Giya KANCHELI (b. 1935)
Themes from the Songbook
Earth, This is Your Son (film, Revaz Chkheidze, 1980), Herio Bichebo
[3:43]
Bear’s Kiss (film, Sergei Bodrov, 2002), Theme [3:26]
The Crucible (play, Arthur Miller, dir. Robert Sturua, 1965), Main
theme [3:19]
As You Like It (play, William Shakespeare, dir. Robert Sturua, 1978),
Theme [5:54]
Don Quixote (film, Revaz Chkheidze, 1988), Theme: Variation 1 [2:31]
Hamlet (play, William Shakespeare, dir. Robert Sturua, 1992), Theme:
Variation I [1:32]
King Lear (play, William Shakespeare, dir. Robert Sturua, 1989), Theme
[1:56]
Don Quixote, Theme: Variation II [1:54]
Kin-Dza-Dza (film, Georgi Daniela and Revaz Gabriadze, 1986), Main
theme [2:37]
The Role for a Beginner (play, Tamaz Chiladze, dir. Robert Sturua,
1979), Main theme [2:27]
Twelfth Night (play, William Shakespeare, dir. Robert Sturua, 2001),
Theme [1:56]
Cinema (film, Liana Eliava, 1977), Main theme [1:36]
Hamlet, Theme: Variation II [1:35]
Richard III (play, William Shakespeare, dir. Robert Sturua, 1979),
Waltz [2:13]
Minimo (film, Georgi Daniela and Revaz Gabriadze, 1977), Theme [2:49]
Don Quixote, Theme: Variation III [1:45]
When Almonds Blossomed (film, Lana Gogoberidze, 1972), Main Theme [5:53]
The Eccentrics (film, Eldar Shengelaia and Revaz Gabriadze, 1973),
Waltz [3:07]
Hamlet, Theme: Variation III [4:15]
Earth, This is Your Son, Herio Bichebo (sound track recording) [5:19]
Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon); Gidon Kremer (violin); Andrei Pushkarev (vibraphone)
rec. May 2010, Rainbow Studio, Oslo, Norway and Latvian Radio, Riga, Latvia
ECM 2188 [59:46]
The intensely spiritual quality of Georgian composer Giya Kancheli’s
music explains why he is often mentioned in the same breath as Arvo Pärt
or John Tavener. There are certainly points in common, but Kancheli’s
music is even more immobile, and silence plays an important part. It casts
a powerful spell, only to be broken by sudden, tearing violence.
Manfred Eicher of ECM Records has consistently championed the music of Kancheli,
but this disc will come as a surprise to those who already have the others.
Alongside his symphonic work, Kancheli has always composed music for the theatre
and for films, and in 2009 he published an album of thirty-three such pieces
entitled Simple Music for Piano. Here are nineteen of them, interpreted
by the Argentinean bandoneon player, Dino Saluzzi, the Latvian violinist Gidon
Kremer, and the Ukrainian vibraphone player Andrei Pushkarev.
Having no access to the album itself, I can only imagine how free these interpretations
are, but I think they must be very free indeed. Most of the pieces are duets,
with all three musicians playing together only once. The recordings are the
result of two sessions, in which Kremer and Saluzzi did not meet, their joint
efforts achieved by overdubbing. The recorded sound is close and glamorous,
allowing us to hear the clicks of the bandoneon keys, as well as leaving us
in no doubt that a violin involves scraping hairs over strings. The booklet
features a useful essay by the composer’s son that is difficult to follow
at first, but which becomes clear as one gets to know the music.
For the most part, the pieces are slow and pensive in mood. Whether Gidon
Kremer’s tremolando playing is the most appropriate way of accompanying
the ideas expounded in Arthur Miller’s masterly play The Crucible
is a moot point - and there is no way of knowing from this disc how the original
sounded - but the result is certainly highly affecting, gloomy and sinister.
Kancheli has apparently written a fair amount of music for plays by Shakespeare.
It’s not only the instrumentation that makes the music for As You
Like It sound more appropriate for a romantic film from the fifties than
a Shakespeare play. The harmony of this essentially static piece features
the added sixths and diminished and augmented chords so typical of the gently
jazz-influenced music of that genre. The first variation on the theme from
Don Quixote sounds more Georgian than anything Spanish; here, Gidon
Kremer plays a melancholy minor key melody in a duet with himself. Hamlet
is represented by the bandoneon, and the following piece, for solo vibraphone,
could almost be an extract from Francis Lai’s music for Un homme
et une femme, so it’s surprising to find that it was written for
King Lear. The theme for the film Kin-Dza-Dza, on the other
hand, features some ticking rhythms and even a few louder passages that are
welcome in context.
For The Role for a Beginner Kancheli produced a tune which can only
be described as cheerful and catchy, both extraordinary adjectives to apply
to this composer. There follows a restrained, minor-key jig punctuated with
silences (Twelfth Night), and the wistful sadness of Cinema
is very touching. This disc would be a winner for anyone playing “Spot
the Composer”. Even the most musically aware of dinner guests would
be hard pressed to come up with the right name here.
The arrangement of the Waltz from Richard III must be a very free one
indeed, as I could detect no discernible waltz rhythm therein. Perhaps the
most beautiful piece on the disc is the theme from the film Minimo,
superbly played in vertiginous heights by Gidon Kremer. The disc begins and
ends with the song “Herio Bichibo” from the film Earth, This
is Your Son. It is first given as a duet between bandoneon and vibraphone,
whereas track 20 is an extract from the film soundtrack, sung by Jansug Kakhidze,
a close associate of the composer, particularly as a conductor. It makes for
a very touching close.
If you want to find out if the music of Kancheli is for you, I suggest you
begin with Mourned by the Wind, a beautiful and moving work for cello
and orchestra. The present disc is not at all the same thing. It is a kind
of concept album, as different from what one expects from Kancheli as can
be imagined, yet also very beautiful in parts and often very touching. It
will make perfect relaxed, late night listening, and I think many people will
purchase it for that purpose.
William Hedley
Kancheli’s music for stage and screen, reinterpreted; surprising and
different. Perfect relaxed, late night listening.