Kancheli, A Little Daneliade
I’m guessing that many if not most of you will be intrigued with this piece by Giya Kancheli (1935-2019).
The music makes more sense when you know that it serves as the film score to the 1986 Russian-language film Kin-dza-dza. The film, something of a zany Sci-Fi comedy that seems to have attracted a cult following, probably needs its own separate discussion. I will only say that the movie has the same sparse and ironic character as the music.
A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, Kancheli spent much of his life under the artistic strictures of the Soviet system. Things eased a bit in the late 1980s with Gorbachev and Glasnost, and he had more opportunities for performances and commissions from the West. His symphonies (he wrote 7 in all) were performed by major American orchestras.
He had a strong interest in the theater and served for two decades as music director of the Rustaveli Theater in Tbilisi. His one opera, Music for the Living, premiered in 1984. He became something of a national hero in Georgia, both for his symphonic works and his numerous film scores.
Kancheli gives silence a prominent place in his music. He writes in blocks of sound, and moves suddenly between quiet delicacy and loud crashes. Influences on his style include the classicism of Stravinsky, Georgian folk songs, jazz, and the film scores of Michel Legrand.
If Kancheli interests you, Ian MacDonald created an impressive web site called “Music Under Soviet Rule” with a significant and critical review of Kancheli.
