Balys Dvarionas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balys Dvarionas

Balys Dvarionas (born 6 . Jul / 19th June  1904 greg. In Liepaja ; † 23. August 1972 in Vilnius ) was a Lithuanian composer , pianist and conductor .

family

Dvarionas came from a musical family with eleven children, seven of whom were musicians. His father Dominykas Dvarionas (1860–1931) was an organist and instrument maker. Balys Dvarionas had the brothers Antanas Dvarionas (1899-1950), Bronislovas Dvarionas (1887-1919), Julijonas Dvarionas (1890-1949), Kazimieras Dvarionas (1889-1966) and Valerijonas Dvarionas (1897-1976). His sister Julija Dvarionaitė-Montvydienė (1893–1947) was a well-known soprano in the State Theater in Kaunas . His other sister were Regina Dvarionaitė (1896-1991), Juzefa Dvarionaitė-Bollere (1901-1992), Bronislava Dvarionaitė-Kazokienė (1906-1968) and Eugenija Dvarionaitė-Mikėnienė (1910-1993).

Balys Dvarionas was married. His wife Aldona Smilgaitė-Dvarionienė (1907–1982) was a pianist and professor. The son Jurgis Dvarionas (* 1943) became a violinist and professor, the daughter Aldona Dvarionaitė (1939-2000) a pianist and professor.

education

Dvarionas received his first piano and music theory lessons in Lithuania . In 1920 he moved to Leipzig to study piano and composition at the local conservatory (among others with Sigfrid Karg-Elert ). After completing his studies in 1924, he took piano lessons with Egon Petri at the Berlin University of Music in 1925/26 . He then returned to Lithuania and, in addition to giving concerts, gave piano lessons at the music school in Kaunas , which later became a conservatory.

Career

While Dvarionas was gradually giving concerts internationally as a pianist, he began to appear as a conductor in 1931. For a while, Dvarionas conducted the Kaunas Radio Symphony Orchestra . In 1939 he again took conducting lessons from Hermann Abendroth at the Leipzig Conservatory . He campaigned for the establishment of the Vilnius Municipal Symphony Orchestra , which was soon merged with the Kaunas Radio Symphony Orchestra to form the Lithuanian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra . From 1940/41 and 1958 to 1961 he was chief conductor of the Lithuanian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

In 1947 Dvarionas was appointed professor of piano at the Kaunas Conservatory , and from 1949 he was professor at the Lithuanian Conservatory in Vilnius . Dvarionas received the Stalin Prize for his violin concerto in 1948 and the Order of Lenin in 1964 .

Audio language

Dvarionas was a thoroughly conservative composer. His works are essentially based on a late romantic tonal language. Now and then he played with impressionistic sound effects. The folk music of Lithuania plays a decisive role in his oeuvre, giving his style a Nordic-elegiac tendency. Dvarionas cultivated an extremely melodic compositional style that is committed to tonality . His traditional musical attitude meant that after Lithuania was admitted to the Soviet Union, he had no problems with the requirements of the state-desired socialist realism . The subjects of some vocal works also clearly show that he knew how to comply with the official demands. Dvarionas is the most important Lithuanian composer of his generation.

Works

  • Orchestral works
    • Symphony in E minor "I bow to my homeland" (1947)
    • "On the Bernsteinufer . Festival Overture" (1945)
    • "Dawn", Overture (1967)
    • Concertino for string orchestra (1972)
    • Piano Concerto in G minor (1960)
    • Concerto for piano and chamber orchestra in E minor (1961)
    • Violin Concerto in B minor (1948)
    • Horn Concerto in D minor (1963)
    • Film and drama music
  • Stage and vocal music
  • Chamber and piano music
    • Sonata-Ballad for violin and piano (1965)
    • "Am See", elegy for violin and piano (1947)
    • Theme and variations for bassoon and piano (1946)
    • some small pieces for different instruments and piano
    • Sonatina for piano in G sharp minor (1962)
    • Sonatina for piano in C major (1965/66)
    • "Small Suite" for piano (1949–52)
    • "Winterskizzen" for piano (1953/54)
    • "Three Micro Preludes" for piano (1972)
    • numerous small piano pieces

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dvarionas, Balys
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian composer, pianist and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Liepāja
DATE OF DEATH 23rd August 1972
Place of death Vilnius