Vladas JakubÄ—nas

Vlada Jakubėnas ( born November 29, 1903 in Biržai, Lithuania, † December 13, 1976 in Chicago ) was a Lithuanian composer, teacher and music critic. He was a pupil of Franz Schreker.

Life

Vlada Jakubėnas was born on 29 November 1903 in Biržai (Lithuania ) in a Protestant family and was baptized on April 15, 1904, where Jakubėnas himself insisted on the baptism date as his date of birth. The mother, Halina Lipinska, came from a Polish- Protestant family in which music had a high priority and was also practiced on a daily basis. After her marriage with Povilas Jakubėnas Halina Jakubėnienė moved to Lithuania and respected the traditions and culture of their new home.

The father, Povilas Jakubėnas (1871 - 1953), studied Protestant theology at the University of Tartu and in 1900 was assigned as pastor of the municipality Biržai, where he located in different areas, such as editing the Lithuanian publications dedicated. He was the co-founder of the school in 1908 in Biržai, which was later to high school. Then he attached great importance to the national consciousness, he taught his fellow Lithuanian. The future bishop headed the theology faculty at the Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, which he himself has called into life.

The first music teacher of Jakubėnas was the friend of Pastor V. Meškauskas family whose daughter was Jakubėnas piano lessons later. The lesson was interrupted by the war, the family fled to Moscow and later to the Crimea. 1918 back in Lithuania visited Jakubėnas high school " Aušra " in Kaunas and got into the music school piano lessons with E. Čiurlienė. For health reasons, the school was changed and the conclusion made ​​Jakubėnas in high school Biržai. Since Jakubėnas kept continuing the studies in Kaunas pointless, since only the " classical music " was recognized without the contemporary music note, he applied for a scholarship to study abroad, rejected by the then education minister L. Bistras been. So Jakubėnas had continued his studies at the Conservatory in Riga with a double major in piano and composition. Composition had Jakubėnas at J. Vitols, although it did not notice the contemporary music, his students over but was very tolerant by not disabled on the search for his own style. From this time many songs and piano works come. The final concert in 1928 with the works of Jakubėnas was mentioned positively by the Latvian press, " with a great future emotionally rich person " referred to him as a.

Back in Lithuania, after the first solo concert of his own works to Jakubėnas again applied for a scholarship for foreign study, which was approved by the then newly incumbent Minister of Education. Studying in Berlin from 1928 to 1932 with Franz Schreker helped him to find his definitive style and enrich. For the final exam Jakubėnas wrote his first symphony, which was premiered by the Orchestra of Radio Berlin under the direction of Schreker. Back in Lithuania Jakubėnas got a job as a piano and music theory teacher at the Conservatory in Kaunas. Jakubėnas was very active as a music critic with more than six hundred publications in various journals, such as " Vairas ", " Muzikos barai ", " Akademikas " and many others.

In 1944 Jakubėnas due to the uncertain political situation, decided to leave the country, he only came to Germany in 1949 and immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. Jakubėnas composed continuously in the DP camps, as it there - I had time and the audience - as he himself said. He gave private lessons in piano, music theory and composition. From 1950 he taught at the National University of Music, one year later in Bogusławski Music College as a leader of Theory Department. These sites were only temporary, as the main activity was the private lessons, as vocal coach. In his U.S. Time Jakubėnas composed only slightly.

To mention is the importance of his exile music for Lithuania as well as the related reburial of his remains in the home posthumously.

Works

• Melody Legend for violin and piano
• Serenade for Cello and Piano
• Songs for Voice and Piano
• Songs for Voice and Orchestra
• Works for a cappella chorus, for example: " Tyloj Tu Švenčiamasis " ( In the silence you'll sanctified )
• Works for chorus and orchestra
• Works for orchestra, chamber music and ballet
• Works for piano, for example, Two Tone-Pictures, Op 2 - Off the fairy-tale land & Legend ( 1926/1927 )