Greetings and welcome to the fifth issue of our magazine. 

As always, we have tried to select relevant, interesting, and diverse topics for you in this edition of the Georgian Folklore journal.

This issue includes the following sections: folk singing, church chanting, choreography, oral tradition, musical instruments, fine and applied arts, essay, interview, and world cultural heritage.

If you are interested in the history of Georgian folk songs, you should definitely read Sandro Natadze’s article “Four Nanas by Three Brothers.” In the article, Sandro tells the story of the three brothers who appear in the Gurian folk song, “Otkhi Nani”: Ladiko, Avksenti, and Manase Salukvadze. With his usual lively and cheerful narration, Natadze discusses the origin story of the song, recounting the lives of the real-life brothers and sharing his own observations about their unique performance style.

In the section devoted to Georgian chants, you will find an article by Besik Makhatadze, whose work on the nineteenth-century chanter Simon Pirtskhalava (Simona Kuti) appeared in the previous issue.  Here the author tells us about Davit Shotadze (Chkhareli), a famous singer who was active at the same time. In his work on Shotadze and his contemporaries, Beso continues to employ interesting archival sources in ordder to give us an idea of the atmosphere in Imereti, and particularly in Kutaisi, during the time of tsarist Russia.

Ana Ivanashvili’s article “The Dual Nature of Amirani” can likewise be seen as a kind of continuation of the piece of hers that appeared in the last issue’s section on oral tradition. In the previous issue, Ana recounted the adventures of the Georgian epic hero Amirani. This time, she focuses on a specific topic, Amirani’s duality, and discusses the character of this hero who is simultaneously fighting for goodness and peace and for his own self-glorification. In her discussion, she references different versions of the Amirani epic originating in different parts of Georgia, as well as examples from Georgian literature that feature this character. The author largely attributes the common perception of Amirani in Georgian social consciousness, as a character fighting for good, to the influence of Georgian literary writing. 

Our faithful readers will also remember the article by Ketevan Baiashvili which was published in the first issue of Georgian Folklore, about an ancient instrument found in Georgia: a tongue-less salamuri made of bone commonly called the “shepherd boy’s salamuri.” In her new article Baiashvili directly approaches the question of the origin of the term salamuri and discusses other old Georgian terms for this instrument. Etymological research has led her to a Greek-language dictionary, where she discovered a possible route for the word salamoura (σαλαμούρα) to have been borrowed from Greek into Georgian and eventually applied to the wind instrument known today as the salamuri.

In the section dedicated to fine and applied arts, Gocha Balavadze tells us about Revaz Andghuladze, a master of traditional crafts. The author tells us about the creative experiences and current activities of agreat master of stone, wood, and metal carving. The article includes photographs of the wonderful works of this artist from Akhaltsikhe. After seeing them, you will probably want to visit the master’s workshop in person.

The column on Georgian folk dance is authored this time by the young choreographer Mariam Bedenashvili. Mariam has been passionate about dance since childhood and, while studying in Germany, became interested in dance therapy. Upon returning to her homeland, she tried to adapt the methods learned in Europe to Georgian traditional dance. She developed a special program which includes active games adapted to Georgian dances and dance tunes. The program is structured according to age groups and accommodates the interests of a wide range of users. In the article, you will read more about Mariam’s activities and future plans, and maybe it will spark your interest in Georgian dance therapy. 

In his article, “The Secret to Transcribing Georgian Church Chants”, the chant scholar Ilia Jgharkava focuses on a very significant moment in the history of Georgian culture: the transcription into Western notation of Georgian church chants and the issues that arise in the process. Due to the complexity of the topic, we have devoted a substantial part of this issue to his essay. In the process of transferring Georgian chants, preserved as an oral tradition, with a unique sound arrangement, to the five-line notation system, difficulties became apparent. Georgian tuning has been the subject of extensive scholarly research and, in many cases, of heated disputes and discussions going back as far as the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From the documentary sources cited in the essay, it is clear that at the time, there was just as much debate about chants and musical scores as there is today. Jgharkava analyzes the causes of these problems and hopes that further studies and academic dialogues will help us establish what the chanting tradition was like before it was notated and what changed after transcription. Due to the scale and relevance of the topic, he promises to continue discussing it in the following issues of the magazine. 

You will also have the opportunity to read Nana Mzhavanadze’s interview with the famous American ethnomusicologist Theodore Levin, who has spent decades tirelessly traveling and exploring the world’s musical landscapes, from the misty mountains of Appalachia to the alleys of Tbilisi and, even further, to the countries of Central Asia. The middle-aged and older generation probably remembers the Tbilisi tour of the legendary Billy Joel, but they may not know that this project was realized thanks to Ted Levin. The researcher tells us how he was able to break through the Soviet Iron Curtain with the universal language of music, and how Georgian traditional music made its way to the American audience. His interview features many more interesting stories. 

Be sure not to overlook the column on world cultural heritage, in which you will learn about an unusual direction in the art of choreography. The author of the article, Robin Dekkers, tells the readers about his unique project, in which he uses the art of dance to better understand nature and harmonize with it, thus trying to raise public awareness of Mother Nature. For Georgian readers, whose cultural identity is closely connected with folk dance, Dekkers’s innovative approach may seem like a strange novelty and a bold departure from the norm, however, it also provides an opportunity to understand and see the potential of dance in a new way. You can find out more about the author’s approach in his article. 

We hope that the readership of our magazine continues to grow. We will meet at the end of the year with a new issue full of interesting discussions.

Until then, we wish you all the best!