Antanas Pocius (19 August 1913 – 1 April 1983) was Lithuanian choirmaster, organist and composer.

Early life

Antanas Pocius was born on 19 August 1913, in Pagiriai village, close to

Tauragė Tauragė (; see other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2020, its population was 21,520. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast, and not far fro ...

in what was then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in a very poor family and received a name of his grandfather, a village musician. A. Pocius was born very weak but survived the infancy nevertheless and was the fifth child in the family. Due to challenging economic conditions, all the children would serve as shepherds, with A. Pocius starting at the age of four. Antanas' father Petras Pocius fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was injured in his lungs, which caused the development of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. He died when Antanas Pocius was only 12 years old, leaving the family in even tougher economic conditions after the householder's death.

Music as a vocation

After having finished three grades at the elementary school, Antanas Pocius started learning the trade of tailor until he realised he would do better as an organist, as organs had been attracting his attention since an early age. He started taking classes with S. Batoras, an organist in Eržvilkas. From 1940 to 1942 A. Pocius worked as an organist in

Virbalis Virbalis (, pl, Wierzbołów, yi, ווירבאלן ''Virbalen'') is a town in the Vilkaviškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis. History It is frequently mentioned in historical as well in modern literatur ...

; in 1942 he started studying at the

Kaunas Conservatory Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. From 1962 to 1966 he worked at the music school in Plungė as a teacher, and later, from 1966 to 1976, at the Plungė Academy of Music. He would then lead the Pensioners' choir from 1977 until 1981. Antanas Pocius died on 1 April 1983, in the

Rietavas hospital Rietavas (; Samogitian: ''Rėitavs''; pl, Retów) is a city in Lithuania on the Jūra River. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 3,979. It is the capital of Rietavas municipality. The city is famous for building the first power ...

and was buried in Plungė.

Pieces and songs

Antanas Pocius created many pieces of music and wrote lyrics to some of them, such as ''Sidabrinė jaunystė'' (''Silver Youth'') and ''Plungės parkas'' (''Plungė Park''), among others. 1913 births 1983 deaths People from Jurbarkas District Municipality People from Kovno Governorate People from Plungė 20th-century composers {{Lithuania-composer-stub