Giya Kancheli is a Soviet and Georgian composer. He lived a long and eventful life. In 2019, the famous maestro died. His life ended at the age of 85.
The composer managed to leave behind a rich legacy. Almost every person at least once heard the immortal compositions of Guia. They sound in the cult Soviet films "Kin-dza-dza!" and "Mimino", "Let's Do It Quickly" and "Bear Kiss".
Childhood and youth of Giya Kancheli
The composer was lucky to be born in colorful Georgia. Maestro was born on August 10, 1935. Gia's parents were not associated with creativity.
The head of the family was an honored doctor. When World War II broke out in the world, he became the head doctor of a military hospital.
Little Kancheli had a very strange childhood dream. The boy told his parents that when he grows up, he will definitely become a seller of bakery products.
In his hometown, he graduated from a music school, and then went to a music school. But he was not accepted there. He accepted this fact as a defeat. The guy was very upset. Later, he thanked the teachers for not taking him to an educational institution:
“Today I am grateful to those people who did not accept me to the music school. After the refusal, I had to enter TSU, and only then return to music. As a fourth-year student at the Faculty of Geography, I entered the conservatory. I’m not sure that my fate would have been better if I had been enrolled in the school then.”
Gia was one of the most successful and gifted students in his class. After graduating from the conservatory, he was offered a teaching position at a higher educational institution. In addition, he worked in parallel at the Shota Rustaveli Theater.
Creative way and music of Giya Kancheli
Kancheli's first compositions appeared back in 1961 of the last century. The talented composer wrote a concerto for orchestra and a quintet for wind instruments. A few years later, he presented Largo and Allegro to the public.
On the wave of popularity, he introduced fans to classical music with Symphony No. 1. In more than 10 years, he created 7 symphonies, including: "Chant", "In Memory of Michelangelo" and "Epilogue".
The creative biography of the maestro also had a reverse side of popularity. Often his compositions succumbed to harsh criticism. At the beginning of his career, he was criticized for eclecticism, later for self-repetition. But one way or another, the maestro managed to create his own musical style of presenting musical material.
An interesting opinion about the composer was expressed by the writer and professor Natalya Zeyfas. She believed that the maestro did not have experimental and unsuccessful works in his repertoire. And that the composer was a born lyricist.
From the mid-1960s, Gia began to actively write compositions for films and TV series. His debut began with the creation of musical accompaniment for the film "Children of the Sea". The last work of the maestro was writing a piece for the film “You Know, Mom, Where I Was” (2018).
Details of the composer's personal life
Kancheli can be safely called a happy man, since his personal life has developed successfully. The composer lived with his loving wife for more than 50 years. The family had two children who decided to follow in the footsteps of the famous father.
Gia has repeatedly said that between him and his wife there are good, strong family relationships, built not only on love, but also on respect for each other. Valentina (the composer's wife) managed to raise beautiful and intelligent children. All the troubles of raising her daughter and son fell on the shoulders of her wife, since Kancheli was often not at home.
Interesting facts about the composer
- The maestro's first profession was a geologist.
- He gained worldwide recognition in the late 1970s, after the presentation of the symphony In memoria di Michelangelo.
- The composer dedicated one of his deepest symphonies to the memory of his father and mother. Gia called the piece To the Memory of My Parents.
- The immortal hits of Kancheli are heard in more than 50 films.
- He was often called "the maestro of silence".
Death of a maestro
The last years of his life he lived in Germany and Belgium. But after some time he decided to move to his native Georgia. Death overtook Gia at home. He passed away on October 2, 2019. The cause of death was a prolonged illness.
