Nikolai Narimanidze
Nikolai Narimanidze was a composer. He was born on January 6, 1905 in Tiflis and died on April 23, 1975 in Moscow. In 1958 he was honored as a Merited Artist of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
From 1927 to 1929 he studied at the Tbilisi Conservatory in the class of S. Barkhudaryan. He later continued his education at the Moscow Conservatory, where he graduated in 1937 in the composition class of Nikolai Myaskovsky; earlier he had also studied with Mikhail Gnesin.
In 1927–1929 Narimanidze worked as conductor of the symphony orchestra at the G. Plekhanov Club in Tbilisi. During 1943–1945 he was a music consultant for the All-Union State Concert Organization. From 1945 to 1948 he served as senior editor of the music department of the Ministry of Cinematography of the USSR, and from 1937 to 1965 he was a senior editor at the publishing house Music.
His stage works included the opera The Tutor, based on a poem by Akaki Tsereteli (1939), and the musical comedy Heart-to-Heart Talk, with his own libretto (1955). For soloists, chorus, and symphony orchestra he wrote the oratorio Farewell to the Soviet Army on texts by Georgian poets (1943), and for soloist, chorus, and symphony orchestra the Song of Lenin on his own words (1960).
His orchestral music included a Symphony (1936); the suites Georgian Dance (1951), A Day in a Georgian Collective Farm (1952), Georgian Collective Farm (1953), and Georgian Youth Fantasy on Folk Themes (1953); the capriccio Native Melodies (1954); Symphonic Pictures of Georgia (1955); and the poem on Abkhaz themes Two Brothers (1957). He also composed Reminiscence, a poem for violin and symphony orchestra (1948), and for wind orchestra the works Shalakho (1940) and Samshoblo (1950).
Narimanidze wrote six string quartets, composed in 1938, 1939, 1955, 1965, 1966, and 1969. His chamber and instrumental works also included a Trio for domra, balalaika, and guitar (1970); for violin and piano the Eastern Poem (1936) and Three Dances (1966); for clarinet and piano the Georgian Dance (1955); for guitar and piano the Impromptu (1956) and Dedications No. 1 (1963) and No. 2 (1967); a Ballad for piano; 13 Variations on a Georgian Folk Theme for harp (1970); Davluri for balalaika; and Little Shepherd for bayan.
His vocal music included Song of Lenin for voice and piano on words by A. Salnikov (1970), romances on his own texts, on folk texts, and on words by Shota Rustaveli, Vazha-Pshavela, Akaki Tsereteli, Konstantin Balmont, G. Kuchishvili, M. Mikhailov, and others. He also composed choruses including About Chkalov, Sing the Song of Lenin, People, and Sit Beside Me, as well as songs on texts by Ya. Lugin, M. Mikhailov, O. Fadeyeva, and others. In addition, he wrote film music and arrangements of folk songs.