Jāzeps Vītols (german: Joseph Wihtol; 26 July 1863 – 24 April 1948) was a Latvian composer, pedagogue and music critic. He is considered one of the fathers of Latvian classical music.

Biography

Vītols, born in

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state ci ...

the son of a schoolteacher, began his studies in

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

in 1880 at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

.Naxos profile. After graduating in 1886, he remained at the Conservatory to teach composition and reached the rank of Professor in 1901. His pupils there included

Nikolai Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky or Miaskovsky or Miaskowsky (russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Мяско́вский; pl, Mikołaj Miąskowski, syn Jakóbowy; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is so ...

and

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

. Vītols was a close friend of fellow professors

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...

and

Anatoly Lyadov Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (russian: Анато́лий Константи́нович Ля́дов; ) was a Russian composer, teacher, and conductor. Biography Lyadov was born in 1855 in St. Petersburg, into a family of eminent Russian ...

; he would regularly participate at

Mitrofan Belyayev Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev (russian: Митрофа́н Петро́вич Беля́ев; old style 10/22 February 1836, St. Petersburg22 December 1903/ 4 January 1904) was an Imperial Russian music publisher, outstanding philanthropist, ...

's "Weekly Fridays"—regular meetings of prominent Russian composers at Belyayev's home. At the time, Belyayev was Vītols' primary publisher. Besides academia, Vītols also spent time as a

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

for the ''St Petersburger Zeitung'' from 1897 to 1914. In 1918, Vītols returned from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

to his newly independent Latvia to conduct the

Latvian National Opera The Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB) is an opera house and opera company at Aspazijas boulevard 3 in Riga. Its repertoire includes performances of opera and ballet presented during the season which lasts from mid-September to the end of Ma ...

. The following year, he established the first Latvian Conservatory of Music, which was later renamed the

Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music ( lv, Jāzepa Vītola Latvijas Mūzikas akadēmija), formerly the Riga Conservatory, is a higher education establishment of music at 1 Barona Street, Riga, Latvia. The junior institute is the Emīls Dārz ...

in his honor, and he ran the composition classes there between 1919 and 1944. His most prominent students during his tenure were

Jānis Ivanovs Jānis Ivanovs (9 October 1906 in Babri, Preiļi – 27 March 1983 in Riga) was a Soviet and Latvian classical music composer. In 1931, he graduated from the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga. In 1944, he joined the conservatory's faculty, be ...

, Ādolfs Skulte and Tālivaldis Ķeniņš. He also helped co-found the Latvian Composers' Society in 1923. In 1944, he moved to Lübeck in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and lived there until his death in 1948. His remains were returned to Riga in 1993. Vītols was active not only as a composer, pedagogue, and conductor, but was also a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

and prolific music critic. He was a member of Latvian

student fraternity Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

''Fraternitas Lataviensis''. His choral music, especially ''Gaismas pils'' (''The Castle of Light'') is very popular with Latvian choirs, and is often included in the repertoire of the

Latvian Song and Dance Festival The Latvian Song and Dance Festival ( lv, Vispārējie latviešu Dziesmu un Deju svētki) is one of the largest amateur choral and dancing events in the world and an important event in Latvian culture and social life. As one of the Baltic song f ...

. Vītols vocal and choral works are published by Musica Baltica Ltd in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

. He died in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

Style

Taking his cue from his Russian colleagues, Vītols became the leading exponent of

national romanticism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

in Latvia. He is considered to be the father of a distinctively Latvian classical music, being the first Latvian composer to achieve international stature. His work reveals the undeniable influence of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, not least in the brilliance of its

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", or ...

, an assessment which was shared by Vītols' friend and fellow composer

. During his time in Russia, Vītols became deeply interested in Latvian folklore and conducted the Latvian Choir in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. His

melodies A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...

clearly draw upon his heritage, and often directly feature Latvian folk tunes. In striving to forge a musical style for Latvia, Vītols emulated the processes of the Russian national school. His large-scale works, which are mostly cast in

sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...

, are often characterized by impressive dramatic development. Overall, in comparison with many other 20th-century composers, he tended to be rather conservative but nonetheless possessed a masterly composition technique.

Works

Musicology works

* Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov: life, works and the time (one of the essays published with the biography essay by Victor Valter and rememberes by Sergey Gorodetsky) (1916)

Celebration and remembrance

Jāzeps Vītols music days in Gaujiena started soon after 1922, when he spent summers in Gaujiena "Anniņas" with his wife. Celebrating his birthday, different choirs from all over the country started coming to Gaujiena for July 26 to celebrate Vītols' birthday with music. In 2003, a summer camp for children from music schools was started around this celebration, creating an orchestra and a choir to celebrate music and have fun as well as practice their instruments.

Notes

References

* *Braun, Joachim and Klotiņš, Arnold. "Vītols, Jāzeps".
Grove Music Online
'' (subscription required). ed. L. Macy. Retrieved on March 8, 2007.

External links

Homepage of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of MusicHomepage of Musica Baltica Ltd
*
Jāzeps Vītols digital collection
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitols, Jazeps 1863 births 1948 deaths People from Valmiera People from Kreis Wolmar Latvian composers Romantic composers 20th-century classical composers Latvian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Latvian classical pianists Latvian music critics Latvian classical musicians Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Male classical composers Latvian World War II refugees Male classical pianists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians 19th-century male musicians Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music faculty Composers from the Russian Empire Latvian emigrants to Germany Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga