Spirit in sound: new sacred music: with beauty as a medium, composers' works echo the beating heart of God - Spirituality: special section

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 13, 2002 by Rich Heffern

Some of his most popular works include "Symphony for Strings," "Landscape with Birds," "Musica Adventus" and the" `Distant Light' Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra."

Born in Tbilisi in 1935, Giya Kancheli is the Republic of Georgia's most distinguished living composer and a leading figure in the world of contemporary music. Kancheli's scores are deeply spiritual, filled with haunting aural images, varied colors and textures, sharp contrasts and shattering climaxes. His compositions draw inspiration from Georgian folklore.

Like the other composers from the former Soviet republics, freedom brought growing exposure for and recognition of Kancheli's musical voice, leading to commissions and performances in the United States and in Western Europe. His most popular works are "Liturgy for Viola and Orchestra `Mourned by the Wind,'" "Magnum Ignotum," the choral work "I Turned Away in Order Not to See," and his opera "Music for the Living."

Dislocated by political and social turbulence in his homeland, Kancheli now resides in Antwerp, Belgium.

--Rich Heffern

Rich Heffern is NCR opinion editor. His e-mail address is rheffern@natcath.org