Our next program, Bach Motets & Company, features traditional sacred Georgian music sung by Ori Shalva, led by Shalva Makharashvili.
This allegory titled A Georgian Tale—taken from the album Zari: Songs of Georgia, with Andrea Kuzmich, Shalva Makharashvili, and Reid Robins—explains the origins of Georgia.
In the beginning, God asked the peoples of the earth to choose where they wished to settle. He set a deadline for their decisions.
When the Georgians failed to show up at the appointed hour, God had no choice but to partition the world without them. His task complete, he set off for home, only to pass the Georgians gathered at the supra (banquet) table, feasting on grilled lamb and roasted eggplant with garlic and pomegranate. There they sat merrily toasting, arm in arm, laughing, drinking and singing. God stopped to reproach them for their negligence. He informed them that every parcel of land was now spoken for. The Georgian people, he declared, were homeless. The Tamata (toastmaster) rose to address the Lord. He said that they had spent their time well, honouring God with elaborate toasts and sacred songs. The Tamata explained that the food they had prepared for the occasion was the very finest, the wine the most delicious. He asked God to listen to their music and to hear the reverence with which they praised him and his creation. For all these reasons, the Tamata humbly stated, the Georgians believed that their time was well spent and were without regret. God listened to the eloquent leader, looked across their supra table at the bounty, and allowed their music to enter his heart. He was so moved by their offerings that he decided to bestow upon them the last spot on earth: a tiny slip of land that he had been saving for himself.
And so it is told the Georgians came to live in paradise.
Experience Bach Motets & Company March 8, 2024, at 8pm: tickets and details available at tafelmusik.org/motets