Guram
Bzvaneli

Guram Bzvaneli

(1934 – 2015)

Guram Bzvaneli – (official name: Guram Tkeshelashvili) – Georgian Composer, Teacher, Singer, Poet. A representative of the 60s generation. Honored Art Worker of the Georgia (1982).

Date of birth – August 3, 1934

Place of birth – Tbilisi, Georgia

Date of death – May 18, 2015

He is buried in Didube Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures – Tbilisi

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

1953 – Graduated from Tbilisi’s first high school;

1954 – 1960 – Studied at the Polytechnic Institute of Georgia;

1955 – Formed a vocal quartet with the variety orchestra of the Polytechnic Institute of Georgia, which became one of the famous and popular ensembles in the USSR. In 1957 Guram Bzvaneli’s Quartet participated in the Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow together with the variety orchestra of the Polytechnic Institute of Georgia. The quartet became a laureate of the festival. It was the only independent pop group to win this award.

1961 – 1969 – Director of the musical decade of 23 schools in Tbilisi;

1966 – Graduated from Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatory (composition – Alexander Shaverzashvili’s class);

1967 – 1977 – Head of the music department of Tbilisi Student Youth Palace;

1975 – 1987 – Director and editor of the musical section of the Tbilisi State Theater of Miniatures;

Since 1987 – Director of Meliton Balanchivadze Tbilisi Music School No. 3;

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

1957 – Laureate of the VI World Festival of Student Youth

1968 – Member of the Union of Composers of Georgia

1982 – Honored Art Worker of Georgia

2002 – Knight of Tbilisi Loyalty Medal

Guram Bzvaneli

(1934 – 2015)

At a young age, Guram Bzvaneli became very popular. The performance of the GPI (State Polytechnic Institute) jazz orchestra and vocal quartet, one of which was headed by Bzvaneli, in the 1950s represented a significant innovation in Georgia’s cultural life. For Georgian music fans, interacting with previously unavailable African-American jazz art expanding its horizons, and it was a surprising novelty to connect a foreign phenomena with its Georgian roots. This particular ensemble was the first of its kind in the whole Soviet Union, making it the GPI quartet outside of Georgia as well.

The GPI quartet’s repertoire mostly included pieces by Guram Bzvaneli. The first success of both the author and his first performer, singer Nani Bregvadze, is related to his song “Chavakre Santeli.” The audience also welcomed Bzvaneli’s other songs, including “Nukria,” “Kurtbalishi,” “Sheni Tvalebis Daglili Eshkhi,” “You Are a Ruby, the Beauty of Georgia,” “A Star Shines Above Tbilisi,” “Old Tbilisi,” and others. According to musicologist Manana Akhmeteli, – “Due to their unusual intonation, distinctive national accent, and attractive melody, these songs captured listeners’ attention right away. The songs of Bzvaneli were delicate and genuine.”

When Guram Bzvaneli first joined the world of academic music, a new phase in his creative life began. His art was based on the idea of fusing the fundamentals of classical music with social art. The Violin Concerto presented the first obvious example of this (1967).

Here, Bzvaneli’s melodicism and intone take on a fresh tint due to his mastery of form-making techniques, instrument-specifics, and the expression of his search of timbral colouring.

Bzvaneli’s symphonic suite “Georgian Sketches” is a clear example of how his artistic interests are presented (1979). According to musicologist Dodo Gogua, “Georgian Sketches” is composed in the style of a mass song from the 1950s while also reflecting national genre symphony tradition. The suite is characterized by the opening up of various possibilities for the unfolding and development of song themes, which are supported by the suite’s apparent national nature and folkloric basis.

The composer’s aesthetic ideals are expressed in “Symphony-Requiem” (Remembrance of the Heart) for string orchestra, harp, and lutes dated 1981. This work demonstrates how the author’s viewpoint was significantly impacted by the developments in Georgian professional music in the 1960s of the previous century. A new musical way of thinking founded in Georgia was created when the innovative group of Georgian composers acquired the previously inaccessible knowledge about the 20th century’s musical avant-garde. It’s not surprising that Guram Bzvaneli considered this tendency to be attractive and familiar.

In the above mentioned composition, the symphony-requiem, which is dedicated to the memory of his relations, he expressed his attitude toward these events the most clearly. The work contains philosophical foundations that are mostly expressed in the Eastern Georgian Mountain folklore.

Mountain folklore has made some progress in Georgian professional music. Shalva Mshvelidze, the first composer to work as a mentor, introduced a new approach to tonality through his use of symbolic expressions. With the work of composer Sulkhan Nasidze, the expression of generalized-philosophical origins through aspects of mountain folklore has developed to a new stage in Georgian musical philosophy.

The anguish brought on by the departure of people from this world and the search to understand what took place, coexist in Guram Bzvaneli’s poem “Requiem.” The emotional tone of the “symphony-requiem” and the thematics of the recitative setting, in the words of musicologist Tamar Meskhi, are connected to the oldest traditions of folk music.

With the intonation of weeping that is typical in the mountains of Eastern Georgia, the author creates the tragic theme in the work. The composer also uses innovative harmonic-tonal systems and non-standard chord structures.

Bzvaneli’s piano compositions, such as the play “Old Tbilisi” and “Toccata,” are regarded as examples of how to reconcile the national origins in contemporary compositional terms. It is believed that the plays “Celestial Voices” and “Light of Rays” are an echo of impressionist music.

From way back, the composer’s works in a variety of genres attracted public’s attention, such as the miniatures for string orchestra, “Paraphrase on a Georgian motif,” for choir and piano, and the cantata “Heroes” and etc..

Guram Bzvaneli played an important role in the development of Georgian pop music. He actively collaborated with several collectives, in addition to the quartet he founded. One of them was the first internationally known Georgian vocal-instrumental group, “Mziuri.” The soundtrack for live performances, as well as “Mziuri,” “Tushi Metskhvareebi,” and other movies, belong to Bzvaneli.

A significant aspect of Georgian culture is Guram Bzvaneli’s multifaceted creative life.

Musicologist
Tamar Tsulukidze
English Language Translator
Tamar Kharadze