From the mountainous Caucuses region of Georgia in Eastern Europe, a tradition of song in three-part harmony, dancing and winemaking – suppressed during the Soviet era – has re-emerged with vigor.
The cultural revival is due in part to Georgia’s independence as a nation and to members of the Zedashe Ensemble, who will be at the UO this week for the World Music Series, giving vocal workshops and a public performance at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, in UO’s Beall Hall.
Mark Levy, senior instructor of ethnomusicology in the UO School of Music and Dance, says bringing the Zedashe Ensemble to UO is a “tremendous opportunity to experience and learn about a culture that is rarely represented in ‘world music’ venues.”
The Zedashe Ensemble is based in the medieval city of Sighnaghi in eastern Georgia, which has been home to wine growers for 8,000 years. Ancient vintners stored their wine in clay vessels called zedashes, which were buried in the ground. Each year, the wine was tapped in a sacred ritual where families gathered to honor the dead and make offerings. During family gatherings, people sang traditional folk songs, danced lively dances, and later, added sonorous polyphonic chants from the Orthodox Christian liturgy.
During the Soviet era, traditional culture was suppressed and much of the music was lost. In the 1990s, however, after Georgia won its independence from the Soviet Union, old manuscripts containing centuries of music were found in chests that had been buried and hidden during the early 20th century.
Zedashe was one of the first ensembles to form in the post-Soviet era and it spearheaded the revival of ancient Georgian music. A small circle of friends who came from musical families formed the group. They wanted to bring traditional Georgian chants back into churches and monasteries, which had been dominated by Russian Orthodox music. The band’s members hand-copied the ancient, unearthed manuscripts and spoke with elders to help recreate the rich history of their ancestors.
Zedashe’s founders left no stone unturned in digging through their musical past. They first learned the Georgian liturgical chants, then how to play traditional musical instruments to accompany the songs, and then trained as dancers to incorporate the dances into their repertoire. Encouraged by Georgian elders, the group also dedicated itself to restoring the region’s winemaking tradition.
Zedashe is composed of four men and three women singers and two dancers. The mix of genders is traditional in Georgian singing. Each of their concerts represents two years of research spent interviewing and recording singing masters and families throughout Georgia. Their repertoire consists of polyphonic chants, folk songs and dances from the region.
Zedashe will offer a lecture and demonstration at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, in Room 178, Frohnmayer Music Building, and a public vocal workshop at 7:30 p.m. on the same day and in the same location, in addition to the Friday night concert in Beall Hall.
Tickets for Thursday night’s public workshop are $10 general, free to students. Tickets for Friday’s performance are $15 general admission, $10 students/seniors; tickets available at the door UO Ticket Office, tickets.uoregon.edu, or by calling 541-346-4363.
- by Aria Seligmann, UO Office of Strategic Communications