Zahariy Paliashvili
GeorgiaBiography of Zakaria Paliashvili
Zakaria Paliashvili was a prominent Georgian composer, musician, and educator. He was born on August 16, 1871, in Kutaisi, Georgia. Paliashvili's family had a strong musical background, with his father being a singer in a church choir and three of his brothers becoming renowned musicians.
Paliashvili received his initial musical education from his brother Ivan, who later became a distinguished conductor. He also studied piano with the Georgian pianist and pedagogue F. Mizandari. From the age of eight, Paliashvili sang in a church choir and learned to play the organ in his childhood. In 1887, he joined the Georgian folk choir led by L. Agniashvili for three years. From 1895 to 1899, he studied at the Tbilisi Music School, specializing in the French horn and composition theory under the guidance of the school's director, N. Klenovsky. It was during this time that he made his first attempts at composing music.
Paliashvili furthered his musical education at the Moscow Conservatory from 1900 to 1903 under the tutelage of S. Taneyev. Upon his return to Georgia in 1903, Paliashvili embarked on a wide range of creative, educational, and musical activities. He played an active role in the establishment of the Georgian Philharmonic Society in 1905, organized a choir and orchestra, and subsequently became the head of the music school associated with the society from 1908 to 1917. In 1919, Paliashvili became a professor at the Tbilisi Conservatory and later served as its director.
The majority of Paliashvili's creative legacy consists of three operas that marked a new era in the history of Georgian musical art: the epic-tragic opera "Abesalom and Eteri" (1919), the lyrical-dramatic opera "Daisi" (1923; the first opera written in Georgia after the establishment of Soviet power), and the heroic-patriotic opera "Latavra" (1928). Paliashvili also composed a "Festive Cantata" for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution (1927), a "Georgian Suite" based on folk themes for orchestra (1928), romances, choral works, and arrangements of Georgian liturgical music for a large mixed choir. The composer collected and recorded around 300 Georgian folk songs, some of which were published in his compilation, "Collection of Georgian Folk Songs" (40 songs, 1910).
Zakaria Petrovich Paliashvili passed away on October 6, 1933, in Tbilisi, Georgia.
