40 years from sending Georgian song Chakrulo into space [VIDEO]
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40 years have passed since sending the Georgian song Chakrulo into space through the US Voyager 1 on September 5.
The US Embassy to Georgia dedicated a special post to the remarkable anniversary.
On this day in 1977, Voyager 1 blasted off into interstellar space with a message by President Jimmy Carter engraved on a golden record containing images, sounds, and 27 songs from around the world. Included on the Golden Record, now more than 12 billion miles from earth, is the folk song Chakrulo performed by Erisioni,” the Embassy stated.
The version sent to cosmos. Soloists: Ilia Zakaidze and Rostom Saginashvili.
From September 25 to 28, the U.S. Embassy will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Voyager mission with a series of events, public talks, film screenings and performances. Keep an eye on our pages for detailed information about the upcoming events,” the Embassy added.
Chakrulo is a Georgian polyphonic choral folk song.
Photo by US Embassy press office.
It is a three part drinking song from the region of Kakheti, dramatizing preparations for a battle.
It is characterized by two highly ornamented individual vocal parts, against a slow moving drone chorus.
When Georgian vocal polyphony was recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Heritage masterpiece in 2001, Chakrulo was cited as a prime example of this.
The Georgian capital of Tbilisi is marking an anniversary of a historic event that brought together interstellar exploration and Georgian national folk singing within NASA’s Voyager Golden Records project 40 years ago.
On the 28th of January 2019, the Embassy of Georgia in the US hosted the NY-based Linich Family Trio, who performed the Georgian traditional polyphonic piece Mravalzhamieri together with The Capitol Hill Chorale, based in DC.
Singer Rostom Saginashvili, whose performance of a popular Georgian folk song in a duo with Ilia Zakaidze was launched into space by NASA in 1977, has passed away, with institutions and individuals of the folk performance scene sending in tributes on Sunday.