Georgian Source for "Hello Earth" (male chorus section)

[willtre@aol.com (Willtre)]

Recently I "accidently" found out via AOL's KB Folder that some info. I
have on a source for the male-chorus interlude in "Hello Earth" in The
Ninth Wave was not generally known... I had no idea that even Kate doesn't
know where this piece (that she picked up from Werner Herzog's
"Nosferatu") came from.

2-3 years ago, my brother James was buying a lot of Russian orthodox
liturgical music, thereby discovering the music of Georgia (Caucasia)
along the way... he picked up a pretty obscure Japanese recording of
traditional Georgian music (called, "The Marvels of Polyphony in
Sakartvelo", CD Ethnic Sound Series #17, Victor, Japan 1987), and
discovered upon playing the third cut that it was what must have been the
source for this chant-like piece. On the Japanese CD it was called
"Tshintsharo" (the liner notes were all in Japanese, so we couldn't learn
anything more about this particular piece or type of music...Andy Marvick
replied in an AOL msg. that the trailing credits in "Nosferatu" do mention
something called "Zinzgaro"...) Back then when James' played the piece for
me, I recognized the chord progression first, then started to hear the
melody, moving in the same directions, at a slightly different
meter--still very recognizable as the "Hello Earth" chorus. It is a very
beautiful, haunting piece. 

Just last Sunday, however, I was able to find out a little more about
"Tshintsharo" because I discovered at Tower Records, a newer, domestic
release of the exact same collection. The label, JVC, did not fully
translate the liner notes, but about "Tshintsharo" it says this much:
"This song performed without any trace of vibrato has a text including the
line "May the well flow forth."
Appropriate, (thinks Karen N.), for Kate's Ninth Wave!!

I will write to the label to see if there is any way to get a full
translation for all the notes; here is a bit of what is there--
"The mountainous nation of Sakartvelo is located in the Caucasus mountains
between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Sakartvelo is in fact the
former name for the area now known as the Soviet Republic of Georgia.
Sakartvelo has a distinctive musical culture which fuses Turkish and other
Asian elements with features from the music of Greece... Men and women
seldom sing together. Choral music includes quiet pieces in the manner of
Masses, lively pieces featuring exchanges between groups within the
chorus... another important feature... is the complete absence of
vibrato."

I'm sending a tape to The Kate Bush Club in Welling, Kent. Here is the CD
info. for the domestic release:
"Georgian Polyphony I: Choral Music from Caucasia"
JVC World Sounds, 1990 JVC Musical Industries, Inc.
3800 Barham Blvd., Ste. 305, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

includes: the Female Chorus Group of National Music School of Telavi; Male
Chorus Group of Mestia; and Male Chorus Group of Makharadze.

--posted by Jennifer Trerise (Willtre @ AOL.)