KETEVAN NIKOLADZE ON THE PROBLEM OF INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FORMS OF POLYPHONY IN VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Instruments and instrumental music are not only a significant area of the people’s musical art but are also artifacts of the material culture of the nation. That is why it is impossible to study folk musical instruments without taking into consideration the common cultural-historical processes. Development of instrumental polyphony is mainly connected with vocal cul-ture; hence it is impossible to discuss it without vocal traditions. This interrelation-ship is sometimes paradoxical. In a number of polyphonic cultures little is known about instrumental polyphony and vice versa. In some countries with a highly devel-oped instrumental polyphonic culture there is no trace even of elements of two-part singing. What is this? Could this be a kind of compensation? I will try to answer this question in my paper. As it is generally known instrumental music in Georgia plays a much smaller part in comparison with the highly developed vocal polyphony, though it should be mentioned that this fact by no means diminishes the importance of instrumental mu-sic and its aesthetic aspect (it can be explained by the limited possibilities of th