Hamlet Dimitris dze Gonashvili ( ka, ჰამლეტ დიმიტრის ძე გონაშვილი, (b. 20 June 1928 – d. 25 July 1985), sometimes referred to as "the voice of Georgia", was a Georgian singer (

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

), influential teacher and performer of Georgian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Gonashvili was born in eastern Georgia and is considered the best interpreter of songs from the

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...

and

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

regions. He was a recipient of many national honours and prizes. The Third Symphony of the Georgian composer

Giya Kancheli Gia Kancheli ( ka, გია ყანჩელი; 10 August 1935 – 2 October 2019) was a Georgian composer. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia but resided in Belgium. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kancheli lived first in B ...

drew inspiration from Gonashvili's singing, and he was himself the soloist in the first recording of the work (Olympia Records, 1979). He died in 1985, at the height of his fame, as the result of a fall from an apple tree. ''Hamlet'' ( JARO, 1996) is a collection of his most impressive songs.Richard O. Nidel (2005), ''World Music: The Basics'', p. 162.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, .

References

1928 births 1985 deaths Folk singers from Georgia (country) 20th-century male singers from Georgia (country) Soviet male singers {{Georgia-musician-stub