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Polyphonic Lullabies of Kakheti

Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:26:00 GMT

Polyphonic Lullabies of Kakheti
Buy Now: $320.00

While lullabies – with their intimate relationship between a mother and her child – are a universal musical genre, the polyphonic singing of lullabies by choirs is very rare. In Georgia (South Caucasus), men’s choirs have been singing lullabies on stage since at least the end of the 19th century, as the movement of national liberation from the Russian empire favored the affirmation of the Georgian cultural uniqueness. Polyphonic cradlesongs performed by men’s, women’s or mixed choirs in the different regional styles have become a new musical genre added to the repertoire of traditional national folklore. Individual as well as choral lullabies are called Nana.

The practice of related polyphonic Nana songs, also called Iav-Nana (name derived from the refrain “Violet-Nana”), is much older and rooted in pre-Christian beliefs. Some of these songs were performed at family rituals when a child had an infectious disease such as measles, which were believed to be brought by celestial spirits. Women performed other ritual Nana songs at sacred places such as a particular village church, or “pagan” mountain sanctuaries, to request from deities health and prosperity for their folk. This film shows for the first time these different kinds of Nana songs in their traditional context and at rehearsals of local choirs of the Kakheti province.

"It is my pleasure to let you know that your new film was demonstrated with great success in Tbilisi at the 9th Symposium of the International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony! The Recital Hall of Tbilisi's Conservatoire was crowded and enthusiastic, there was applause and congratulations. The Georgians were impressed, they underlined the richness of the materials and information and your approach to them. As my personal opinion, I always appreciate in your films a subtle sense of the music as well as the time and context in which this music exists."
– Rusudan Tsurtsumia, International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony, Tbilisi, 2018

"Polyphonic Lullabies of Kakheti is a film on a universal song genre and its unusual polyphonic realization. But it is not only about a genre. It is about human creativity and social cohesion, about powerful individuals and the beauty of traditional expressive culture. The film is the most impressive audio-visual document on traditional music of Georgia I have ever seen."
– Ulrich Morgenstern, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, 2019

"From the very beginning this fascinating film leads you into the depth of Georgian singing traditions, fills you with sincere emotions and furnishes significant information. You feel as if you were a participant in centuries-old rituals and at the same time, viewing them from the present-day position."
– Gia Bagashvili, Caucasus University, Tbilisi, 2019

SELECTED SCREENINGS

Special Mention, Best Music Documentary, The XXXIII PärnuInternational Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival (Estonia), 2019

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Music of Georgia (Caucasus) Series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Music of Georgia (Caucasus) Series
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Traditional music of Georgia (the Caucasus) is now internationally renowned and appreciated for the richness and beauty of its polyphonies. While concerts and studio recordings have revealed the diversity of local musical traditions, the films in this series show, for the first time, the performance of three different music styles in the context of rituals and learning.

The Feast-Day of Tamar and Lashari(73 minutes, 1998)

Pilgrims meet at two mountain sanctuaries to celebrate the deified Queen Tamar and King Lashari with prayers, sacrifices and ritual songs. The participants of the feast also enjoy secular music and the company of friends.

Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus (21 minutes, 2007)

During a burial, women and men separately perform individual laments punctuated by collective wailing, while a men's small choir perform polyphonic songs composed of musically stylized cries of grief.

with co-director Nino Tsitsishvili:

Duduki of Tbilisi: Eldar Shoshitashvili and His Students (21 minutes, 2012)

The duduki is a double-reed wind instrument of the oboe family. During a rehearsal, the teacher and his students perform traditional repertoires of Middle Eastern origin as well as styles derived from rural polyphonic singing, and westernized songs developed by Georgian musicians since the 20th century.

“These three films unified in one series show the distinct layers of contemporary Georgian culture with a remarkable precision and attention to real contexts. The creator of these documentaries is both a wonderful filmmaker and a great producer, but he always remains a musician, creating a sense of being in tune with the performers.”
— Rusudan Tsurtsumia, Head of the International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony, Tbilisi, Georgia

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

First Video Prize, International Festival of Ethnographic Films, Nuoro, Italy, 1998

Prize for Outstanding Documentation, Pärnu International Documentary Film Festival, Estonia, 2000

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Duduki of Tbilisi

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:05:00 GMT

Duduki of Tbilisi
Buy Now: $295.00

While the rural polyphonic songs of Georgia (Caucasus) are internationally appreciated and have become a national symbol, the urban instrumental music of the eastern part of the country is less well known. The Georgian duduki, a double-reed wind instrument of the oboe family, is known by different names in neighboring countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey.

In the 19th century Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, had a large multi-lingual population composed mainly of Georgians, Armenians, Azeri and Kurds, who practised and listened to duduki music. Traditional duduki music, performed by a soloist, a drone player, and a doli drummer who is also a singer, is derived from Middle Eastern styles and repertoires. Georgian musicians in the 20th century developed westernized local styles recalling the famous three-part polyphonic rural singing. At a rehearsal for an upcoming concert, master musician Eldar Shoshitashvili and his students perform traditional oriental repertoires as well as modern westernized songs.

Films in the Music of Georgia (Caucasus) series

The Feast-Day of Tamar and Lashari

Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus

Duduki of Tbilisi: Eldar Shoshitashvili and His Students

About the Music of Georgia (Caucasus) series

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Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus
Buy Now: $295.00

The villages of the Svaneti province are located in north-western Georgia, in the valleys that lie between the mountains of the Caucasus. The Svans represent about 1% of the Georgian population. Their language differs from the Georgian language, and their religion is a syncretism of Orthodox Christian faith and pre-Christian beliefs.

The polyphony of the Svans appears as one of the major styles of the Georgian vocal art. It consists of two soloist voices and the bass of the choir. In their funeral rituals, the Svans combine three vocal expressions which are rarely found nowadays in other parts of the world: women's individual laments punctuated by collective wails like in Ancient Greece, men's individual laments, and polyphonic chants by male choirs. While the individual laments are aimed at the deceased and the souls of departed people, the men's polyphonic chants use no words but a series of syllables which follow a set pattern. With chords partly dissonant to a Western European ear, and without any cries other than musically stylized ones, these collective chants of great intensity manage to convey the helplessness and inexpressible grief of Man faced with death.

Films in the Music of Georgia (Caucasus) series

The Feast-Day of Tamar and Lashari

Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus

Duduki of Tbilisi: Eldar Shoshitashvili and His Students

About the Music of Georgia (Caucasus) series

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The Feast-Day of Tamar and Lashari

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

The Feast-Day of Tamar and Lashari
Buy Now: $320.00

The Pshavi people of the eastern mountains of the Republic of Georgia perform a ritual which can be characterized as a syncretism of ancient polytheistic beliefs and Orthodox Christian faith, but which is qualified by city habitants of Tbilisi as "pagan". The ritual of Tamar and Lashari celebrates queen Tamar (12-13th century) and her son Lasha, deified by the mountain dwellers.

Each year, and for three days, on the hillside of a Caucasus valley, pilgrims consecutively meet at two sanctuaries consecrated to these deities and worship them through prayers, songs and sacrifices, enjoying at the same time food and happy chats with friends they have not seen for a year. In addition to prayers and sacrifices by a shrine priest, religious songs are an essential part of the ritual.

The purpose of this film is not to isolate the most archaic elements, nor to reconstitute an idealized image of a polytheistic ritual of the past, but it is to show the multiple dimensions of the festival as it happened in July 1991. Several centuries-old songs could be heard there, but also profane music, traditional and modern, rural and urban, oriental and occidental music.

Films in the Music of Georgia (Caucasus) series

The Feast-Day of Tamar and Lashari

Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus

Duduki of Tbilisi: Eldar Shoshitashvili and His Students

About the Music of Georgia (Caucasus) series

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Table Songs of Kakheti

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:56:00 GMT

Table Songs of Kakheti
Buy Now: $320.00

At the foot of the Caucasus, the Kakheti province of eastern Georgia is famous for its wine and its polyphonic songs. Banquets with their alternation of ritualized toasts and collective singing are considered by Georgians as a major component of national identity. Verbal art and musical art are bound together in a unique way. Table songs of Kakheti have two ornamented solo voices - occasionally one melodic voice - while the choir sings the drone, a sustained tone in the bass.

Thanks to CDs and international tours by folk groups, lovers of Georgian polyphony from abroad appreciate this specific repertoire. However, this film reveals the performance of these songs in the traditional context of banquets (supra), under the presidencies of toastmasters (tamada). Georgian banquets conventionally are the prerogative of men. Mastersinger Andro Simashvili, known as Andro Papa, leads his friends at a classical men's banquet.

On the other hand, renowned female singer Leila Legashvili is the toastmaster at a women's banquet, where Andro Simashvili is an honored guest. Long songs and elaborate toasts are shown in their integrality, revealing important insights into Georgian cultural values.

Extra Feature:

Hymn of New Spring Branches (Himni Gazapkhulis Rtotha) by Leila Legashvili (4 min)

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