Giya KANCHELI
(b. 1935) profile by Julie Williams
Major
Works list
CD
reviews
"Quite slowly I'm
walking from the world / into a landscape
further off than far,
I what I was and am and shall remain
as patient, as unhurried walks with
me
into a country never trodden yet.
Quite slowly I'm
walking out of time
into a future further than any star,
and what I was am and ever shall be
as patient, as unhurried walks with
me
as though I'd never been or hardly
been."
These stanzas by
the German Jewish poet Hans Sahl and
are the point of departure for Giya
Kancheli's work "Lament" - a piece
for violin, soprano and orchestra
written in memory of Luigi Nono. However,
they aptly sum up the enduring themes
recurring throughout Kancheli's music:
exile, mourning and timelessness.
His fellow post-Soviet composer, Schnittke,
says that in his symphonies, "we can
live a whole life, or perceive an
entire history, unaware of the jolts
of time."
The Georgian composer
Kancheli's distinctive music has received
a certain amount of public attention
and interest recently, with a performance
last week of his Fifth Symphony by
the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in
Manchester's Bridgewater Hall (broadcast
on Radio Three) and the world premiere
of a new double concerto for violin
and oboe by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by James MacMillan with
the Georgian soloists Lisa Batiashvili
and Francois Leleux at the Barbican
Centre in London. There was also a
major retrospective of this composer's
works at the Royal Northern College
of Music in 2005 to mark his 70th
birthday.
Kancheli's music
is characterised by slow, soft, meditative
sections upon which sudden fortissimo
bursts intrude regularly but not always
predictably: there is no middle ground
in volume or tempo, and this creates
a unique sound-world. It can at times
be restful, at times disturbing; haunting,
reflective and inspiring in a quite
idiosyncratic way. Its at times bleak
landscape has been compared to the
films of Andrei Tarkovsky.
Kancheli is sometimes
compared to the minimalist composers,
and even to the holy minimalists.
However the composer and conductor
James MacMillan -- who had the privilege
of meeting Kancheli at the Manchester
retrospective, and who has very recently
conducted his fifth Symphony - describes
being particularly attracted to the
dramatic nature of Kancheli's music,
which he sees as more maximalist than
minimalist. His cycle, 'Life without
Christmas', reveals a profoundly
ambiguous attitude to traditional
religion and religious traditions:
we are certainly not confronted here
with the dogmatic security of assertive
piety. The issues of national identity,
belonging and exile are always prominent
as influences. Georgia, the composer's
homeland, stands at a crossroads between
European and eastern civilisations.
Kancheli was born
in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1935. He studied
both piano and composition at the
Tiflis conservatory there from 1959
to 1963 and later returned as a faculty
member in 1970. His initial work was
as a composer of film and stage music
-- not uncommon as an occupation for
composers during the Soviet era -
Shostakovich, Schnittke and Gubaidulina
all having worked in this capacity.
Prodigious in his output, two collaborations
with the producer Robert Sturua were
considerable successes: Shakespeare's
'As You Like It' and "Fantastic Sums
of Money" by Ostrovsky.
In 1971, he took
up the post of Director of Music at
the Rostaveli Theatre in Tbilisi,
combining this role with his teaching
duties at the Conservatory. He also
wrote a series of seven symphonies
between 1967 and 1986 and an opera
"Music for the Living" (1984). The
symphonies are all unconventional
in form; often being in one single
movement which is always slow in tempo.
The Second Symphony
(1970) – (available on CPO recording
999 263-2, paired with the Seventh
Symphony) was written whilst Kancheli’s
distinctive approach was still developing.
It has three movements: adagio; allegro;
adagio. It is inspired by, but never
quotes directly from, Georgian folk
music and its polyphony. The sound
of bells -- another characteristic
feature of Kancheli's symphonies -
is introduced into the third and final
movement. At times the influence of
Stravinsky can be detected.
The Fourth Symphony
(available on an Olympia recording
OCD 403, paired with the Fifth Symphony)
is subtitled, ‘Dedicated to the Memory
of Michelangelo’. Kancheli's distinctive
approach is now fully fledged here,
and the work is presented in one continuous
movement of just under 25 minutes’
duration. Quiet sustained textures
are constantly disturbed by vigorous
outbursts from the full orchestra.
Seldom is dynamic variation characterised
by gradual or cautious approaches.
The Fifth Symphony
is also commemorative; this time to
the composer’s parents. It opens with
a solo harpsichord section, having
the distinction of being amongst a
relatively small number of contemporary
works featuring that instrument. Characteristically,
this is soon violently interrupted;
a pattern of alternation which continues
throughout the symphony’s course.
It has been described as the most
violent and despairing of Kancheli's
symphonies, but this aspect is brought
out more strongly in the State Symphony
Orchestra of Georgia’s recording (q.v.)
and was less to the fore in the recent
BBC Philharmonic performance, which
brought out a softer tone and more
hopeful aspect to the work.
The Seventh Symphony
– "Epilogue" serves as a postscript
to Kancheli's body of symphonic work.
There are musical references to Bach
and to Beethoven as well as to his
own second, fourth, fifth and sixth
symphonies.
"From their voices
one hears sounds of despair and protest,
entreaty and sympathy, believe and
hope; they tell us how sorrowful the
epilogue to "Epilogue",
which has been greeted with the comment
"addolorando" (sorrowful),
can indeed be." Tatjana Frumkis
Since 1991, following
increasing unrest in his own country,
Kancheli has lived in Berlin and now
in Antwerp: the always-present feeling
of exile becoming manifest now in
his outward circumstances. There has
been a distinct change in his musical
output since then and a more radical
departure from traditional forms and
formats, with strong extra - musical
reference points being a usual feature.
One of the first
works commissioned from him after
his move to the West was "Magnum
Ignotum", for the Witten music
festival. The organisers asked for
a composition containing Georgian
folk tunes. Kancheli answered this
by using a tape recording of Georgian
folk music integrated into his own
music being played live. The tape
he used was in four sections: a reading
of the Gospel for Christmas Eve in
the cathedral of Anchiskhati; an archive
recording of a polyphonic folk song;
an interplay between two layers involving
natural and artificial tone colours;
and a Georgian hymn, Upalo Ghmerto,
sung by a choir. The first part has
a live music set simultaneously with
the tape; later they diverged and
their interplay leads gradually to
a dynamic climax in the third section,
which is then followed by the mysterious
beauty of the hymn.
A very significant
composition from this period shortly
after his emigration – and one which
brought Kancheli’s music to a wider
audience - is the cycle, "Life without
Christmas". This is in four sections
for chamber ensemble and varying soloists
entitled "Morning Prayer", "Midday
Prayer", "Evening Prayer", and "Night
Prayer". Whilst these may be "prayers"
in the broadest possible sense - of
an invocation of rising out of spiritual
need - they also embody estrangement
from the traditional Christian view
of divine incarnation and look at
that perspective quizzically. They
are questioning rather than devout,
and embody a characteristic ambiguity.
If God is here, he is independent
of history, although in his concealment
from human experience there is somehow
also a consoling remnant of hope.
"Morning Prayer",
the first part of the cycle, is for
chamber orchestra and vocalists, particularly
featuring counter-tenor. It has been
recorded on ECM (1510) by the Hilliard
Ensemble and the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
under Dennis Russell Davies.
"Midday Prayers",
the next section, is for 19 instruments,
a boy’s voice and solo clarinet. It
is dedicated to the clarinettist Eduard
Brunner, and in ECM's recording (1568)
the vocal part is sung by the soprano
Maacha Dubner, who is also featured
on the same label’s recording of ‘Lament’
(q.v.) - which is scored for violin,
soprano and orchestra. Only late in
the work does the vocal soloist enter,
with a distant setting of two short
phrases from the passion: "My God,
my God why hast thou forsaken me?"
and "Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit." The sound-world is one
of anguish and desolation.
Verses from the passion
of Christ are also set in the short
piece Caris Mere for soprano
and viola which follows on the ECM
recording. Here they are supplemented
by a quotation from Hyperion
by Holderlin,
"Over the flowers
of our spirit the present blows like
a howling north wind, blasting them
even in the bud".
The wind is a recurring
theme for Kancheli – and the title
‘Caris Mere’ can be translated as
‘After the Wind’.
"Evening Prayers",
the third element of the cycle, features
alto flute as well as voices with
the chamber ensemble, with singers
entering early in the work. Periods
of quiet (as one might anticipate
for the closing of the day) are shattered
by periodic bursts of anguish, with
strident brass and alone and forceful
clanging of bells. " Night Prayers",
the closing section – written between
1992 and 1995 – uses tape as well
as a live soloist- soprano saxophone,
Jan Garbarek in an excellent performance
on ECM449 198-2. This is reminiscent
of the techniques used in the approximately
contemporaneous ‘Magnum Ignotum’.
However, in allowing a measure of
improvisation to the soloist, this
work is innovative. The nocturne is
characterised by nightmare rather
than by peace; right at the end the
singer’s voice (on tape) makes the
plea ‘O Lord, Hear My Voice’.
"Night Prayers" has also been arranged
for string quartet and tape and has
been recorded by the Kronos Quartet
on Elektra Nonesuch.
Kancheli has written
pieces of varying lengths featuring
and inspired by particular musicians
that he admired: the cellist Rostropovich
(the solo piece Mourned by the
Wind) and the violists Yuri Bashmet
(Styx q.v.) and Kim Kashkashian
(Caris Mere (q.v.) and Abii
ne Viderem). Styx is a
viola concerto which also incorporates
a choral part, thus creating a dialogue
between orchestra and singers, which
is mediated by the soloist – mimicking
the role of Chiron the ferryman, crossing
between the world of the living and
that of the dead in ancient mythology.
The vocal part is principally a prayer
for the dead - in particular for the
composer’s lamented friends and colleagues
Alfred Schnittke and Avet Terterian
- it names a series of Georgian monasteries
and cathedrals. Later on the figure
of Time from Shakespeare’s
A Winter’s Tale - showing Kancheli’s
background in the theatre - is introduced.
However, the choir is never quite
in the foreground, and there is some
similarity to the use of taped singing
in the slightly earlier Magnum
Ignotum. Styx is available on
a Deutsch Gramophon recording (471
494-2) featuring the work’s dedicatee
and is paired on that disc with the
Viola Concerto by Sofia Gubaidulina,
also written for Bashmet.
Kancheli’s work Lament
has in common with Styx
a commemoration of a dead fellow composer;
this time the Italian, Luigi Nono.
It also shares the use of voice, instrumental
soloist and ensemble. This time, the
instrumental soloist is the violin,
recorded once again on ECM (1656)
with Gidon Kremer. A solitary violin
sings, refrains from singing, and
is burst in on full orchestra. The
themes are of sorrow and also of memory.
Close to the end, a childlike soprano
sings (Maacha Deubner) as the work
draws to its conclusion.
Last year a double
concerto for oboe and violin was commissioned
from him by the Georgian violinist
Lisa Batiashvili, which received its
world premiere at London’s Barbican
Centre on 15 February 2007.
The violin part in
this work is more reminiscent of the
viola concerto than of Kancheli’s
earlier work for violin, and the oboe’s
role further demonstrates Kancheli’s
fluency in the alto register. The
dialogue between the two soloists
is reminiscent of the dialogue between
soloist, choir and orchestra in Styx.
A wide variety of percussion is
scored, as is alto flute. Although
containing Kancheli’s trademark sudden
dynamic contrasts, it is a predominantly
gentle work which ebbs and flows through
its course. It has a subtle transcendence
which draws the listener in gradually,
building very gradually to end with
a raucous but very brief burst of
intense sound.
Kancheli writes of
his music: "When I compose music,
I don't focus on the everyday collisions
of life. I want to see it as a bird
in flight, from a height, from an
angle. I want to establish a musical
progression, note by note, to create
a perfect form. I am fighting with
myself -- and I must be honest and
clean to overcome the obstacles that
I myself created."
This composer’s austere
and at times stark sound-world of
grief and exile is challenging but
has its own strange and haunting beauty
in which the listener can find hope
as well as despair. Its distinctive
quality of timelessness has rightly
been emphasized by fellow composers
and by performers – Schnittke, Yuri
Bashmet and James Macmillan.
Julie Williams
MAJOR WORKS
Symphony number 1
1967
Symphony number 2 ('Songs') 1970
Symphony number 3 1973
Symphony number 4 ("In Commemoration
of Michelangelo") 1975
Symphony number 5 1976
Symphony number 6 1981
Music for the Living -- opera
1984
Symphony number 7 ('Epilogue') 1986
Life without Christmas: Morning
Prayers 1990
Midday Prayers 1991
Afternoon Prayers 1991
Night Prayers 1994
Abii ne Viderem 1992
Magnum Ignotum
Mourned by the Wind
Caris Mere 1994
Nach dem Weinen ('Having Wept')
- for solo cello 1994
Lament 1998
Styx - Viola Concerto 1999
Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe
2007
CD
Reviews
Giya
KANCHELI (born 1935) Styx
(1999)a [35:46] John
TAVENER (born 1944)
The Myrrh-Bearer (1993)b
[41:56] 
Maxim Rysanov (viola); Rihards Zaļupe
(percussion)b; Kamēr...
Choirab; Men of the State
Choir Latvijab;
Liepāja Symphony Orchestraa;
Māris Sirmais
Words and translations included
ONYX 4023 [77:42] Musicweb
Purchase button
Sound
Sample Opening
of Styx
Giya
KANCHELI (b. 1935) Symphony
No. 1 (1967) (1. Allegro con fuoco;
2. Largo) [20:33] Symphony No. 4 (1975)
[18:39] Symphony No. 5 (1976) [19:49]
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/James
DePreist
ONDINE ODE 8290 [59:21]
Giya
KANCHELI (b. 1935)
Magnum Ignotum Simi
Mstislav Rostropovich (cello)
Koninkijk Filharmonisch Orkest van
Vlaadderen/Jansug Kakhidze
ECM New Series 289 462 713-2 [50.38]
Giya
KANCHELI (b.1935) Simi
[26.42] Mourned by the Wind
(1984) [38.06]
Alexander Ivashkin (cello) Russian
State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri Polyansky
CHANDOS CHAN 10297 [64.59]
Giya
KANCHELI
(b.1935) In L’istesso tempo Time…and
again, for violin and piano (1996)
[25’33] V & V, for violin,
taped voice and strings (1994) [12’35]
Piano Quartet in l’istesso tempo
(1997) [26’05] Gidon Kremer (violin)
Oleg Maisenberg (piano) The Bridge
Ensemble
Kremerata Baltica/Gidon Kremer
ECM NEW MUSIC 4618182 [64’40]
