The indigenous music
of Georgia is extremely old; the distinctive
modes seems to have been in place over
3000 years ago and the earliest surviving
written sources, which date from the
11th century, give testimony
to the remarkable development of vocal
polyphony. Recent research has suggested
that the Georgian tonal system predates
the Greek by 1000 years; some researchers
go further and suggest that the Georgian
polyphonic tradition is the origin of
the European polyphonic tradition.
And that is the fascinating
thing about the music of the region;
unlike neighbouring countries, the music
of Georgia is polyphonic in a way which
is rare in European folk traditions.
This disc, which explores
the various Georgian regional traditions,
was produced on a shoe string by a German
team travelling the country in an old
VW bus. Using an emergency generator
and a small selection of sound engineering
equipment they recorded in venues as
diverse as an old monastery, an abandoned
cinema and a former cultural centre.
It is a testament to the recording engineers’
skill that whilst listening to these
two fascinating discs I was not particularly
aware of the difficult conditions under
which they were made.
The bulk of the material
is sung by the Antchis Chati Choir.
Formed in 1987 by a group of enthusiastic
ethnomusicologists, the twelve members
of the group come from all walks of
life. They double as a church choir
so the group is familiar with the riches
of both the Georgian secular and sacred
traditions. The whole of the first disc
and half the second disc are devoted
to secular music from various regions
of Georgia and the latter half of the
second disc explores the region’s ancient
sacred music.
The choir makes a rich,
vibrant sound, the vocalism is very
throaty and the individual voices are
very free but at no time do you feel
that the group is out of control or
that, conversely, they are being over-cautious
in the way of classical musicians singing
in folk traditions. The result is something
which never needs apologise for its
sound-world and which convinces as an
accurate and admirable representation
of the local traditions.
The nearest comparison
that I can come up with, in terms of
the sound-world of the discs, is in
the work of Marcel Peres and his group
Ensemble Organum where they experiment
with performing early Roman chant in
styles which mix in folk tradition and
middle-Eastern vocal traditions. The
result, as far as I am concerned, is
completely entrancing.
Not all of the disc
is taken by the Antchis Chati Choir.
One group of secular songs is performed
by three elderly men from Gurien. The
presence of these men (Karlo Urushade,
Guri Sikharulidze and Tristan Sikharulidze)
is not explained in the liner notes
but we must assume that they are real
performers in the folk tradition, and
their contribution is vivid indeed.
Other guests on the disc are the Tsinandali
Choir, a seven man group, whose contributions
are equally welcome.
The sacred section
of the disc starts with the bells of
the Motsama Monastery and the whole
disc concludes with an evocative farewell
to Georgia.
Sebastian Pank writes
amusingly in the liner notes of his
trials and tribulations whilst doing
these recordings. We must be grateful
to him as they reveal a fascinatingly
rich and varied alternative polyphonic
vocal tradition. That this tradition
still flourishes is a testament to the
groups performing on this disc. This
is a set which should be of interest
to many musicians, but it is much more
than that. The performances have an
immediacy and vibrancy which is completely
entrancing and the discs have accompanied
us on the car stereo in many of our
own journeys.
Robert Hugill
Antchis Chati Choir/Malchaz Erkvanidze 
for
details
