Ratil (Navratil) Joseph

Ratil  (Navratil) Joseph (1840-1912), Czech singer (tenor), bandmaster. He was born in Pardubice, Czechia. He received musical education at the Prague conservatoire; after its graduation, starting from 1878, he appeared on stage of opera theaters of Prague, Helsinki and other European cities. He also went on tour to Russia. In 1880 he visited Tbilisi together with the Russian Company. J. Ratil settled down in Tbilisi. In 1880 – 85 he was the soloist of the Tbilisi Theater of Opera and Ballet. He became friends with Georgian musicians (A. Balanchivadze, I. Kargareteli, S. Savaneli, Z. Chkhikvadze and others). Starting from 1885, together with its founder, L. Agniashvili, he headed the choir of Georgian folk songs – Georgian Choir. It was the first professional company of Georgian songs. On November 15, 1886 the ensemble made its debut on the stage of Georgian Theater (later - the Russian State Drama Theater named after A. Griboedov). I. Chavchavadze, who attended the concert, wrote in the newspaper Iveria an extensive review of Georgian Choir’s performance, where he thanked J. Ratil along with L. Agniashvili for their contribution to the development of Georgian folk choir singing. Brothers Ivane and Zakaria Paliashvili were among the members of the Georgian Choir. After attending the concert of the Georgian Choir, Dimitri Arakishvili, who was 17 at that time, made up his mind to become a composer. The initial choir disbanded in a few years and J. Ratil took up L. Agniashvili’s endeavor. In 1890 he organized a separate choir, which continued to promote Georgian folk songs. Being enchanted with Georgian musical folklore, J. Ratil initiated to collect it and put it to music. In order to preserve them, he recorded and arranged many folk songs. Among the specimens of Georgian folklore saved by him, the following songs stand out: Diambego, Alilo, Kakhuri Supruli, Tsangala da Gogona, etc.

J. Ratil died in Tbilisi. He was buried in the so called minor pantheon, opposite L. Agniashvili’s grave, at the Kukia cemetery.