Zakaria Paliashvili

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Zakharia Paliashvili (ზაქარია ფალიაშვილი in Georgian; Захарий Петрович Палиашвили in Russian; 16 August [O.S. 4 August] 1871 in Kutaisi — 6 October 1933 in Tbilisi) was a composer from the nation of Georgia. He is considered the founder of Georgian classical music.

As a young boy he sang in a choir and learned to play the organ in the St. Mary Catholic Church of Kutaisi. His first tutor was his brother Ivan, who later became a conductor. Zakharia moved to Tbilisi in 1887 as a chorister in the St. Mary Assumption Catholic Church of Tbilisi, eventually entering the music school there, studying French horn and composition. During 1900-1903 he studied composition under Sergei Taneyev at the Moscow Conservatory. Upon returning to his native land, Paliashvili began to play a strong role in developing national music in Georgia. He collected Georgian folk songs, co-founded the Georgian Philharmonic Society, and became head of the Tbilisi Conservatory.

Paliashvili composed works for symphony orchestra (e.g., Georgian Suite on Folk Themes), but is probably best known for his vocal music, which includes choruses and songs. His major works in this regard are the operas Abesalom da Eteri (Absalom and Eteri) (premiered 1919, although a verson of Act III was performed in 1913), Daisi (Twilight) (1923), and Latavra (1927).