Category: Daily Dispatch

The eminent Georgian composer Giya Kancheli has died.

Born in Tblisi in 1935, Kancheli achieved critical acclaim through a body of seven distinctive symphonies and popular recognition for his film scores. His Symphony No. 4, dedicated “To the memory of Michelangelo,” earned him a USSR State Prize in 1976. The work received its American premiere by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1978.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kancheli moved to the West, living first in Berlin and then Antwerp, where he was composer-in-residence with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. Kancheli died earlier today, in his hometown of Tblisi, at the age of 84.

Kancheli’s fourth symphony will be heard this afternoon, among my featured works, between 4 and 6 p.m. EDT. If you like the music of Henryk Gorecki or Arvo Pärt, you might want to give it a shot. We’ll also mark the birthdays today of English composer Kenneth Leighton and Dutch organist, harpsichordist, and conductor Ton Koopman, a leading figure in the HIP (historically informed performance) movement.

Somewhere along the way, we’ll also continue our observance of the Jewish High Holy Days with Darius Milhaud’s “Études sur des thèmes liturgiques du Comtat Venaissin,” a work that references tunes from the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur liturgies. The piece has a something of a local connection, written as it was on a commission from the Braemer Foundation of Philadelphia.

I’ll follow that with “Yahrzeit” by former Milhaud student Robert Moran, who has made Philadelphia his home for the past 35 years.

At 6:00, it’s another “Music from Marlboro.” This week, the focus will be on works by Walter Piston and Johannes Brahms, as performed at the famed Marlboro Music Festival.

I’ve got Georgia on my mind, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.