Mravalzhamieri ( ka, მრავალჟამიერი) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

, the title and the one-word text of which can be translated as "

ay you live Ay, AY or variants, may refer to: People * Ay (pharaoh), a pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty * Merneferre Ay, a pharaoh of the 13th Egyptian dynasty * A.Y. (musician) (born 1981), a Tanzanian "bongo flava" artist * A.Y, stage name of Ayo Makun ...

a long life". It is a popular and widespread toasting song, with dozens of different versions from the countryside of both eastern and western parts of Georgia. There are also several variants of "urban" Mravalzhamieri, originally from

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. Mravalzhamieri is typically sung in three-voice polyphony, in which two highly improvised melodic parts are developed on the background of a pedal drone in a free metre. The Mravalzhamieri version from the region of

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

, and that known as "urban" (''k'alak'uri'') were inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia list in 2013. Mravalzhamieri is also a Georgian name of the Christian chant

Polychronion The Polychronion (Greek: Πολυχρόνιον, "many years"; ka, მრავალჟამიერი, ; cu, мъногаꙗ лѣта ''mŭnogaja lěta'') is a solemn encomium chanted in the liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Cat ...

References

{{Georgia-stub Songs of Georgia (country)