After the 1917 Bolshevik coup, he returned to his native Georgia, where he taught and composed. He authored the first original Georgian opera, "Tamar the Wily", later renamed into "Darejan the Wily" (თამარ ცბიერი, დარეჯან ცბიერი)—first performed by Russian artists at the Hall of the Russian Nobility Council in 1897 — as well as numerous choral works, as mass, and other church services.