Solo
Nightsongs from an old city
I wrote this music long after I left Georgia. It’s my memory of the last years I spent in Tbilisi.
Even though the years after the civil war were difficult, it was not the political aspect nor the harshness of the times that inspired my compositions, but the unique overall atmosphere which I perceived as dominating the whole country.
This seemingly inert time with its limited opportunities forced me to direct my attention inside myself. Music and art were the saving graces, in which the surroundings were indeed reflected, but also transformed. Darkness, noises, gazes, streets - all these were parts of a dream-like space where threats, magic and longing were uniquely mixed.
After many years I wanted to re-live this time which had had a profoundly lasting effect on me, and give it a new form which could be independent from myself and anchored in the present.
In Georgian I sing mostly the poems of Galaktioni (1891-1958), one of the most important Georgian poets. His lyrics are very personal and yet also timeless, full of craving and darkness. His words inspired me through their inherent colors and reminded me of the atmosphere of the nights in Tbilisi.
Nightsongs from an old city
I wrote this music long after I left Georgia. It’s my memory of the last years I spent in Tbilisi.
Even though the years after the civil war were difficult, it was not the political aspect nor the harshness of the times that inspired my compositions, but the unique overall atmosphere which I perceived as dominating the whole country.
This seemingly inert time with its limited opportunities forced me to direct my attention inside myself. Music and art were the saving graces, in which the surroundings were indeed reflected, but also transformed. Darkness, noises, gazes, streets - all these were parts of a dream-like space where threats, magic and longing were uniquely mixed.
After many years I wanted to re-live this time which had had a profoundly lasting effect on me, and give it a new form which could be independent from myself and anchored in the present.
In Georgian I sing mostly the poems of Galaktioni (1891-1958), one of the most important Georgian poets. His lyrics are very personal and yet also timeless, full of craving and darkness. His words inspired me through their inherent colors and reminded me of the atmosphere of the nights in Tbilisi.