weaving Voices 01.04.2025 issuu - Flipbook - Page 49
Polyphony
The Roy Hart International Arts Centre was represented in the Weaving
Voices project by Carol Mendelsohn, Saule Ryan and Laurent Stéphan,
all singing teachers. From the outset we thought of using Georgian vocal
music, which is all about weaving voices: this three-voice polyphony being
the perfect sonic illustration of what a three-strand braid is. It’s also a
music that Laurent knows well, having sung it for 30 years in various groups
(Marani, Mze Shina, Djamata and Madlobeli ensembles). He adores sharing
this repertoire, which he considers to be a treasure (UNESCO declared
Georgian polyphonic singing to be an Intangible Heritage of Humanity in
2008), 60 and was delighted to be able to teach some of these songs as part
of the Weaving Voices project. From the first time the participants met in
November 2022 in the south of France, we learnt several types of Georgian
songs and have been able to repeat them in each of our subsequent work
sessions:
• ancient ritual healing songs, now used as lullabies: Iavnana Bat’onebo
and Ia Patonepi 61
• chants from the Orthodox liturgy: Upali Supevs and Shen Upalo
• a song which accompanies a round dance: Abkhazuri Perkhuli
• a work song related to our theme (in this case, a song for spinning):
Khert’lis Naduri.
It is this last song that holds particular significance for our Weaving Voices
project and this will be explained in more detail later. There is no doubt
that the interest in Georgian singing around the world is due above all,
to the intrinsic strength and beauty of this music. Rather than appeal
to subjective and aesthetic notions, we invite you to follow the links
in the footnotes to form your own opinion of the richness of this vocal
music by listening to a few extracts. It is undeniable that Georgian music
arouses interest beyond the geographical borders of this small country.
Igor Stravinsky confided at the end of his life, in the 1960s, that he often
listened to recordings of these songs and that he considered this music to
be “a wonderful finding [which] can give to the performance much more
than all the modern music can…”. 62 More recently, Billy Joel has sung
several times on stage with Georgian groups 63 and the Cohen Brothers
used Georgian backing vocals in their film The Big Lebowski, to name but
a few examples.
For those unfamiliar with Georgian songs, let us start by saying that they
are made up of three different melodies sung simultaneously, and that it
is in the weaving of the three voices together that all the musical interest
lies. Often, there may also be more than three people singing, in which
case several people are singing the same melody. 64 The three voices are
so intertwined and blend so well together that it is often very complicated
and sometimes quite impossible to distinguish the melody of each voice.
As well as the musical aspect, this music has a relational dimension,
because it only exists when it is sung by several people, at least three. It
is a collective work. In the West, individuality is a highly developed value.
Georgian singing requires us to relate to others, to listen attentively, to
seek a balance in which everyone can be heard and no one overwhelms the
others. We are going to be working together, and this moment of singing
will therefore be a moment of sharing and meeting, and at the same time
a moment of extreme dependence on others, with all the fragility and risktaking that this implies.
Georgian singing is intrinsically about encounters: the pleasure of holding
onto one’s melodic line whilst one’s neighbours sing something else, and
the pleasure of hearing the different voices intersect and complement
each other. Those taking part in a Georgian song no longer hear their own
voice as they sing, but the tapestry made up of their own voice and those
of others. This polyphonic repertoire represents a means of accessing
another dimension of one’s own voice by merging it with others. For those
who sing bass, it’s all about blending in with the voices of other singers in
the same section, so that you get the feeling that there is only one person
singing that voice. The singers who sing the bass are looking for a common
colour and their individuality disappears in favour of the voice they serve.
62 Igor Stravinsky – Quotes (n.d.) GoodReads. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/928605-recordings-of-georgia0n-folk-polyphonic-songs-makes-a-great-musical [Accessed 17 Jun. 2024].
63 BILLY JOEL in TBILISI, GEORGIA - 1987 (2021) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=DM1n9oKut1E [Accessed 17 Jun. 2024] – at 4:23 from the beginning of the video.
60 UNESCO - Georgian polyphonic singing (n.d.) ICH UNESCO. Available at: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/
georgian-polyphonic-singing-00008?RL=00008 [Accessed 17 Jun. 2024].
61 la Patonepi - Imke McMurtrie, Nana Mzhavanadze & Tamar Buadze (2018) YouTube. Available at: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGN3W5TJWOY [Accessed 17 Jun. 2024].
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64 In Georgia, it is exclusively the bass voice (the lowest of the three voices) that is sung by several people,
while the highest voice (called the ‘First Voice’) and the middle voice (the ‘Second Voice’) are both sung by soloists. Abroad, it is not uncommon for groups to decide to entrust the 昀椀rst and second voices to several singers,
for reasons of balance between the different sections.
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