Jāzeps Vītols : 10 Lettish Folksongs, Op. 29 6-10 (Video #2/2)

Jāzeps Vītols (1863-1948) was a leading Latvian composer of the first part of the last century. He studied with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St Petersburg Conservatory, and taught there at the start of the 20th century. Prokofiev and Miaskovsky were among his pupils. He moved to Riga and dominated the musical life of independent Latvia, conducting the Opera from 1918 and founding the Latvian Conservatory (1919). He composed the first Latvian symphony (1888), string quartet (1899) and piano sonata (1885) and wrote songs and choruses. Sadly, he died in exile in Germany, having fled the Soviet army in 1944 (the foregoing information courtesy of The New Grove).




Vītols (also known as Joseph Wihtol - there are various other transliterations of his name) was a prolific composer of over 800 works, including some 300 settings of Latvian folksongs. This set, from 1901, though short, is very concentrated, and as such, difficult to master - not least because of the need for large hands to give an ideal performance. However, the set is a small masterpiece and well worth the effort. In idiom draws very much from Central European rather than Russian influence - there are certainly echoes here of the work of Vitols near-contemporary, the Czech Vítězslav Novák (1870-1949). However I see the piece as a kind of miniature Latvian equivalent of the Canteloube 'Songs of the Auvergne'. Each of the pieces is preceded by an extract from the Latvian song. I reproduce these below - in Latvian, with English translations of some of them - I am greatly indebted to the young Latvian composer Klavs Liepins for his help with these ( http://www.youtube.com/user/KLiepins - visit his channel to see his work).

6 - Pūt vējiņi, dzen laiviņu, Aizdzen mani Kurzemē. [Blow ye winds and drive my boat. Send me on to Courland (the western province of Latvia)]

7 - Redz kur jāja div' bajāri, Zīda pušķi zemi slauka. [Lo, two fine fellows come riding, their silken tassels sweeping the ground]

8 - Pati māte savu dēlu Kara vīru audzināja. [Mother reared (bring up) son warrior alone]

9 - Kas to līgo ielīgoja? ligo! Mūsu pašu ciema ļaudis, līgo! [Who starts the singing at the midsummer festivities (at the Ligo night festivities)? Village folks do]

10 - Irbit gulēj' ceļmalāi, Baida manu kumeliņ'! [Partridge slept by the roadside and scared my horse]
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• klavieres
• klasiskā
• Latvian
• Latvija
• classical

[Lachausis]

Interesting! Thanks, anything is welcome that boost our Latvian self-awareness.

[PSearPianist]

@Lachausis Thank you. I am from England, a country that has no cultural self-awareness at all (when compared with our UK neighbours Scotland and Wales!).

[Lachausis]

@PSearPianist You know, no matter from what angle we look on this problem, the problem will always be in politics. Multiculturalism is murder of national culture.

[PSearPianist]

@Lachausis You're right!

[My123581321]

Aizden mani Kurzeme,great.Arvo perts thinks.Shimkus play better.

[PSearPianist]

@My123581321 Thank you. You have every right to prefer Shimkus to me - he is a very good pianist, and is from Latvia!

[KizHrgetic]

Yes my last name is Vitols.

[PSearPianist]

Thank you! Perhaps you are a descendant of Vitols?

[KizHrgetic]

Well, I think this is pretty, I'm Vitols too! And I play the piano concidence?!

[PSearPianist]

Thank you! The snow has given me a lot of enforced practice time!