficult for them to perform the part of every voiceseparately.“A folklore act” does not make the folklore cognition implement an individualartistic will, as the artist is a co-participant of a socio-communicative act, and isconnected with its other participants not only physically but also ideologically, whichdetermines the unity of their “semantic demands” as well. The internal solidarity ofthis group is an indispensable condition for the creation of an artistically and emotionallycomplete structure. When making music together the musical thinking worksintensively so that when bringing forward “the idea of polyphony” the “basic musicalmodels” that have been worked out for centuries, should not be violated; these modelshelp participants to perceive not only the structural but the aesthetic perfection of“the musical matter” as well (Zemtsovsky, 2005).For such persons the traditional multipart singing determines not only their personaltraits of character, but also the norms of their lives, their way of thinking andthe form of the dialogue between the world and the man. To put it more precisely, theGeorgian (as any other) homo-polyphonicus exists in polyphony.Today polyphony still remains an immanent trait of Georgian musical thinking,though its expression by means of the same immanent forms depends on how well itsbearers are provided with suitable conditions. Unfortunately, such conditions no longerexist. In the present situation they may be created artificially, be it in urban or ruralareas. The modern centers of teaching folk songs provide convincing evidence to theabove. It is in such specific environments that the contemporary carriers of polyphonyhave been nurtured; in spite of their professional education, they have retainedthe traditional logic of polyphonic thinking.In May, 2008, together with prof. S. Arom and P. Vallejo I, personally, witnessedthe process of such polyphonic thinking, when Anzor Erkomaishvili, an illustriousdescendant of the family of traditional singers, demonstrated many different variantsof one and the same song together with members of “the Basiani” ensemble.II. Consumers of PolyphonyOf all the consumers I should like to single out active and passive ones.1) For their part active consumers are divided into several groups.a) First group includes singers of the city-based folk ensembles, who receive“folklore in the ready-made form” (Zemtsovsky, 1989:12), which implies “introductionand strengthening the position of the consumer attitude”.The history of “folklorism” in Georgia (Zemtsovsky, 1978:192; Lapin, 1989:5;Tsurtsumia, 1997:5-6, 2005:113-114) is older than a century. It is also possible todistinguish some of the stages of its development: the first stage started in 1886, withthe concert of Aghniashvili’s “Georgian Choir”, where folk songs were performedfor the public in the “European” academic manner; the second stage started from the
632 Rusudan Tsurtsumia1930s, when the Soviet ideological drive for all kinds of mass events facilitated theformation of large collectives, so traditional ensemble singing style was supersededby chorus singing. The question of preserving the local manner of performance indifferent dialects arose. Even for the leading figures of traditional singing, leadingthese collectives meant adjusting folk songs to stage performance practices (e.g.soloists’ started singing in unison, choir conducting which is alien to oral traditionbecame a norm). The most “non-folklore” was the repertoire policy, when the stateor village choir started performing songs of all the provinces of Georgia. In this waya common folk singer became a receiver of the folklore in “the ready-made” form,i.e. the consumer of another local tradition.The next stage was ushered in by J. Kakhidze’s ensemble “Shvidkatsa” (lit. “SevenMen”) in the 1950s. Large choir collectives were again superseded by smaller ensembles,though in the 1960s and 1970s the ensembles “Gordela” and “Rustavi”firmly established “the academic” style of performing folk songs.The fourth stage, still continuing today, began in the 1980s, when Georgianethnomusicology remembered that the folk song is more than sheet music and forperforming it a specific atmosphere is needed. E. Garaqanidze was the first to replacethe academic manner of singing the public was used to, by way of singing as close tothe peasant manner as possible.The new tendency of “Georgian folklorism” very soon found followers: thewomen’s ensemble “Mzetamze”, the men’s ensembles “Anchiskhati”, “Basiani”,“Lashari” and Garakhanidze’s folklore theatre “Mtiebi”.It also must be natural for the modern pluralistic society that alongside the growthof the number of those who follow this aesthetics there are a great many admirers ofthe academic (“Rustavi”, “Erisioni”) and the so-called mixed-type (“Kartuli Khmebi”,“Universiteti”) ensembles.For the last few years these and other – the so-called “city” ensembles - have beendetermining the trends in folklore activities and creating certain stereotypes of therepertoire and performing style, which also attained a strong position in regionalensembles. Now in every province of Georgia there is an ensemble which performsKartl-Kakhetian drinking songs, Svan round-dance songs, Gurian-Acharan “Naduri”and Megrelian “Odoia”.What gives stimulus to the singers of these numerous ensembles? What doesGeorgian part-singing mean to them?For the masters of folk singing in the first half of the 20 th -century (their excellentrecordings are preserved in our phonographic-archives) and their direct descendants,members of the ensembles of the 60s and 70s – this was an activity stemming fromtheir way of thinking. For those who were younger, it was both a way of thinkinginherited from their ancestors and a feature of cultural originality realized in them. Formany of them it became their profession and job. Therefore for the singers of themodern folklore ensembles Georgian polyphony is a multifunctional phenomenon,which corresponds to their spiritual world, at the same time being the means of their
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631made. It was from them that scholars notated Georgian folk songs in separate voices.Due to the fact that their polyphonic musical cognition preserved many of suchmultipart “scores”, it was not difficult for them to perform the part of every voiceseparately.“A folklore act” does not make the folklore cognition implement an individualartistic will, as the artist is a co-participant of a socio-communicative act, and isconnected with its other participants not only physically but also ideologically, whichdetermines the unity of their “semantic demands” as well. The internal solidarity ofthis group is an indispensable condition for the creation of an artistically and emotionallycomplete structure. When making music together the musical thinking worksintensively so that when bringing forward “the idea of polyphony” the “basic musicalmodels” that have been worked out for centuries, should not be violated; these modelshelp participants to perceive not only the structural but the aesthetic perfection of“the musical matter” as well (Zemtsovsky, 2005).<strong>For</strong> such persons the traditional multipart singing determines not only their personaltraits of character, but also the norms of their lives, their way of thinking andthe form of the dialogue between the world and the man. To put it more precisely, theGeorgian (as any other) homo-polyphonicus exists in polyphony.Today polyphony still remains an immanent trait of Georgian musical thinking,though its expression by means of the same immanent forms depends on how well itsbearers are provided with suitable conditions. Unfortunately, such conditions no longerexist. In the present situation they may be created artificially, be it in urban or ruralareas. The modern centers of teaching folk songs provide convincing evidence to theabove. It is in such specific environments that the contemporary carriers of polyphonyhave been nurtured; in spite of their professional education, they have retainedthe traditional logic of polyphonic thinking.In May, 2008, together with prof. S. Arom and P. Vallejo I, personally, witnessedthe process of such polyphonic thinking, when Anzor Erkomaishvili, an illustriousdescendant of the family of traditional singers, demonstrated many different variantsof one and the same song together with members of “the Basiani” ensemble.II. Consumers of PolyphonyOf all the consumers I should like to single out active and passive ones.1) <strong>For</strong> their part active consumers are divided into several groups.a) First group includes singers of the city-based folk ensembles, who receive“folklore in the ready-made form” (Zemtsovsky, 1989:12), which implies “introductionand strengthening the position of the consumer attitude”.The history of “folklorism” in Georgia (Zemtsovsky, 1978:192; Lapin, 1989:5;<strong>Tsurtsumia</strong>, 1997:5-6, 2005:113-114) is older than a century. It is also possible todistinguish some of the stages of its development: the first stage started in 1886, withthe concert of Aghniashvili’s “Georgian Choir”, where folk songs were performedfor the public in the “European” academic manner; the second stage started from the
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