Traditional Vocal Polyphony of the Georgian Music

Georgian traditional music is mainly vocal and is widely known for its rich cultures of vocal polyphony. It is widely accepted in recent musicology that polyphony in Georgian music precedes the overview of Christianity in Georgia (beginning of the 4^th century AD). All regional patterns of Georgian music have traditions of vocal a cappella polyphony, though in the most southern regions (Meskheti and Lazeti) only historical sources provide the information about the presence of vocal polyphony before the 20^th century.

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Vocal polyphony based on ostinato formulas and musical drone are widely distributed in all Georgian regional styles. Apart from these common techniques, there are also other, more difficult ways of polyphony; pedal drone polyphony in Eastern Georgia, particularly in Kartli and Kakheti table songs (two highly embellished melodic lines establish rhythmically free on the background of pedal drone), and contrapuntal polyphony in Achara, Samegrelo, Imereti and particularly in Guria (three and four part polyphony with highly individualized melodic lines in each part and the use of many polyphonic methods). Western Georgian contrapuntal polyphony features the local variety of the yodel, called Krimanchuli.

Both east and the west Georgian polyphony are based on wide use of sharp dissonant harmonies (seconds, fourths, sevenths, ninths). Because of the wide use of the specific string comprising of the fourth and a second on top of the fourth (C-F-G), the initiator of Georgian ethnomusicology, Dimitri Arakishvili called this string the Georgian Triad. Georgian music is also known for the colourful modulations and usual key changes.

Georgian polyphony singing was among the first on the list of Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity in the year 2001. Georgian polyphonic singing was relisted on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in the year 2008.

Scales and Tuning System:

There are different, sometimes conflicting views on the nature of Georgian scales. The most predominant is the view expressed by Vladimer Gogotishvili, who suggested separating diatonic scales based on a system of perfect fourths and those based on a system of perfect fifths. A system based on perfect fourths is mostly present in Eastern Georgia, but scales based on perfect fifths are spread wider, both in eastern and particularly western Georgia, as well as Georgian Christian chants. In the east Georgian table songs the scale system is based on a mixture of the systems of fourths and fifths diatonic scales. In such songs the principle of the fourth diatonic scale is working above the pedal drone, and the system of the fifth diatonic is working under the pedal drone. Because of the peculiarity of the scale system based on perfect fifths, there is often an augmented octave in Georgian songs and church-songs. As in several folk musicals systems, tuning of Georgian scales is not based on the European equally tempered 12-tone tuning system. The fifth is usually perfect, but the second, third and the fourth are different from the European intervals, making a slightly compressed (compared to most European music) major second, a neutral third, and a slightly stretched fourth. Likewise, between the fifth, the octave come to evenly-spaced notes, producing a slightly compressed major sixth and a stretched minor seventh.

Because of the strong influence of the Western European music, the present-day performers of Georgian traditional music often employ western tuning, bringing the seconds, fourths, sixths, and the sevenths, and sometimes the thirds as well as, closer to the standard equally tempered scale. This process began from the very first professional choir, organized in Georgian in the year 1886 9so known as Angiahsvili choro). From the 1980s some groups (most notably the Georgian groups Mtiebi and Anchiskhtai and the American ensemble Kavkasia) have tried to re-introduce the main non-tempered folk tuning system. In some regions (most notably in Svaneti) some traditional singers still sing in the old, non-tempered tuning system.