Tamara Vakhvakhishvili facts for kids

Tamara Nikolayevna Vakhvakhishvili (born December 23, 1893 – died 1976) was a talented composer who created many beautiful pieces of music. She was born in Warsaw, but she spent most of her life in Georgia. Her amazing work earned her the title of Honored Artist of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Her Musical Journey

Tamara started her musical journey by studying piano and composition. She went to a music school in Tbilisi, Georgia. Today, this school is known as the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. She was so good that from 1921 to 1923, she became the director of the school!

Learning and Leading

From 1922 to 1926, Tamara led the music department at the famous Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi. This was a very important role. In 1927, she traveled to Paris to study composition even more. She learned from a great teacher named Paul Vidal at the Paris Conservatoire.

While in Paris, Tamara met an artist and set designer named David Kakabadze. They later worked together at the Kutaisi-Batumi State Drama Theater. She also worked at the Marjanishvili Theatre from 1928 to 1933. After that, she moved to Moscow. In 1940, she was officially recognized as an Honored Artist of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic for all her contributions to music.

Her Amazing Music

Tamara Vakhvakhishvili wrote many different kinds of music. Composers write music for ballets, orchestras, and theatre shows. They also write songs for singers. Let's explore some of her cool compositions!

Ballets She Wrote

Ballets are stories told through dance, usually with an orchestra playing the music. Tamara wrote music for these exciting dance performances:

• Bacchus' Holiday
• Herb of Love
• Spartacus

Music for Orchestras

An orchestra is a large group of musicians playing many different instruments together. Tamara wrote several pieces for orchestras:

• Dance Suite (a collection of dances)
• March of the Heroes (a strong, marching piece)
• Symphonic Etude (a study piece for orchestra)
• Violin Concerto (a piece where a solo violin plays with the orchestra)

Theatre Productions

Tamara also composed music for plays and pantomimes performed in theatres. Pantomimes are plays where the story is told without words, using only actions and music.

• Don Khil (a musical comedy)
• Iranian Pantomime
• Khandzari (a pantomime)
• Mzetamzem (a pantomime)
• Uriel Acosta (a serious play in three acts)

Vocal Works

Vocal music is written for singers, sometimes with instruments. Tamara wrote pieces for voices:

• Cantata (for a solo singer, a choir, and an orchestra; with words by B. Bronevsky and Nikolai Tikhonov)
• Citation (for a solo singer and an orchestra; with words by Shota Rustaveli, translated into Russian by Konstantin Balmont)
• Georgian Folk Ballad (for a narrator and an orchestra)