Resource for the study and performance of Georgian Orthodox liturgical chant
Svaneti’s culture is famed in Georgia for being archaic and harsh, with Upper Svaneti often described as a “living museum” that offers insights into the worldview and customs of ancient Georgia. Its villages were isolated for many centuries … Read More
I can’t remember when I first heard ts’utisopeli spoken, though it impressed me that so much could be communicated in a single word. Translated literally, ts’utisopeli means “minute village.” The expression, a reference to the brevity of life, is … Read More
By way of some background, my involvement with the study of Georgian music started with a chance meeting with Meinard Müller, Professor for Semantic Audio at the University of Erlangen, at the 16th International Conference of the Society for … Read More
Easter is a season for singing, and no chant is more prophetic and beloved than the short troparion, “Christ is Risen!” In the Georgian language, “Kriste aghdga!” (ქრისტე აღდგა!). For a full discussion on the musical variants of this chant, … Read More
The hymn shen khar venakhi is the most well known Georgian chant both within country and among the global singing community. This polyphonic chant features various glorious musical settings, and a sublime text with an attribution directly to the medieval … Read More
Ekvtime Kereselidze (1865-1944) is a vital figure in the history of Georgian religious chant. His courageous actions in the frightening years between the assassination of Ilia Chavchavadze in 1907 and the Bolshevik terror in 1937 ensured the survival of a … Read More
I’ve been excited recently to memorize a gamshvenebuli kilo version of the popular chant Jvarsa Shensa [To Your Cross We Bow Lord] that I discovered in one of Sharadze’s original publications from the 1890s. The music type was set by … Read More