Soviet scores of Paliashvili's operas

[Lyle Neff]

I have the piano-vocal scores for two of Zakhary Paliashvili's operas. Here's the publishing information:

• Abesalom da Eteri. Tbilisi: Sabchota Sakartvelo, 1961. Georgian/Russian text. Libretto by P. Mirianashvili. Russian translation by M. Kvaliashvili. Introductory article by V. Donadze. Piano-vocal score "prepared for printing" by L. Paliashvili. Artist: Lado Guliashvili. Editorial board: V. Donadze, M. Kvaliashvili, A. Machavariani, V. Paliashvili, L. Paliashvili.
  
  Daisi. Moscow: Gos. muz. izd-vo, 1960. Georgian/Russian text. Libretto by V. Guni. Russian translation by E. Aleksandrova. Editorship by V. Paliashvili. Introductory article by G. Toradze.

Are either of these scores legitimate candidates for IMSLP? (I can omit the introductory articles and page-size artwork, if necessary.)

[Carolus]

The crucial question is whether Abesalom da Eteri and Daisi were actually first published in his lifetime, or if the 1960 and 1961 scores you cite were their first publication. If the vocal scores were not made by the composer himself, who was responsible for the arrangement? The dates for Mirianashvili (librettist), E. Alexandrovna (Russian translation for Daisi)?

In my copy of the Feofanov-Ho book, the bio sketch seems to indicate that his works were only produced late in life - somewhat like Janacek. Sort of a tricky case, as you can probably guess.

[Lyle Neff]

The place to check for first publication of Russian and Soviet opera scores is Bernandt, G.B. Словарь опер впервые поставленных или изданных в дореволюционной России и в СССР, 1736-1959 [Dictionary of Operas First Performed or Published in Pre-Revolutionary Russia and in the USSR, 1836-1959]. Москва: Советский композитор, 1962.

I'll try to find my copy and see what it says for Paliashvili. I don't know the dates for any of the other names on the two vocal scores.

[Lyle Neff]

According to Bernandt, the earliest cited publications are these:

• (p. 8 ), Abesalom da Eteri, piano-vocal score, Tbilisi, 1941, with Georgian and Russian texts, translation by R. Ivnev, A. Kancheli, and M.G. Kvaliashvili
  
  (p. 80), Daisi, piano-vocal score, Tbilisi, 1949.

[Carolus]

I meant to get back to you earlier, Lyle. For some reason I could not access the forum at all last night - and there was a power outage here for a few hours earlier today. It looks like both of the operas were first published more than 50 years ago by a composer who has been dead for well over 50 years (1933?) as I recall. That puts us into considering the arranger of the vocal score (whoch could very well have been the composer) and the dates of the librettist and translator(s).

Interesting that the citation for the 1949 vocal score of Abesalom da Eteri is listed as being the trio of R. Ivnev, A. Kancheli, and M.G. Kvaliashvili while the 1961 score citation lists only M. Kvaliashvili (presumably the last of the first three). If you cannot find the dates - which are probably even more elusive than those for Edward Agate - which the folks in the London archive where his recordings are housed didn't even know - I would be willing to tag these as C/C/C, since the composer is certainly PD in his country of origin and in Canada. Just bear in mind that we'd have to get rid of them if anyone growls.

[Lyle Neff]

Thanks, Carolus.

I guess I'll keep the Paliashvili opera scores off the web -- too much unknown. Too bad, though. Abesalom da Eteri in particular is a gorgeous work, especially in the (somewhat truncated) LP recording that Deutsche Grammaphon issued back in the '70s or '80s.

[Carolus]

Well, as I say, we'd be OK with the conditional posting (and CCC tag) until more info could be uncovered. Besides, given the composer's obscurity, I seriously doubt that anyone will be paying attention.

As always, I will happily include links to any scores available for sale via either Amazon or SMP (possibly adding diArezzo in the future). That should hopefully serve to keep potential growls down to a reasonable level.

[Lyle Neff]

I forgot about the C/C/C tagging. Maybe I'll reconsider.

Of course, if I omitted the artwork, the prefaces, and the Russian text (think of the amount of image editing time for that!), the scores might be safer to post. Even then, the source of the piano-vocal score arranging isn't clear.

Then again, for all we know, there may be Tarakanov-like Georgian website out there that has posted these already. (On an English-language site I noticed a few months ago, someone even posted full MP3s from Soviet recordings of P.'s operas!)

[Lyle Neff]

Searching WorldCat, I was able to find an earlier publication of both of these operas, albeit as excerpts only:

Paliashvili, Zakharii Petrovich, 1871-1933.
Otryvki iz oper "Abesalom i Eteri" i "Daisi". Arii i ansambli s soprovozhdeniem fortepiano.
Moskva, Gos. muzykal’noe izd-vo., 1937
vocal score (69 p.) 31 cm.
Standard No: M.15212G.
Cover title in Georgian, title page in Russian, text in Georgian and Russian.
Responsibility: Podgotovleno k pechati Vsesoiuznym radiokomitetom.

[Lyle Neff]

Hello,

There seems to be a delay in deciding what to do with the PDFs of Abesalom and Eteri that I uploaded the other day. They remain in inaccessible condition, even though other files uploaded in the meantime have been approved.

Given that these files are obviously causing some concern, I think it would be best to delete them and the page for the work altogether.

[Lyle Neff]

I now have temporary access to the 1941 (first) edition of the piano-vocal score of Abesalom and Eteri.

Russian publishing information from colophon: Tbilisi: Gosizdat Gruzinskij SSR, 1941. (This edition has no separate title page in Russian or French.) The text in the score is in interlinear Georgian and Russian.

This 1941 edition includes more material than the 1961 edition: a preface from the editor (in Georgian, Russian, French), editorial footnotes, supplements containing variants, and a French translation of the libretto (separately printed in the back).

In the editorial preface, a manuscript of the piano-vocal score is cited as the composer's work. Occasional footnotes in the score show or explain divergences in the manuscript full score or direct the reader to the supplements.

Am I right in thinking that this publication would not be a candidate for IMSLP, even if the preface, supplements, editorial notes, Russian text, and French translation were removed?

[pml]

Hi Lyle,

I’m going to assume the 95 year rule of the US holds, unless Carolus advises me otherwise

Given that one of the librettists/translators cited by Carolus (Rurik Ivnev, born 1891) for Abesalom and Eteri died as recently as 1981, I suspect the copyright tag for Canada/US/EU would have to be something like 2032/2057/2052.

The only alternative you would have to removing the files would be to strip out certain elements of the text: not necessarily everything, but as much as could be identified as Ivnev’s.

Another thing to consider would be “progressive release”: are there any substantial overtures/preludes/entr’actes/ballets that could be extracted? I believe these would qualify for V/2057/V (the only remaining fly in the ointment being the 95 year rule in the US).

I'll grab these on behalf of the Copyright Review team and report back.

Regards, Philip

POSTSCRIPT: okay.

Of the 8 files:
IMSLP25059 Preliminaries
IMSLP25066 Contents & Colophon
Both are V/V/V, and now appear on the work page.

IMSLP25060 Introduction
The work description says L. Paliashvili (dates?) was involved in preparing the VS for printing. I suspect this doesn’t qualify as an editorial contribution in respect of the piano part solely, which was the work of the composer. Therefore, this is V/2037/V (without a copyright notice on the 1961 score, the piano reduction would be dated from first publication in 1941 in respect of the US 95-year term). Unless of course the Introduction was part of the selection printed four years earlier in 1937, which would have a corresponding effect on the US term.

The little illustration by Lado Gudiashvili (1896–1980) at the head of the Introduction is an insufficient contribution to affect the remainder, but could be easily removed if there were a complaint.

Are L. Paliashvili and V. Paliashvili possibly a couple of Z. Paliashvili’s apparently quite numerous siblings?

This score is now appearing on the page with the updated CR tag, but the US 2037 tag is blocking downloads. This is time for Carolus to step in, as I am nowhere near knowledgeable enough about the US copyright status of works published in the Soviet Union.


IMSLP25061 Act 1, Tableau 1
IMSLP25062 Act 1, Tableau 2
IMSLP25063 Act 2
IMSLP25064 Act 3
IMSLP25065 Act 4

The Georgian text is (wholly?) by Petre Mirianashvili (1860-1940), which would result in a tag of V/2037/2011, if the Russian text alone were scrubbed. There are apparently various others involved:

M.G. Kvaliashvili (dates?) – principal translator

Contributions(?) also by:
R. Ivnev, almost certainly the Georgian poet Ryurik Ivnev (1891–1981)
A. Kancheli (dates? related to Giya Kancheli (1935*) by any chance?)

It would help knowing the dates of Kvaliashvili (and Kancheli). I also am unable to discern which contributions belong to which individuals. If the contribution by Ivnev extends to the Georgian text as well, then it would have to go also.

If it turned out that Kvaliashvili and Kancheli predeceased Ivnev by a significant amount, it might be comparatively simpler to attempt to contact Ivnev’s heirs and ask for grant of permission, in which case the copyright tag of 2032/2037/2052 would default back to that of next previously deceased author. Assuming that the dates of the other two cannot be found, then Carolus’ suggestion of C/C/C for their contribution could be the way to go.

Very, very, confusing. (And my Georgian/Russian is negligible, though I can find my way around the Contents and Introduction as “generalities”).

In respect of the 1941 vocal score, I would want to see a sample from the preface, the score, and the other additional material before judging it, but if as you suggest the pages of Acts 1 – 4 retain a Russian translation beneath the Georgian text then the same issues regarding the translation are likely to apply as with the 1961 score.

In short, let’s leave this as an “ongoing” Review. The files aren’t harming anyone where they currently are

Regards, PML

[Carolus]

Sorry for the delay, Lyle. I've been heavily pre-occupied with my 'day job' for the last week. I'll go over and take a look. There does not appear to be a vaild copyright notice on the posted score, but I'll have to do a quick check of the NIEs filed with the copyright office.

The 95-year term comes into play only if an NIE was filed in the 2-year window after the effective date of the GATT/TRIPs amendments (1996-1998). Since the Russian copyright term was life plus 50 until 2004, the music probably would not qualify for restoration since the composer was already public domain in the country of origin (which would likely be counted as Russia due to Georgia's status as a Republic of the USSR) by 1996. If nothing turns up in the NIEs, I'll tag it C/C/C. It's also extremely rare to see an NIE filed on behalf of a translation in a case like this.

[Lyle Neff]

Thanks for the information. This is very complicated. It's just too bad, I guess, that this work wasn't published near the time of the first production.

Yes, it would probably be better to allow only the "samples" for now (preliminaries, Introduction, back pages). I meant to remove the artwork at the top of the Introduction (there are comparable drawings that I removed from the beginning of the other acts), so I will re-edit that page and upload again later.

If it would help at all, I could (off and on) spend some time editing out the Russian text (except for headings for numbers).

(By the way, according to the preface to the 1941 p-v score, the manuscript full score has markings by I. P. Paliashvili, a conductor and a brother of the composer -- so that accounts for one sibling. I'm not sure right now how many children the composer had, if any.)

[pml]

I wouldn’t rush to start removing the text wholesale. I am still curious why there is such confusion as to who actually provided what.

According to Wikipedia (I think it was, while I was scouring the web yesterday), young Zakharia first learned music from one of his older brothers, Ivan: that may account for I. P. Paliashvili.

According to one of the pages linked from Wikipedia as an external source, he was one of eighteen (18) children: thirteen boys and five girls! Apparently only seven lived past childhood however.

You’re right, other possibilities might be a musical wife (as many male composers have been lucky in that regard) or children. In my brief search I couldn’t find any biographical info that mentioned marriage or offspring, however.

I noticed there was a Ballet at the end of Act 2, and some sections of Act 1 Tableau 2 where the amount of text to be removed might be quite minimal. I don’t know the opera at all, so I’m not aware if there are any particular “favourite items”, say comparable to something like the Polovetsian Dances out of Borodin’s Prince Igor. (Obviously if they involve an ensemble and the chorus, then that means a lot of problematic text.)

Regards, PML