Georgia on Music Theory Print

Aleksandre Basilaia

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Aleksandre Aleksandres dze Basilaia (11 March 19423 October 2009) was a Georgian composer and songwriter of popular music and film scores. He led the popular musical group Iveria since its founding in 1968 through the mainstream success in the 1970s and 1980s until his death of a long and severe disease in Germany in 2009. He held the titles of Honored Artist of Georgia and Honored Citizen of Tbilisi. Basilaia was trained as a contrabassist at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire and became active at the Soviet Georgian scene in 1963. In 1968 he founded an ensemble (VIA) which was named Iveria after an ancient Georgian kingdom. Basilaia was a principal composer and an art manager for Iveria which quickly gained popularity for its fusion of pop, rock and jazz with traditional Georgian music and attained to Soviet-wide fame with its musicals The Wedding of Jays (1980) and The Argonauts (1982). Basilaia’s third and the last musical Pirosmani was successfully staged in both Georgia and Russia in 1996. Basilaia’s last work “Something Has Ended” appeared shortly before the composer’s death in October 2009. He was buried at the Didube Pantheon in Tbilisi. Notes References External links *Alexa

Andria Balanchivadze

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Andria Melitonis dze Balanchivadze (28 April 1992) was a Georgian composer. He was the son of composer Meliton Balanchivadze and brother of ballet choreographer George Balanchine. Biography Born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, he graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatoire in 1927 and Leningrad Conservatory in 1931, where he studied with Pyotr Ryazanov. Upon his return to Georgia, he became the musical director of several theatres from 1931 to 1934. Having barely survived Joseph Stalin’s purges, he became a professor at the Tbilisi Conservatory in 1942 and served as an artistic director of the Georgian State Symphony from 1941 to 1948. He became a major influence in musical politics as chair (1953), and first secretary (1955–1961, 1968–1972) of the Union of Georgian Composers. Balanchivadze’s numerous symphonies, pianoforte concertos, and compositions for the stage heavily contributed to modern Georgian classical music. He also authored the first Georgian ballet, The Heart of the Mountains (1936). He was granted the titles of the People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR in 1957, People’s Artist of the USSR in 1968, and awarded several prizes, including the Stalin Prize in 1944 a

Bidzina Kvernadze

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Bidzina Kvernadze (), (29 July 1928, Sighnaghi, Georgia, – 8 July 2010, Tbilisi), was a famous Georgian composer. Bidzina was born in Sighnaghi, the Kakheti region of former Soviet Georgia to Alexander Kvernadze, a pharmacist, and Nino Nadirashvili, a music teacher. In 1948, Bidzina presented his musical works to Examination Commission, and he was accepted to the Tbilisi State Conservatoire with the highest score. He finished the composition class in 1958, taught by Andria Balanchivadze. In the same year he was accepted as a member of the Union of Soviet Composers. Among his honors are the title of “People’s Artist of the USSR” (1979), the “Z. Paliashvili Prize” (1981, for My Entreaty, Old Georgian Inscriptions and Vocal-Symphonic Poem) and the “Shota Rustaveli State Prize” (1985, Opera “And it was in the eighth year”). He was also named an Honorary Citizen of Tbilisi (1995). Filmography * 2001: Antimoz iverieli * 1996: Qva (Short) * 1995: Tsarsulis achrdilebi * 1991: Premiera (TV Movie) * 1990: Omi kvelastvis omia * 1990: White Banners * 1985: Ert patara qalaqshi * 1985: Christmas tree of Neilon * 1983: Andredzi (Short) * 1983: Tsigni pitsisa (TV Movie) * 1981: Me davbrundebi * 19

Giya Kancheli

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Gia Kancheli (; 10 August 1935 – 2 October 2019) was a Georgian composer. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and resided in Belgium in later life. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kancheli lived first in Berlin, and from 1995 in Antwerp, where he became composer-in-residence for the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. He died in Tbilisi at age 84. Life In his symphonies, Kancheli’s musical language typically consists of slow scraps of minor-mode melody against long, subdued, anguished string discords. Rodion Shchedrin called Kancheli “an ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist; a restrained Vesuvius”. Kancheli wrote seven symphonies, and what he termed a liturgy for viola and orchestra, Mourned by the Wind. The Philadelphia Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov gave the American premiere of his Fourth Symphony in 1978, not long before the cultural freeze in the United States against Soviet culture. Glasnost allowed Kancheli to regain exposure, and he began to receive frequent commissions, as well as performances in Europe and North America. Championed internationally by Lera Auerbach, Dennis Russell Davies, Jansug Kakhidze, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian, Mstisl

Konstantin Meladze

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Konstantin Shotayevich Meladze (; ; born 11 May 1963) is a Georgian-born Ukrainian and Russian composer and producer. He is the older brother of singer Valery Meladze and co-founder and co-producer of the Ukrainian girl group Nu Virgos (). Biography Early life Meladze was born on 11 May 1963 in Batumi to Shota and Nelly Meladze, who were engineers. He has a brother, Valery (1965) and a sister, Liana (1968). Career He has composed and produced songs for artists such as Valery Meladze, Nu Virgos, Yin-Yang, Vera Brezhneva, Albina Dzhanabaeva, Sofia Rotaru (“Ya zhe yego lyubila” and “Odin na svete”) and Polina Gagarina. He has also composed songs for a number of films, including Lilya 4-ever and a Russian 2003 version of Cinderella () and Hipsters. In 2016 and 2017 he was a judge at Vidbir, Ukraine’s National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Music video appearances Personal life Konstantin was married to Jana Meladze in 1994; they have three children: Alice (2000), Liya (2004) and Valery (2005). He married Ukrainian singer Vera Brezhneva in 2015. The couple divorced in 2023. The alleged reason for the split was their disagreement over Meladze continuing to own real estate in

Mindia Khitarishvili

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Mindia Khitarishvili (; Batumi, born January 1, 1973) is an Israeli and Georgian composer. Biography Mindia Khitarishvili is an Israeli and Georgian composer, music arranger, music producer and teacher, currently residing in Haifa, Israel. Originally from Batumi, Georgia, Khitarishvilli studied choir conducting, piano and music theory at the Musical College of Batumi from 1987-1991. Upon graduating from the program, he continued his studies at the Tbilisi State Conservatory and the Academy of Arts of Georgia where he studied Musicological-Composition from 1991-1996. His studies included composition with Professor, N.Mamisashvili. Since 1996, Khitarishvili worked at the Batumi Music College. He worked as a musical editor at Adjara TV. Khitarishvilli is a member of the Union of Composers and Authors of Georgia. He is also a member of the Adjarian union, since 2001, and organizes theatrical productions in Georgia. From 2001, Khitarishvilli worked at the Batumi State Conservatory (State University of the Arts) where he introduced courses in polyphony, orchestration, musical instrument classification (organology), jazz harmony and improvisation. Since 2004, Khitarishvilli worked as an o

Natela Svanidze

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Natela Svanidze (, ; , ; 4 September 1926 – 17 November 2017) was a Georgian composer. Biography Natela Svanidze was born in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia. She studied composition at Tbilisi State Conservatoire with Andria Balanchivadze, graduating in 1951. She was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Georgia in 1981. Svanidze died on 17 November 2017, at the age of 91. Works Svanidze composes for orchestra, chamber ensemble, solo instrument and experimental performances. Selected works include: *1949 – “Symphony Dances” for orchestra *1951 – “Samgori” symphony poem *1963 – “Kvarkvare” symphony poem *1965 – “Burlesque” for piano, wind and percussion instruments *1967 – Symphony for piano, string and percussion instruments *1968 – Symphony-ballet for symphony orchestra *1983 – Symphony No. 2 *1954 – “Garden of Kartli” cantata for mixed chorus and symphony orchestra. (in three parts), text by Giorgi Leonidze *1970 – “Pirosmani” chamber oratorio for reader, contralto, male sextet and instrumental ensemble (in five parts), texts by Boris Pasternak, Pavel Antokolsky, Titsian Tabidze *1975 – “Poem of Never-to-be-forgotten” oratorio for reader, female sextet, two choruses, organ, violin, 12 cell

Sulkhan Tsintsadze

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Sulkhan Tevdores dze Tsintsadze (; ; August 23, 1925 – September 15, 1991) was a Georgian composer known for his chamber music and his film scores. Early life and education Tsintsadze was born in Gori, Georgia, in 1925. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Tbilisi, where his father, Fyodor, was appointed chief inspector of the Transcaucasus for sheep breeding. There, Tsintsadze began taking cello lessons with First Musical Gymnasium professor E. N. Kapelnitsky, though on the basis of his talent, he was soon transferred to the Tbilisi State Conservatory’s new department for gifted children to continue studies with Kapelnitsky. In 1937, Fyodor Tsintsadze was arrested as part of the Great Purge. In 1942, Tsintsadze began formal studies in the orchestra department of the Tbilisi State Conservatory with cellist Konstantin Minyar-Beloruchev, who died in January 1944. While enrolled at the conservatory, Tsintsadze also played in the GSSR State Symphony Orchestra. He was also the founding cellist of the original State String Quartet of Georgia, of which he was a member from 1944 to 1946. From 1945 to 1953, Tsintsadze attended the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he

Vakhtang Kakhidze

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Vakhtang (Vato) Kakhidze (; ; born 23 March 1959 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian composer and conductor. He is the son of conductor Jansug Kakhidze. He graduated and postgraduated from the Moscow State Conservatory. He studied composition with Nikolai Sidelnikov and orchestration with Edison Denisov. Kakhidze is the conductor of Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra since 1993. Biography Vakhtang Kakhidze was born into a family of Jansug Kakhidze in 1959 in Tbilisi, Georgia. He began to study music when he was 6 years old, as a pianist. In 1975 he finished choir conducting department of Music High School. In 1981 he graduated from Moscow State Conservatory as a composer, and in 1983 he finished the post graduate courses of the same institute. His teachers were such famous musicians as Nikolai Sidelnikov - composition, Edison Denisov - art of instrumentation and others. In 1988-89 he studied conducting with his father, world-famous Georgian conductor Jansug Kakhidze. In 1989, Vakhtang Kakhidze began conducting. His debut took place in Georgian National Opera and Ballet Theater of Tbilisi, where he has conducted several performances of his ballet “Amazons”. From 1993 he worked as conductor of Tbilisi

Vakhtang Machavariani

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Vakhtang Machavariani (19 February 1951 – 6 May 2025) was a Georgian, Soviet and Russian conductor and composer. The chief conductor of the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1996, he worked with about 80 orchestras, among them prominent symphony orchestras of the world. His compositions include a symphony in memory of his father, Aleksi Machavariani, vocal works based on Shakespeare and Merab Kostava, and a symphonic poem Mariupol. Life and career Machavariani was born in Tbilisi on 19 February 1951, He conducted the premiere of his father’s ballet The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin there in 1985. Awards Machavariani was awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2011. As conductor Machavariani conducted recordings of several of his fathers works, including his ballet The Man in the Panther’s Skin in 1983 with the Cinema Orchestra of the SSSR, his ballet Otello in 1986, his First Symphony in 1987, his Third Symphony in 1988 and his Fifth Symphony Symphony in 1990, all of these with the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre. Notes References External links * * *