CPR Performance Archive

GIVING VOICE 11 - PILPANI FAMILY (GEORGIA) [April 2009]
TRADITIONAL POLYPHONY FROM SVANETI

THURSDAY 23 APRIL, 9PM

It is with great pleasure that we welcome to Giving Voice and Wroclaw the Pilpani Family from Svaneti, Georgia, in the High Caucasus; the Pilpanis are bearers of a long tradition of singing, and who have a specific repertoire of songs that is linked to the name Pilpani. Coming from the region of Mestia in the heart of Svaneti, the Pilpanis are led by Eptime Pilpani who is also the founder and leader of the world-renowned Riho Ensemble. Keeping in mind the question of transmission, Eptime is also the leader of the Mestia Children's Choir.The Pilpani’s concert at Giving Voice offers a unique opportunity to experience this repertoire in Poland (a repertoire so old that the language of the songs is not even understood any more by the singers and remains as mysterious craft of vowels with a secret meaning).

One of the main features of Georgian vocal polyphony is the abundance of dissonant chords built on seconds, fourths, fifths and sevenths. In Svan songs, most of the intervals are flexible and do not coincide with the tempered scale intervals. Due to this feature, many chord progressions in Svan songs seem strange to European ears, and as well because they often contain the interval of the augmented eighth (octave).

More information on GIVING VOICE 11 - PILPANI FAMILY (GEORGIA) can be found at:

Additional documentation on GIVING VOICE 11 - PILPANI FAMILY (GEORGIA) can be downloaded at:
Giving_Voice_Brochure_PDF.pdf
Giving_Voice_Application_Form.doc

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