Ossetia is a region, split into South Ossetia in Georgia and North Ossetia in Russia. Ossetian folk music began to be collected and recorded in the late 19th and early 20th century. After the Revolution of 1917, professional music appeared in Ossetia and in the following decades, a number of symphonies, ballets, operas and other institutions were formed. There is an Ossetian State Philharmonic . The first Ossetian opera was Kosta , by Christopher Pliev .