October 1 celebrates the 85th anniversary of the birth of the famous composer and teacher Andrey Mdivani (1937-2021), who made a great contribution to the Belarusian musical culture and contributed to its prosperity.
Andrey Mdivani was born in 1937 in Tbilisi (Georgia) in an intelligent family. His grandfather was a lawyer, and his father was a school teacher. After the separation of his parents, the boy was brought up by relatives on his mother's side. They loved music very much at home, and Andrey enjoyed taking part in family concerts, listening to P. Tchaikovsky, D. Verdi, and J. Bach. He visited Orthodox cathedrals together with his grandmother, where he listened to beautiful temple singing.
At the age of 15, Andrey and his mother moved to Belarus. At the Vitebsk school, he organized an amateur orchestra, played at all parties and concerts. Soon the first composition of the aspiring composer was published – "Waltz in honor of the first secondary school in Vitebsk".
Andrey Mdivani studied at the Smolensk Music School in the conducting and choral department. In 1969, he graduated from the Lunacharsky Belarusian State Conservatory with a degree in composition by A.V. Bogatyrev, and in 1972 he completed postgraduate studies at the Conservatory (led by A.V. Bogatyrev and N. I. Peiko). He worked as the head of the music department in the drama theaters of Smolensk, Dzerzhinsk, Gorkovskaya Oblast, and Kirov (1961-1963), where he conducted an orchestra and composed music (mostly songs) for dramatic productions. Since 1964, he was the concertmaster of a pedagogical school in Smolensk, and since 1969, a teacher at the Minsk Music School. Since 1972, he is the head of the music department of the Belarusian State Academic Theater named after Yanka Kupala, since 1978, a teacher at the Belarusian Conservatory (Belarusian State Academy of Music), led a composition lesson. In 1985, associate professor, in 1993, professor. Among the famous master's students are members of the Belarusian Union of Composers: A. Besenson, R. Glebov, A. Danshova, N. Golubeva, A. Korotkina, V. Savchik.
The multi-faceted work of the composer and the number of great works that he is the author of, admires and impresses. His name is associated with high achievements in the field of Belarusian musical art. Andrey Mdivani was a master of all the most important genres: symphonic, choral, vocal and instrumental, folk and orchestral music, stage genre.
Famous works of the composer are the musical comedy "Denis Davydov", the musical "Mess Mende", the ballet "Passion (Rogneda)", the oratorios "Roly-poly", "Freedom", the cantata "We Remember you, people", 8 symphonies (the fifth symphony "Memory of the Earth" and the sixth "Polotsk Letters" are particularly popular), symphonic poems "Frescoes", "Burial of the Khatyn", "Dialect", concerto-poem for cello and orchestra, Concerto for orchestra "Мetamorphoses", "Musical Moment" for string orchestra, pieces for folk orchestra, piano, choral cycles, music for theater, cinema, etc.
The range of themes and images is very wide and diverse. The author highlights historical themes, images of harmony and beauty, ideals of high spirituality; the author refers to the ancient heritage, high classical literature, philosophy, Belarusian national poetics, etc.
He became a member of the Union of Composers of the BSSR (1971) and the Union of Composers of the USSR (1991), Honored Artist of the BSSR (1982), winner of the State Prize of Belarus (1988; 1996) and the special prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus in the nomination "Musical Art" (2008), People's Artist of Belarus (2013).
Andrei Mdivani's music is heard not only in Belarus, but also far beyond its borders. The work of the talented composer and teacher is presented on records, in albums and music collections, studied in universities and schools, music is played in concert halls, on the stage of theaters, and on television.
More information about Andrei Mdivani's creative activity can be found in the resources of the National Library of Belarus – the electronic catalog, the online encyclopedia "Belarus in Persons and Events", the National Database of authoritative/normative Records.
The article is provided by the Bibliography research department.
