Balys Dvarionas facts for kids
Balys Dvarionas, born on 19 June [O.S. 6 June] 1904 in Liepāja, and passed away on August 23, 1972, in Vilnius), was a famous Lithuanian musician. He was a talented composer, a skilled pianist, a conductor, and a dedicated teacher. People started to really notice his compositions after World War II. His music sounded romantic and often used ideas from traditional folk songs.
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Balys Dvarionas's Life Story
Balys Dvarionas grew up in a big family. His father was an organist, so Balys and his ten brothers and sisters learned music from a very young age. He also had special lessons from Alfrēds Kalniņš, a well-known Latvian composer.
After finishing school, Balys worked as an organist and led a youth choir in Liepāja. In 1920, he went to Leipzig, Germany, to study piano at the Conservatory. He learned from Robert Teichmüller and also took classes in music theory and composition.
After graduating in 1924, Balys returned to Kaunas, Lithuania, and gave his first piano concert. He then spent two more years studying piano in Berlin with the famous German pianist Egon Petri.
A Man of Many Talents
Balys Dvarionas was incredibly talented in many areas: playing piano, teaching, conducting, and composing. All these talents grew at once, and he quickly became one of the most important people in Lithuanian music.
He performed all over Lithuania starting in 1924, and began performing in other countries in 1928. In 1926, he started teaching at the Kaunas Music School. Later, in 1949, he moved to the Music Academy in Vilnius and taught there until he passed away. He became a professor in 1947. More than 50 pianists learned from Professor Dvarionas. Some of his students included conductor Rimas Geniušas and pianists Liucija Drąsutienė and Gražina Ručytė-Landsbergienė.
In the 1930s, Dvarionas also became a conductor. He took special conducting courses in Salzburg. From 1935 to 1938, he was a conductor for the Kaunas Radiophone Orchestra. In 1939, he helped start the Vilnius City Orchestra and worked there. Later, he became the main conductor for the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1940 to 1941 and again from 1958 to 1964.
Final Years
Balys Dvarionas's last public performance was on May 12, 1972. He played a Mozart piano concerto and conducted a mass by Schubert with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. He was already ill and passed away on August 23, 1972. He is buried in the cemetery in Palanga, a seaside resort town in western Lithuania. Dvarionas loved to spend his summers in Palanga and composed many pieces at his cottage there.
Balys Dvarionas's Music
Dvarionas composed many different kinds of music. He wrote operas, ballets, symphonies, and even music for films and plays. Balys Dvarionas, along with another famous Lithuanian composer Jonas Švedas, was asked to compose the music for the Anthem of Lithuanian SSR.
Musical Style
Dvarionas's music is special because of its beautiful melodies, strong emotions, and ideas taken from folk music. Instead of making his musical ideas very complicated, he liked to present them clearly and put different ideas next to each other. His music might sound like it was made up on the spot, but it feels natural and has a flexible rhythm. It often creates a clear and colorful mood.
In 1971, the composer spoke about his style. He said that his ideas about beauty came from 19th-century romantic music. He believed that musicians should spread beauty, goodness, and harmony. He felt it was their job to teach people and help them rise above everyday life. He thought that people who said this view was old-fashioned were wrong. He believed that the ideals of human goodness, like love, truth, freedom, and friendship, have stayed the same for thousands of years. Serving these ideals, he said, is not a step backward.
Famous Works
Here are some of Balys Dvarionas's most notable works:
- Ballet Matchmaking (Piršlybos), first performed in 1933.
- Symphony in E minor I Bow To Native Land (Lenkiuos gimtajai žemei), 1947.
- Concerto for violin and orchestra, 1948.
- Opera Dalia, first performed in 1959.
- 2 Concertos for piano and orchestra, composed in 1960 and 1962.
- Concerto for French horn and orchestra, 1963.
- Many piano pieces, like "24 pieces in all tonality" and "Winter Sketches".
- Various violin pieces.
- Songs for solo voice and accompaniment, and for choir.
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Balys Dvarionas
See also
In Spanish: Balys Dvarionas para niños
