The explanation of the Svan song K'ojre Makhvshi below comes from the liner notes of Riho Ensemble's Vocal Polyphonies From Svaneti, by Frank Kane and Joseph Jordania.

''This is [another] example of a contemporary Svan song. This song was [also] inspired by the extraordinary life and early death of mountain climber Misha Khergiani. Several other highly respected Svan mountain climbers are also mentioned in the song. There are some elements which distinguish this song from older folk songs (the lack of nonsense syllables, the obvious presence of rhymes), although the song is in a traditional musical style. It is accompanied by the chuniri.''

To hear more Svan songs, visit the page of K'asletila Ensemble.

To hear another ballads about Misha Khergiani, listen to ''Misha Khergianze'' by Dato Naveriani & Mate Pitskhelava and ''Shaira Misha Khergianze'' by K'asletila Ensemble.

Lile is the ancient Svan word for the Sun God.  This song is thought to be one of the oldest from the highland of Svaneti.  Here we have an instrumental version, played by Beso Pirtskhelani on the ch'unir. 

To hear a sung version, visit the page of K'asletila Ensemble.

This explanation of the Svan song ''Mirangula'' comes from the liner notes of Riho Ensemble's Vocal Polyphonies From Svaneti, by Frank Kane and Joseph Jordania:

''The story of Mirangula is very well known in Svaneti. Mirangula was a young man (in some versions a woman) whose father was killed by North Caucasians. Mirangula went to seek revenge and was badly wounded but still managed to return home. Mirangula’s mother prepared a feast to celebrate his avenging of his father’s murder. But by the time the feast was ready, Mirangula had died of his wounds. His mother did not announce the bad news until the feast was underway.''

To hear a sung version, visit the page of K'asletila Ensemble.

This melody is from Rach'a, a highland region in western Georga that borders Svaneti. Here Beso Pirtskhelani plays it on the ch'unir, a traditional 3-stringed bowed lute from Svaneti.

On this recording, Beso Pirtskhleni plays the ch'unir and changi, traditional instruments from Svaneti.

The explanation of the song below comes from the liner notes of Riho Ensemble's album, Vocal Polyphonies From Svaneti by Frank Kane and Joseph Jordania.

''Dali is the goddess of hunting in Svan mythology, portrayed as a beautiful and powerful woman who could reward a good hunter but also punish (if a hunter overkilled, for example). In this song, Dali is giving birth to a baby (...) According to other Svan legends, Dali gave birth to Amiran, the Georgian Prometheus.''

Read more about Amiran here.

This song is played on the panduri¹ and sung by Girshel Pirtskhelani, accompanied by his family members.  

It tells the story of Misha Gabliani, brother of the famous Svan mountaineer Ilik'o Gabliani.

Misha Gabliani died in 1961 while climbing Jengish Chokusu (7,500m), the highest peak of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. He perished at such a high altitude that the expedition had to leave him there in the ice rather than carry on the strong Svan tradition of bringing the body down.

In 1997 an expedition found his intact body buried in the ice close to the peak.

¹A three-stringed, fretted lute common in all regions of northeastern Georgia. The instrument is most frequently used to accompany ballad singing.  Read more about the panduri here.  

A patriotic song performed by Girshel Pirtskhelani on the panduri.¹ 

The second verse loosely comes from Vazha-Pshavela’s² ''Song: Artsra t’ant mtsvia, arts pekhta.''  This verse can be found in two other songs on the site – Nik’oloz Gigoshvili’s ''Samshobloze,'' and K’akha Mangoshvili and Pandura's ''Khars Vegevar Naialaghars.''

¹A three-stringed, fretted lute common in all regions of northeastern Georgia. The instrument is most frequently used to accompany ballad singing.  Read more about the panduri here. 

²Luka Razikashvili (1861-1916) was one of Georgia’s most famous poets and writers. He wrote under the pen name Vazha-Pshavela, which literally means ''son from Pshavi.'' He was born and raised in the village of Chargali where a museum for him, opened in 1961, exists today.