Georgian Polyphony and the Sistine Chapel: the Meeting of Two Masterpieces

by Archbishop José A. Bettencourt, Apostolic Nuncio to Georgia

One year ago, on 26 June 2022, forty members of the Holy Trinity Patriarchal Church Choir of Tbilisi stepped into the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to sing. That day two masterpieces of human heritage met, Michealangelo’s frescoes of the creation and last judgment narrative and Georgian polyphony.

The exuberant colours and movements in Michaelangelo’s frescoes of biblical history encircled the audience of Georgian visitors, Vatican officials from the four corners of the world, ambassadors, and enthusiasts alike. The atmosphere was caressed with Georgian polyphonic harmonies that rose in crescendo in richness and meaning. The highlight of the evening brought together the world renowned Georgian soprano, Iano Alibegashvili, before two choirs, Orthodox and Latin, to sing His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II’s sublime composition of the “Ave Maria”.

This great moment was felt across Georgia and throughout its diaspora with great pride and emotion. For months this extraordinary event was rebroadcast, streamed and endless photos were exchanged on social media. It was not a concert. It was an “Event”. It was Georgia at its finest. And, it gave us all reason to pause and take “inventory”.

The Sistine Chapel is a mirror of time immemorial history and reflects our very own history today. It is a patrimony of humanity and it belongs to all of us, no matter what race, creed or nation we originate from. It is ours. It is a patrimony of humanity.

The other patrimony we encountered that evening was the Georgian polyphony, an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Georgian polyphony has ancient roots in the written and oral history of its people. It is a multiple pallet of unique voices that absorbs and lifts the listener with its power. It is gentile yet assertive, meek yet powerful, playful yet meaningful. It is representative of the “Georgian essence” of the ages.

The Church, as custodian of the deposit of faith, has always preserved the best of art, architecture, music and literature to name but a few fields. It seeks to re-present “the best” to future generations, inviting them in turn to give “the best” of our individual and collective selves, to build a better existence.

But there was a “third masterpiece” present that evening. The third and most important aspect in the Sistine Chapel was the “human dignity” of the people present and of the people following from the four corners of the globe. Human dignity was at the center of the celebration and it has an important role to play in our world. Amidst Michelangelo’s masterpieces and the colossal Georgian polyphonic voices, we realize that it is our faith and the humanity in each of us that can rise and answer such a noble call. The “masterpieces” looked upon us that evening. In cooperating with God’s design, we build a better more human future for the benefit of the generations. “Human dignity” is the work of a “masterpiece” still in progress in our world.