JAVS Spring 2026

of ornamented Armenian vocal traditions—a feature frequently encountered in the music of Soviet Armenian composers. This ornamental figure recurs throughout the piece, yet it is carefully balanced by other musical components whose national identity remains deliberately nonspecific. At a more explicit end of this spectrum stands the music of Soviet Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze (1925–1991), whose works foreground folklore influence, often reinforced through programmatic titles. A native of Georgia, Tsintsadze was active as both a cellist and composer in Tbilisi before continuing his studies at the Moscow Conservatory. He was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1950 at the age of twenty-five, while still a student; later honors included the title of Narodny Artist (Artist of the People) of the Georgian SSR in 1961 and the all Soviet most prestigious designation Artist of the People in

1988. 45 His early success reflects not speculation about political favor—which can raise because of his Georgian background under a Georgian dictator (Stalin)—but a demonstrable ability to meet socialist realist expectations through refined craftsmanship and stylistic clarity. In the early 1960s, Tsintsadze returned to Tbilisi, serving as faculty member and later dean of the Tbilisi Conservatory. 46 Nana Sharikadze argues that from this period onward, Tsintsadze and other Soviet-Georgian composers “began to actively challenge Socialist Realism,” a position supported by the growing ethnomusicological discourse surrounding his later works. 47 As a trained cellist, Tsintsadze composed extensively for string instruments, including eleven string quartets that remain central to his legacy. His smaller-scale string works, by contrast—many originally written for cello and later transcribed by the composer—have received

Figure 13. Tsintsadze, Khorumi, mm.1-12, a combination of authentic and modernized elements.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2026

47