Gorgadze, Shalva Alexandrovich

Born in the city of Kutaisi in the family of a teacher of mathematics, he received his primary education at the Kutaisi Real School, then he studied at the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute. Preferring music to exact sciences, he entered the wind department of the Tbilisi Conservatory.

In the period from the 1920s to the mid-1930s, Sh. Gorgadze was the second conductor and artist of the Tbilisi Opera House Symphony Orchestra, as well as the conductor - head of the brass band at the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In 1935, at the invitation of the government of Abkhazia, Sh. Gorgadze moved to Sukhumi and began working as the head of the musical part of the Sukhumi Drama Theater , wrote music for performances (“Woe from Wit” by A. Griboedov, “Colors of the World” by N. Mikava and G. Abashidze , “People of Good Will” by G. Mdivani, “Clear Sky” by S. Basaria and many others). At the same time, he acts as a conductor and leader of a brass band organized by him, which gains public significance through its Sunday concerts in the parks of Sukhumi . Later he began to work as the head of the educational part of the Sukhumi College of Music and the school with him, and in 1941 he became the director of the school and will be its permanent leader for almost a quarter of a century (from 1941 to 1966).

The activity of S. Gorgadze was an integral part of the formation of a professional Abkhaz musical culture. During his leadership, the Sukhumi College of Music was considered one of the best educational institutions in the republic. The pedagogical elite of the music school consisted of graduates of the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories A. Kastorsky, M. Vepreyskaya, A. Pozdneev, M. Bubnova, N. Syroezhin, M. Liventsova, O. Kreps, V. Zizdo-Emukhvari, G. Maximov, S. Girovsky and others. Already in the 1950s and 60s, the school developed its own teaching staff. The teachers of this generation include T. Lolua, N. Pelenkin, V. Razumovskaya, A. Mitichyan, L. Jergenia, A. Esebua, E. Guadzabia, Y. Kakubava, S. Morentseva, J. Bumburidi, T. Kolbaia, N Tsereteli, B. Kalichava, N. Gorgadze, E. Kozmidi, S. Ketsba, M. Khashba and others.

As a musical and public figure, Sh. Gorgadze sought to expand the influence of the school, integrate it into the cultural life of Abkhazia. The educational institution has become one of the cultural centers of the city of Sukhumi, where concerts and creative evenings took place. Graduates participated in city events, went to patronage concerts. With his active assistance, a pop orchestra was created at the Sukhumi Taxi Park, the leaders of which were talented graduates of the music school and the Tbilisi Conservatory A. Esebua and R. Mitichyan.

Sh. Gorgadze made a significant contribution to the development of music education in Abkhazia. On his initiative, music schools were opened in various cities of Abkhazia (Gagra, Gudauta, Ochamchira, Tkvarcheli, etc.). In the late 1950s, Gorgadze revives the symphony orchestra at the Sukhumi College of Music, which in 1969 will gain the status of the State. Gorgadze contributed to the formation of L. Jergenia in the conducting field (later - the main conductor of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra). In the early 1960s, a string chamber orchestra was created at the College of Music (conductor O. Gorgadze).

In 1957, Sh. Gorgadze took part in the preparation and conduct of a significant event for the Abkhaz culture - the Decade of Abkhaz literature and art in Tbilisi. Gorgadze’s activities were aimed at preserving and developing the ballet tradition. There was a children's ballet school at the music school for a long time, in which it was taught by choreographer E. Gorelova, and later on by L. Chikhladze. For this school, he wrote the children's ballet Legends of Lake Ritsa, which successfully went on stage at the Sukhumi Philharmonic. Individual ballet numbers were arranged for them for piano and used in the pedagogical repertoire of children's music schools.

In the late 1950s, Sh. Gorgadze organized an opera studio at the Sukhumi Music College, in which both students and teachers were involved. The result of the studio's work was the production of scenes from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin (conducted by A. Pozdneev) on the stage of the Sukhumi Drama Theater, and later, in 1967, the Daisy opera Z. Paliashvili (conducted by Y. Imanov) was staged .

For many years, marches composed by Sh. Gorgadze accompanied the Sukhumi parades (for example, the “Abkhaz March”). And for the release of the first issue of the children's magazine "Amtsabz" he wrote "Pioneer March" (1957). He promoted Abkhaz music, was engaged in the processing of folk melodies, and supported and patronized young Abkhaz composers and performers. The intonational basis of his music is the Abkhaz folk song, with its characteristic diatonic, modal variability and rhythm. At the beginning of 1966, Sh. Gorgadze left the post of director of the Sukhumi College of Music. However, his activity in the field of education was continued - he became an inspector of the Ministry of Culture of Abkhazia for music educational institutions. He also continues his active musical and social activities as head of the department. creative department of the board of the musical-choreographic society of Abkhazia. By order of the Society, composer M. Berikashvili writes the first children's Abkhazian opera True Friends. The opera was shown at a review of musical groups at the Tbilisi Theater of Muses. comedy and was awarded the first prize (conductor - O. Gorgadze).

On the initiative of S. Gorgadze, a quartet of Abkhaz folk instruments was created at the Musical-Choreographic Society (leader - O. Gorgadze). The organization of the quartet was preceded by painstaking work to recreate Abkhaz folk instruments based on sketches of musicologist-ethnographer Inna Khashba (violinist master Angelo Simovonyan, Sochi ^[1] ).

The creative and organizational activities of Sh. Gorgadze were aimed at raising an aesthetic taste and raising the level of musical culture in the republic. It developed in the context of processes in the Abkhazian musical culture of the 1930-1960s in several directions at once: the creation of schools, musical groups, the training of pedagogical personnel, the promotion of national music, and was continued by the next generations.

1. ↑ Newspaper Dnieper Evening, September 20, 1973

• A. Argun. History of the Abkhaz Theater. Sukhumi, 1978;
• "Soviet Abkhazia", ​​1939, October 17; 1950, December 20; 1961, September 13;
• Amtsabz, No. 1, 1957;
• "Soviet Abkhazia", ​​April 1974;
• Athenian Courier, January 23-30, 2004;
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