Biography

Merab Partskhaladze was a Georgian (formerly Georgian SSR), Soviet, and Russian composer. He was born on December 15, 1924, in Tiflis (later Tbilisi), Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. His father, Alexei, was a composer and also an ethnographer. In 1929, due to his father's work, the family moved to Batumi in the Adjar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, located within Georgia. At the age of seven, he entered the piano department of the music school attached to the Batumi Secondary Music School, where he studied piano under Buchinsky. He then proceeded to the Batumi Secondary Music School, continuing his studies with Buchinsky. He learned music theory from his father and by the age of nine, he was composing short pieces for piano and songs based on Georgian poetry. The Georgian folk songs heard in the city, the classical music at school (he particularly favored Grieg, Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff), and his father's music, all influenced and shaped Partskhaladze's distinctive compositional style.

Education and Career

After graduating from the Batumi Secondary Music School in 1942, he was conscripted into the Great Patriotic War (World War II), interrupting his musical studies. After the war, he simultaneously enrolled in the Odesa Medical University and the Odesa Conservatory, but his passion for music grew, leading him to drop out after one year and return to Georgia. From 1947, he studied composition at the Tbilisi Conservatory under Barfkhudaryan, who had also been his father's teacher. In April 1949, a concert featuring composition students from across the Soviet Union was held at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Partskhaladze, then a student at the Tbilisi Conservatory, participated. His performance of his own piano piece, "Panduruli," which imitated the Georgian plucked instrument panduri, was a success and marked a significant turning point. Encouraged by Tsintsadze, a composition student at the Moscow Conservatory who heard his performance, he decided to apply to the same conservatory. By the time Partskhaladze arrived in Moscow for the entrance examination, the application deadline had already passed, but his performance of his own compositions was highly regarded by the examiners, and he was granted admission. He studied composition at the Moscow Conservatory under Bogatyryov and graduated in 1953. From 1953 to 1957, while studying at the same conservatory's postgraduate program, he also served as an instructor at the Moscow Secondary Choral School (now the Popov Academy of Choral Art). He joined the Union of Soviet Composers in 1954. After completing his postgraduate studies, he permanently resided in Moscow and served on various committees, including the Committee for Music for Children and Youth, the Radio Arts Council, the music publisher Muzyka, and the record company Melodiya. In 1986, he was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR.

Works

His creative output was extensive, including:

• The symphonic poem "Nestan" (1954) based on the epic poem by Georgian poet Rustaveli
• The symphonic suite "Forest Pictures" (1978)
• The "Piano Concerto" (1953)
• Piano pieces "Panduruli No. 1" (1948) and "Panduruli No. 2" (1950)
• "Sonata for Violin and Piano" (1958)
• "String Quartet" (1951)
• Many other choral works, songs, and music for films and plays.

Music for children held a significant place in Partskhaladze's oeuvre, and his "Children's Album," a collection of piano pieces written over various periods, became a staple in the repertoire of Soviet children. The only piano piece currently published in Japan, "Autumn Rain," is included in this collection (composed in 1951 as the third piece of "Four Pieces for Piano," Op. 6, and later included in "Children's Album").

Musical Style and Legacy

Eshpai, who studied at the Moscow Conservatory at the same time, described Partskhaladze's music as "colorful, highly emotional, melodious, and always demonstrating high professionalism." Partskhaladze did not merely quote Georgian folk music but strived to fuse folk elements with Western elements. Even in works with themes unrelated to Georgia, one can discern characteristic Georgian modes, melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. Even after permanently residing in Moscow, he maintained his affection for the nature of his hometown, Batumi. He passed away on February 14, 2008.

References

• Bogdanova 1985 — Bogdanova A. V. Portrety sovietskikh kompozitorov "Merab Partskhaladze". M.: Sovietsky Kompozitor, 1985. [Bogdanova A. V. Portraits of Soviet composers "Merab Partskhaladze"]. Moscow: Sovietsky Kompozitor, 1985.