Aleksandre Aleksandres dze Basilaia (11 March 19423 October 2009) was a Georgian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s. He led the popular musical group

Iveria Iveria may refer to: Places * Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel, Tbilisi, a hotel Georgia * Iveria, an archaic name for the country of Georgia Other uses * Iverian or Mingrelian language, spoken in Western Georgia * FC Iveria Khashuri, a Georgian footb ...

since its founding in 1968 through the mainstream success in the 1970s and 1980s until his death of a long and severe disease in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 2009. He held the titles of Honored Artist of Georgia and Honored Citizen of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. Basilaia was trained as a

contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...

ist at the

Tbilisi State Conservatoire Tbilisi State Conservatoire ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო კონსერვატორია, ''Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria'') is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi. ...

and became active at the Soviet Georgian scene in 1963. In 1968 he founded an ensemble (

VIA Via or VIA may refer to the following: Arts and entertainment * ''Via'' (Volumes album), 2011 * Via (Thalia Zedek album), 2013 * VIA (music), Soviet and Russian term for a music collective Businesses and organisations * Via Foundation, a Cz ...

) which was named Iveria after an ancient Georgian kingdom. Basilaia was a principal composer and an art manager for Iveria which quickly gained popularity for its fusion of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

with traditional Georgian music and attained to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-wide fame with its

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

''The Wedding of Jays'' (1980) and ''The

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

'' (1982). Basilaia’s third and the last musical ''

Pirosmani Pirosmani may refer to: *Niko Pirosmani (1862–1918), Georgian painter * ''Pirosmani'' (film), a 1969 Soviet biographical film about the painter *Pirosmani, an administrative unit of Dedoplistsqaro Municipality Dedoplistskaro or Dedoplistsqaro ...

'' was successfully staged in both Georgia and

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in 1996. Basilaia's last work "Something Has Ended" appeared shortly before the composer’s death in October 2009. He was buried at the

Didube Pantheon The Didube Pantheon ( ka, დიდუბის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი) is a cemetery in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, sc ...

in Tbilisi.ალექსანდრე ბასილაია გერმანიიდან ჩამოასვენეს
''The 24 Hours''. October 6, 2009

Notes

References

External links

Alexander Basilaia
. Georgian National Cinema database * Composers from Georgia (country) Musicians from Tbilisi 1942 births 2009 deaths Burials at Didube Pantheon {{Georgia-musician-stub