MUSIC:


GEORGIAN COMPOSER: FELIX GLONTI (ფელიქს ღლონტი)
By Prof. Kevin Tuite (Montreal)
excellent source: http://www.mapageweb.umontreal.ca/tuitekj/index.html

Now nearly eighty years old, the composer Felix (Philip) Glonti has produced a body of work of astonishing quality and variety, most of which, regrettably, remains unrecorded or even unperformed. In the winter of 2006, during my stay in Tbilisi, I had the privilege of meeting this remarkable individual and hearing his music for the first time. A sort of Georgian Carl Ruggles, Glonti's sharp tongue and visceral incapability of tolerating fools and opportunists has kept him on the margins of the Georgian musical establishment. Like his opinions, Glonti's music is not for timid ears: It is vigorous, sometimes harsh, yet always melodic and informed by a deep familiarity with the spectrum of orchestral colors.
Before I left Georgia, Prof. Glonti gave me recordings of some of his compositions, issued by the Soviet recording company Melodiya, and now nearly impossible to find. Excerpts from these recordings, converted to MP3 format, can be downloaded from this web page. I invite visitors to this site to consult the list of compositions given below, download those which are higlighted in blue, and listen to them with an open mind. That is all that the composer asks: to be listened to.
Kevin Tuite

LIST OF PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS BY FELIX GLONTI
I. BALLET AND OPERAS.
Dawn (1967), ballet in 2 acts, premiered 29.10.1967 at the Tbilisi Philharmonia under the direction of V. Chabukiani
The Iberians (1970), opera in 4 acts, libretto by G. Leonidze (not yet performed)
Cleopatra (1976), opera in 4 acts, libretto by the composer after Shakespeare's play (not yet performed)

II. WORKS FOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.
Piano concerto (1954)
Bedi Kartlisa ("The Fate of Georgia", 1957), symphonic poem
Symphony #1 (1961)
Symphony #2 (1966)
Symphony #3 (1969)
Symphony #4 (1971)
Symphony #5 (1974)
Romantic Symphony (revision of Symphony #1, 1974). Grand orchestre symphonique de la RTB; Constantin Ivanow, conductor — 1st movt; 2nd movt; 3rd movt ; 4th movt
Concerto for harp and orchestra (1975)
Symphonic meditations on a theme by Francesco Petrarca, for cello and orchestra (1977). Medea Abramyan, violoncello; Imant Resnis, conductor
Symphony #6 (Vita nova, 1974), words by Dante. Angelina Volak, mezzo-soprano; Jansug Kakhidze, conductor [excerpt]
Galaktion (Heroic oratorio in 6 parts, 1980), words by Galaktion Tabidze
Symphony #7 (Fiat lux, 1981)
Symphony #8 (Symphonic groups, their invariants and representations, 1982)
Symphony #9 for electric piano and orchestra (1983)
Symphony #10 (1984)
Symphonia concertante for violin and orchestra (1986)
Symphony #11 (Mundus apertus, 1987)
Symphony #12 for choir, soprano and baritone soloists and orchestra, based on poems by King Davit Aghmashenebeli (Symphony-liturgy, 1989)
Wanderjahre for piano and orchestra (1990). Svetlana Navasardyan, piano; Imant Resnis, conductor [excerpt].
Marienbadische Elegie for cello and orchestra (1990). Maris Villerus, violoncello; Vasili Sinaiski, conductor [excerpt].

III. CHAMBER COMPOSITIONS
String quartet #1 (1953)
Two Romances for voice and piano, words by Ilia Chavchavadze and Nikoloz Baratashvili (1959)
String quartet #2 (1965)
Ten Choreographic Engravings for piano (1967)
Music for String Instruments (1987)

IV. FILM SCORES
Alaverdoba (1962) dir. Giorgi Shengelaia
Tetri kalishvili (White Girl, 1962) dir. Leila Gordeladze
Burti da moedani (Ball and Field, 1961) dir. Guguli Mgeladze
Jildo (Prize, 1965) dir. Giorgi Shengelaia
Me vkhedav mzes (I See the Sun, 1965) dir. Lana Ghoghoberidze

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