The 1984 conference “Problems of Folk Polyphony” at Tbilisi State Conservatory was the first of the series of biannual conferences on traditional polyphony. The conference was held in the Small Concert Hall of the Conservatory from 11th October to 14th October. Participants attended the scholarly sessions in the morning and afternoon, and attended concerts of Georgian traditional polyphony, specially organized for participants of the conference. Scholars from different republics of the USSR (currently many of them are independent states) delivered papers at the conference. Short versions of the papers were published as a separate collection in 1985 (Jordania, 1985), and several papers were added. Papers that were added later (and were not delivered at the 1984 conference) are marked with *.
1. Izaly Zemtsovsky, Russia, Leningrad. “Phenomenon of polyphony in music of oral tradition”.
2. Moisei Boroda, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Some principles of rhythmic development in melodic of Georgian polyphonic songs”.
3. Villis Bendorf, Latvia, Riga. “Types of Latvian polyphony and its possible external links”.
4. Valerian Magradze, Georgia, Tbilisi. ”Reconstruction of Meskhetian polyphonic songs”.
5. Inga Bakhtadze, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Problem of origins of national polyphony on early Christian period”.
6. Mzia Iashvili, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Two kinds of old Georgian professional music and the successiveness of the tradition of polyphonic singing”.
7. Ketevan Baiashvili, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Available information on Georgian traditional polyphony”.
8. Joseph Jordania, Georgia. Tbilisi. “On the emergence of drone three-part singing in Georgian traditional music”.
9. Otar Chijavadze, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Medieval Georgian chants and Mediaeval professional polyphony”.
10. Evsevi Chokhonelidze, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Chords in Georgian traditional music”.
11. Christopher Arakelov, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Multi-scale phenomenon in Georgian polyphonic songs (on Kartli, Kakheti, Svaneti, Samegrelo materials)”.
12. Tamaz Gabisonia, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Harmonic functionality in polyphonic songs of Samegrelo”.
13. Nailia Almeeva, Tatarstan, Kazan. “Traditional polyphony of the ‘Christened Tatars’ from the middle Volga region”.
14. Gulnara Gvarjaladze, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Aspects of rhythmic organization in Georgian traditional song”.
15. Nikolai Bojarkin, Mordva, Saransk. “Two- and three-part polyphonic style of Mordvinian traditional songs and instrumental tunes”.
16. Edisher Garakanidze, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Polyphony in Kartli”.
17. Nugzar Jordania, Georgia, Tbilisi. “The role of the base part in Gurian traditional polyphony”.
18. Vladimir Gogotishvili, Georgia, Tbilisi. “Fifths diatonic scale system in west Georgian polyphonic songs”.
19. Ivan Vindgolts, Russia, Karaganda. “Sociofolkloristics: Principle of realization of polyphony in folklore groups”.
20. Vitali Fedko*, Russia, Leningrad. “Realization of the idea of the “polyphony” in vocal ensembles of Russian-Belarus border”.
21. Viacheslav Shchurov*, Russia, Moscow. “Main types of Russian traditional polyphony”.
22. Galina Kutireva*, Russia, Moscow. “Polyphonic singing in western Belarus Polesie”.
23. Nikolai Dorofeev*, Russia, Leningrad. “Polyphonic singing of “Semeiskie” [Russian religious group living at the lake Baikal].
24. Evgeni Pinchukov*, Russia, Sverdlovsk. “Harmonic and scale originality of Flamenco style.”
25. Mariam Ositashvili, Georgia, Tbilisi. “”Eight tone” system in old Georgian profesional music”.
