The Caucasian Sketches is the most often performed of his compositions and can be heard frequently on classical radio stations.
The orchestral songs of the Caucasian Sketches were influenced by the Georgian and Armenian folk songs that Ippolitov-Ivanov heard during his years as director of the music conservatory and conductor of the orchestra in Tbilisi, the principal city of Georgia, and during his visits to the surrounding Caucasus Mountains.
Ippolitov-Ivanov had studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a master of orchestration, whose style of beats and chimes is reflected in the songs of the Caucasian Sketches.
The most famous is the final piece, Procession of the Sardar, a title for a feudal lord, military commander, leader or dignitary historically used in the region.
2 is also called Iveria (Iberia), the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the ancient kingdom of Kartli, corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the country of Georgia today.