Karbelashvili brothers

The Karbelashvili brothers – Pilimon, Andria, Petre, Polievktos (known as the Confessor), and Vasil (religious name Stepane, known also as Stepane the Confessor) – were five brothers from Georgia active in the preservation of Georgian musical and religious traditions during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

[1] The elder Karbelashvili was the son of Petre Karbela (Khmaladze), who had in his youth been a chanter at the court of Erekle II, Prince of Mukhrani, and who went on to teach chant at the Samtavisi Cathedral.

Grigol was himself also well-versed in the fields of church chant and reading, having studied music with his father;[2] further educated at Shio-Mgvime monastery between 1820 and 1824, he was ordained a clergyman in 1849.

[3] With Makari Batatashvili and others Grigol was active in early efforts by the church to preserve traditional chant, founding a school for the purpose in the 1860s.

It has been said of him that he would perform the divine liturgy accompanied by the chanting of his brothers in such a manner that the church was filled beyond capacity by residents not only of Samtavisi but of the surrounding villages as well.

Pilimon was also active as an educator, opening a village school where he taught Georgian history, chanting, reading, writing, and counting.

In 1903 he became prior of the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Kvemo Chala, remaining in that position until the Soviets came to power, at which time he was forced to leave religious life.

Andria and his brother Petre were among the intellectuals taken to Gori for interrogation by the communists during the August Uprising, and were executed in the Tiripona Valley along with others.

With his brother Vasil he notated and collected traditional chant; he also produced religious texts and edited works by Georgian writers.

[8] Karbelashvili was well-acquainted with many of the intellectuals of his time, cultivating relationships with Ilia Chavchavadze, Akaki Tsereteli, Niko Nikoladze, and many others.

[9] Vasil Karbelashvili, known as Stepane the Confessor (January 1, 1858 – April 8, 1936) was born in Kvemo Chala,[10] and received his earliest education at home.

[1] During his career Vasil was active as a preserver of chant and as an educator, teaching Georgian language, music, and catechism at various institutions around Georgia.

[11] Paliashvili went on to develop an entire setting of the Divine Liturgy using as its basis the Karbelashvilis' chants, which he rearranged for five- and six-voice choir, and which he published in both Georgian and Church Slavonic.

[1][14] A museum in Kvemo Chala, housed in the former family residence, is dedicated to the brothers,[15] and a street in Tbilisi is named for them.