soon began giving public concerts. The press called this "a triumph of the gifted maestro" and said, that the "choir and orchestra were brought to an evinous standard even for a musical school". A number of personalities who later on distinguished themselves in the Georgian Soviet musical culture (Composers: I. Tuskia, G Kiladze, S. Taktakishvili, V. Gokiely, A. Andriashvili; music critics: S. Aslanishvili, G. Chkhikvadze; Violinist L. Yashvili and others) had their first inspiring contact with music in this school, attending Z. Paliashvili's class. Violinist Andrei Karashvili and composer Zacharia Chkhikvadze worked at the same high school, where they conducted musical classes. In 1904 Paliashvili was invited to head the teaching of theoretical subjects at the Tbilisi Musical College. Besides instructing classes in solfeggio, harmony and orchestration, he conducted the pupils' choir and orchestra, the public performances of which were invariably successful. In 1906, using a piano piece by A. Karashvili ("Sazandary") as a point of departure, Paliashvili composed a profoundly patriotic song, "Samshoblo", which became popular throughout Georgia. Progressive Georgians before the revolution had regarded collecting, recording and elaboration of folklore material as an essential element, contributing to the spiritual life of the nation. Apart from the practical application – the use of folklore material as the basis of literary fand musical work – a large scale propaganda of remarkable folk poetry and songs formed a major instrument for stimulating the Georgian people's patriotic sentiments. Many contemporaries of Paliashvili were engaged in folklorist work, including Meliton Balanchivadze (father of well-known Soviet composer Andria Balanchivadze and of George Balanchine, an American choreographer), Dimitri Arakishvili, Filimon Koridze, Zacharia Chkhikvadze, Kote Potskhverashvili. In the summer of 1903, Paliashvili and A.S. Khakhashvili (Khakhanov), professor at the University of Moscow and specialist in the history of Georgian literature, made a tour of Svanetia (a high-altitude area in western Georgia), where they recorded some rare old Georgian folk songs. Paliashvili described the trip to his favourite teacher, S.I. Taneyev. in 1903–1908 with the same goal in view Paliashvili toured such districts as Racha, where he recorded local folk singers, and in particular a mestvire (Bag-piper); Guria (Ozurgeti), Imereti, Kartli and Kakheti. Some of the songs recorded by Paliashvili were published in Moscow as a collection in 1910, financed by the Georgian Philharmonic Society. These are Forty Georgian Folk Songs recorded by Z. Paliashvili and Eight Folk songs rendered for choir and orchestra. Paliashvili, however, did