Famous Georgian composer Giya Kancheli dies aged 84
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World famous Georgian composer Giya Kancheli has died at the age of 84 in Tbilisi, due to heart related complications.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Kancheli had lived in Western Europe, in Berlin and Antwerp.
RIP Giya Kancheli, the Georgian composer who died this morning in Tbilisi, aged 84. Long before he became internationally famous, he spent two decades as music director of the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi. Between 1982 and ‘84 he wrote an opera, Music for the Living. pic.twitter.com/ZVJgVu4ZIM
— Opera magazine (@operamagazine) October 2, 2019
Symphony In Memoria Di Michelangelo, created in 1977, brought international recognition to Kancheli.
He is the composer of six other symphonies.
His Fourth Symphony was premiered in the US, with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov, in January 1978.
For two decades he was the music director of Georgia’s Rustaveli Theatre, writing music for plays staged by well-known Georgian director Robert Sturua.
Kancheli dedicated one of his latest works — titled Deda Ena in a nod to the iconic educational textbook for Georgian children.
Giya Kancheli- She is Here.
Kancheli spoke of "simplified musical language" and "music on the verge of silence" when describing the piece.
The prominent musician's compositions have been an iconic part of Georgian theatre and cinema, with his legacy marked within the the Alla Kontrapunkt festival in Tbilisi earlier in 2017.
Kancheli's international standing was also underlined by a performance at the Konzerthaus Berlin venue in the German capital in 2015, among other events.