Bruno Skulte

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Bruno Skulte (born February 22, 1905 in Kiev , † May 19, 1976 in New York ) was a Latvian composer , conductor and organist .

Life

Bruno Skulte was born in 1905 in Kiev as the son of the Latvian building contractor Pēteris Skulte and the Italian Victoria Rizzolatti. His four brothers were also musically gifted, especially the composer Ādolfs Skulte (1909–2000). 1919 to 1922 Skulte attended the music school in Kiev and then in Riga the "phonological institute" of the conductor and composer Ernests Vīgners (1850-1933). In 1931 he entered the composition class of Jāzeps Vītols at the Latvian Conservatory in Riga. He later studied conducting with Jānis Mediņš . He graduated in 1937. He then worked as an organist and was program director of the Latvian radio. He proved to be a capable conductor on the podium of the Latvian radio and the symphony orchestra of Liepāja city . Skulte seized the rare opportunity to refine his skills by playing in Berlin under the musical director of the Berlin State Opera , Leo Blech , and in Salzburg with Clemens Krauss expanded his knowledge. He could already be counted among the musical elite when he emigrated to Germany in the fall of 1944 in front of the advancing Red Army. There he conducted the Berlin Radio Orchestra and founded a Latvian opera ensemble in Oldenburg in 1946 . In 1949 Skulte was invited to the United States by the Latvian Lutheran Church , where he spent the remainder of his career as an organist. He was first conductor at the first to third Latvian Singing Festival in the USA, as well as at the third Latvian Singing Festival in Canada. The Latvian Choir founded by Skulte in New York still exists today.

Works

Bruno Skulte was deeply connected to Latvian society and culture. A special sign of this is his opera Vilkaču mantiniece ( The Heiress of the Vilkači Court ), which is set in rural Latvia.

He has also composed symphonic works, cantatas, string quartets and over 100 songs for soloists or choir.

  • “Balāde” for symphony orchestra
  • Music for the play " Skroderdienas Silmačos " by Rūdolfs Blaumanis .
  • 35 songs for mixed a cappella choir, including 10 arrangements of Latvian folk songs.
  • 45 songs for male choir a cappella, including 16 arrangements of Latvian folk songs.
  • 11 songs for female choir a cappella, including 2 arrangements of Latvian folk songs.
  • 1 song for children's choir a cappella
  • about 45 solo chants
  • 1 solo song cycle for children based on texts by Jānis Rainis
  • 5 piano pieces (4 miniatures and Christmas variations based on a theme by Ludwig van Beethoven ).
  • “Fata Morgana” for organ
  • 2 string quartets (# 1: dance)
  • “Prelūdija” for violin, cello and piano
  • Miniatures for the Latvian folklore instrument Kokle .
  • “Daugava” ( The River Düna ): Symphonic poem for soloists, choir and orchestra based on texts by Jānis Rainis .
  • “Dziesmu vairogs” ( singing shield ): cantata for mixed choir, baritone and symphony orchestra based on texts by Jānis Veselis (1896–1962) and Anšlavs Eglītis (1906–1993).
  • “Lūgšana” ( prayer ): cantata for mixed choir and male choir, soprano, baritone and organ
  • “Nakts, kad mēness maitājies” ( The night when the moon rots ): ballad for male choir, two soloists and piano.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New York Latvian Concert Choir ( Memento from February 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Latvijas mūzikas Informācijas Centrs
  3. ↑ The rural comedy “Skroderdienas Silmačos” ( The days of the wandering tailor at the Silmači farm ) is the most frequently performed Latvian play.
personal data
SURNAME Skulte, Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian composer
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiev
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1976
Place of death new York