My experience with this composer has reinforced to me, not to be scared off by birth dates or swayed by descriptors (a la Groves, or wiki, or even composer fan-pages). Otar Taktakischvili has been described as everything BUT what he actually was, which was an unabashedly late romantic, in the vein of Kabalevsky. Don't let his birth date sway you. I've perused now about 7 hours of his music, so I feel I can speak with some authority. Enough has been high quality, and all different, and I sense an individual voice through elements that remind me of Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Elgar, and even Mozart.
I highly recommend this composer to you all, and you all know my romantic interests (Foerster, Dvorak, Novak, Austro-German tradition composers, etc.).
Good places to start are his Piano Concerto No. 1 in c minor (1950), the Gurian Songs, Kantate für 8 Männerstimmen, Chor und Orchester (1971), and Symphony No. 1 in a minor (1949)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in c minor: Big, bold, written in clear, approachable, late romantic style, and very good. There's more emphasis on transparent textures and structure rather than empty virtuosity. The tunes are lyrical and seem to me to incorporate folk-like tunes (a la Dvorak). The first movement is reminiscent of Rachmaninoff and Medtner, though not as academic as the latter, with more sweeping harmonies, like the former. The second movement is an almost Mendelssohnian scherzo - very light on its feet.
The Piano Concerto No. 4 in d minor (written 33 years later) seems to have the same style - so once he found his voice, he didn't radically change it. Another Mendelssohnian or Schumanesque scherzo.
Symphony No. 1 in a minor (1949) is powerful yet lyrical. The idiom is largely 1900s-1930s, late Romantic (and not of the Mahler variety). It's full of melodies, again some folk-like. Some of it reminds me of Dvorak, but with more brass (like Grechaninov). The 2nd movement has a beautiful, haunting main melody, simply but interestingly developed. The 3rd movement is a delightful quick-paced light scherzo, with a particularly beautiful oboe solo in the trio. The fourth movement has good contrasts between the powerful first section and lyrical second section - reminding me of Dvorak, perhaps with some Elgar influences.
I haven't spent as much time with Symphony No. 2 in c minor (1953), but at first hearing, it is also compelling. It inhabits the same late romantic tone-world as the first symphony. He's particularly good with woodwind solos, as in the scherzo for this symphony. The fourth movement incorporates some interesting rhythms and exotic-sounding melodies.
The Gurian Kantate for 8 voices, chorus, and orchestra could have been composed 60 years earlier - Russian complex vocal harmonies in the tradition of Rachmaninoff, but with more folk harmonies - interesting intermixture. Some more modern elements enter about 10 minutes in, but the early part is awesome.
His most famous work is probably the flute sonata, and it is interesting, bringing to mind Mozart (yes!), but with a more pastoral bent.
In sum, Taktakischvili's work, to me, is immediately appealing, in a way that the Slavic romantic composers are. This to me is a mark of high quality, and I would encourage everyone to give him a chance. Most of his orchestral music is available on youtube for those that want to sample it. Unfortunately it seems most of it is from out of print LPs.
Worklist
Chamber
Poem and Allegro for cello and piano 1969
Cello Sonata 1985
Flute Sonata in C 1968
Piano Quintet 1987
Piano Trio 1969
Piano Trio 1987
String Quartet in c minor 1984
2 Pieces for violin and piano (Melody, Rondo) 1968
Violin Sonata in C 1969
3 pieces for violin and piano 1971
Violin Sonata in C (Transcription of Flute Sonata) 1975
Opera
King Oedipus, incidental music
Vassa Shelesnova, incidental music
Winter Tale, incidental music
Mindia (1959/60) 1960
3 Tales, Operatic Tryptichon from 3 short operas (1967, rev. 1972) 1967
The Abduction of the Moon, opera in 3 acts 1976
Mususi (The Lady Killer), comic opera in one act 1978
First Love, comic opera in 2 acs 1980
Orchestral
Cello Concerto No. 1 in d minor 1947
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D 1977
Piano Concerto No. 1 in c minor 1950
Piano Concerto No. 2 in f# minor (Mountain Tunes) 1973
Piano Concerto No. 3 in F 'Youth' 1973
Piano Concerto No. 4 in d minor 1983
Trumpet Concerto 1954
Violin Concertino in C 1956
Violin Concerto No. 1 in f minor 1976
Violin Concerto No. 2 1987
Festive overture 1951
Simple Overture in C for small orch 1961
Overture to the opera 'The Abduction of the Moon' 1976
Overture to the opera 'First Love' 1980
Choreographic Suite, ballet in one act 1976
Dance Suite, 3 dances from the opera Mususi 1978
Festivities in Georgia, dance suite for symphony orchestra 1980
Orchestral Miniatures (4) for orch (Larghetto, Intermezzo, march, Mountaineer's Dance) 1980
Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra 1982
Suite No. 1 from the ballet 'Gorda'
Suite No. 2 from the ballet 'Gorda'
Suite No. 3 from the ballet 'Gorda'
Samgori, symphonic poem 1950
Mtsyri, symphonic poem (u.a. "Der Mziri", 1956) 1956
Symphony No. 1 in a minor 'Youth' 1949
Symphony No. 2 in c minor 1953
Elegy, symphonic miniature 1954
Sachidao, symphonic miniature 1954
Shairi, symphonic miniature 1954
Humoresque for chamber orchestra 1961
Piano
Poem 1951
The Prisoner 1951
Toccata (1961) 1961
6 Children's pieces for piano 1969
Native Tunes, 5 pieces for piano 1970
Imitation georgischer Volksinstrumente, Suite (1973) 1973
Imitation of Georgian Folk instruments, suite for piano 1973
6 Children's pieces for piano 1980
Piano Sonata 1985
23 Water-colors for piano 1987
Humoresque for 2 pianos 1987
Vocal
5 Lullabies for women's chorus a capella 1980
Kartalin Tunes, choral cycle for chorus a capella 1982
7 romances for tenor and piano 1955
5 vocal poems 1956
5 vocal poems for duet and piano 1960
Our Swallows 1960
7 romances for soprano, baritone, and piano 1962
Kesaneh 1962
6 romances for tenor, bass, piano 1963
7 romances for tenor, bass, piano 1965
The Sun has vanished, poem 1967
6 Romances for soprano and piano 1980
8 Romances 1984
Hymne der georgischen SSR (1945) 1945
5 vocal poems for soprano, violin and piano/orchestra 1958
O Tblisi, cantata 1958
The Rock and the Stream, vocal-symphinc poem for chorus and orch 1962
Die lebendige Heimstatt [The Live Hearth], Oratorium (1963) 1963
Auf Rustawelis Spuren [In Rustaveli's Footsteps (solemn chants)], Oratorium (1964) 1964
Twilight above Mtazminda, poem for tenor, chorus and orch 1968
Nikolas Baratashvili, Oratorium (1970) 1970
Gurian Songs, Kantate für 8 Männerstimmen, Chor und Orchester (1971) 1971
Mingrelische Lieder, Suite für Tenor, 8 Männerstimmen und Kammerorchester (1972) 1972
Mengrelian songs, suite for tenor, chorus, chamber orch 1972
Love songs, Lyrical songs, suite for soprano, chorus, and orch 1974
Summer Lightnings Aflame, cantata 1976
Secular Hymns, for soli, chorus, percussion and 2 harps 1979
To the Holy Shushanik, Georgian hymn for baritone, chorus, and percussion 1979
Mit der Lyra von Akaki, Suite für Soli, Chor, Flöte, Harfe und Schlagzeug (1983) 1983
With Tsereteli's Lyre, oratorio 1984
Chamber Oratorio for men's chorus, soli, piano, organ, trumpet 1987
This is all very enticing, Ben. I have very much enjoyed Taktakischvili's Piano Concerto No.1 over the years, which I find intensely lyrical and melodic, but had never really though about the rest of his oeuvre. He's truly a composer "out of time", as you make clear. Time to do some serious Googling, I think.
All I can say is 'wow' - and thanks! I have immediately ordered PC1 and Symphony No.2. What undiscovered riches...
Yes, back in the Iron Curtain days I traded many lps with a chap in Moscow and he sent me tons of Soviet bloc composer works. And one of the few that caught my fancy was Taktakischvili.
Here are some of the works to seek on old Melodiya lps - perhaps some have been reissued on CDs:
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Concertino for violin & orchestra
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Five vocal poems for mezzo, soprano & orchestra
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Mtseiri (Georgian Monk)
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Piano Concerto #1 in c
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Piano Concerto #2 - Mountain Melodies
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Piano Concerto #3 - For Youth
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Piano Music: Pieces for piano
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Piano Music: Poem, Humoreske & Aria (4 hands)
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Sonata in C for violin & piano
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Summer Heat Lightning: Cantata
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Symphony #1 in a- Majestic
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Symphony #2 (1953)
Taktakishvili, Otar (1924-1989) Violin Concerto in f
Jerry
No problem! I'm listening to Symphony No. 2 now - great stuff. What's amazing is that some of this was written during my lifetime!
The fun of it for me is to hear back - let me know what you think of the pieces. Speaking of which, Mark, did you receive the Schumann complete works for piano and orchestra I mentioned a few months back?
Yes I did, Ben, and I'll post my comments in the Schumann box thread later on.
I look forward to getting to know his music better too. Bear in mind that, being Georgian, he is mostly certainly NOT Slavic!!
True enough - I was referring to the tonal experience - which Russians and many of the nations they dominated (specifically under the Soviet regime) have expressed. For me, he reminds me equally well of Dvorak as Kabalevsky. One thing he does not remind me of were his contemporary Georgian composers (Machavariani, Tsintsadze, etc.).
I confess I can't hear much Kabalevsky in Taktakishvili's PC1: it seems much more backward-looking. In fact the idiom doesn't seem to me much, if any, more advanced than, say, Rachmaninov. Not that I'm complaining! It's a great listen!
The connection, to me, was the simple (though not simplistic) melodies and treatments/developments. As I listen to him more, a more distinctive voice comes through.The Rachmaninoff similarities (in the harmonies, not piano treatment) becomes clearer too. Must have been an influence on Taktakischvili.
...and Tchaikovsky.
I discovered Taktakishvili's music earlier this year; his works are consistently rewarding. I would not agree, though, that his style did not vary. The first piano concerto is a very lush Rachmaninoff-like piece, but I would not say the same about the second, nor the violin concertos. He is recognisably a Soviet composer; there's a streak of Prokofiev in the first violin concerto.
True enough - I found the VC and PC No. 2 to be particularly astringent. However, his 4th PC sounds relatively similar to his 1st.
I wouldn't normally mention this as Taktakishvili is outside the usual remit of this site, but for the fact that he has very recently been discussed and for some reason he seems to have some following among members here (he's not my cup of tea tbh).
Anyway, daughter of a very well-known (in that part of the world) Belarusian tenor, Mikhail Galkovsky (1942-2010) has contacted me to say she has a complete private recording of Taktakishvili's opera "Mindia" with her father in the title role. She is very keen to raise awareness of her father's recordings beyond the Russian-speaking world and asked if I might post about it on English-language websites. I hope the moderators will permit this here! (She is also helping me to track down archived recordings in Minsk of Belarusian composers from "our" era - Zolotarev, Orda, etc etc)
Please PM me if you would like me to send you a link to the opera. There are also links to operas by Belarusian composers, though not of "our" era, in which her father sings.
As you know Christopher, it all depends on the style in which Taktakischvili wrote the opera as he is outside our normal date range. Could you point me to some excerpts, please?
Agreed. We need to hear what's being discussed...
Thanks to Christopher's kindness I've now sampled Mindia, and I'm happy to confirm that it's written in a quasi-romantic style, anachronistic for its time, but quite in keeping with our site's remit.
The label is unimportant I think. Although written well outside our era, the music is romantic in spirit, and as such I'm happy to see it posted here.
BTW there was a complete(??) recording of Mindi[j]a on MK LP in the 1950s (possibly reissued as a Melodiia CD set in 1984, unless that's a different recording, will have to double-check), and arias figure in a 2002-released song recital by Elvira Uzunian on Sonora Productions and (from someone else? Sung by Kuznetsova and Anjaparize?) in a LP miscellany in 1963. So it's possible, fwiw, that the upload already exists on CD/authorized download??
Ah. Unlikely, though. And the Kuznetsova excerpts are part of the 1950s/1984 recording which is conducted by a Mr Dimitriadi. Ok, good, good, the uploaded stuffs seem to be unmirrored. Sorry about that, sorry about that.
Fret not, Eric, it's always good to have you on the case!