Jurjans, Andrejs (1856 - 1922)
Biography Works
Andrejs Jurjāns, the first
Latvian professional composer and classicist of Latvian music, was
born on September 30, 1856, in the homestead of Meņģeļi in the town
of Ērgļi. He was one of nine children in his family. In 1875 he was
accepted at the St. Petersburg Conservatory; he and the pianist
Ludvigs Bētiņs were the first Latvian students to enroll there. He
graduated with three diplomas, completing his studies in the organ
class of Louis Homilius in 1880, the composition class of Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov in 1881, and the French horn class of Friedrich
Homilius in 1882, winning the grand silver medal. During the last
years of his studies, he conducted the choir of the St. Petersburg
Latvian Charitable Society, and he was actively engaged in various
other cultural activities in St. Petersburg.
From 1882 to 1916, Andrejs Jurjāns taught music theory,
French horn, and choral conducting at the Harkov Imperial Russian
Music Society’s music school. He wrote critiques for the newspaper
Južnij Kraj, conducted the Harkov Latvian Choir, played the horn in
the Harkov Symphony Orchestra, and occasionally gave concerts of
organ music. During the first years of the 20th century, he was
afflicted by a serious illness of the ears, and as his hearing
deteriorated, he was forced to retire from teaching music in 1916.
In 1920 he returned to Latvia, devastated by the premature death of
his only son and by the loss of his hearing. He died on September
28, 1922.
Andrejs Jurjāns became a powerful personality owing to his
environment – a nationally patriotic family and friendship with the
most important Latvian cultural exponents of the time – combined
with his remarkable diligence and ambition. The wide scope of his
interests and work is surprising; he was an innovator in many
fields.
Jurjāns the composer represented the romanticism of
19th-century Europe that was linked with national schools,
patriotic themes and folk music. His musical style was shaped by
Russian musical traditions and German romanticism, as well as a
deep influence by Latvian folk music.
Jurjāns composed the first Latvian symphonic works, among
them the first instrumental concerto and the first cantata, showing
a command of the symphony orchestra. Compared to the music of his
predecessors, Jurjāns elevated the genre of a cappella choir song
to a higher level of quality, enriching it with
fresh thematic material and bright imagery. His output in the
genres of instrumental music and solo songs is perhaps of lesser
significance; nonetheless, here one can find new currents as
well.
It is noteworthy that Latvian folk songs permeate all of
Jurjāns’ works, not only in the form of arrangements; most of his
original compositions contain quotations of Latvian folk songs or
melodies resembling them. A particularly important sphere in his
output is found in his Latvian folk song arrangements for choir,
which represent a major step forward in comparison to the works of
his predecessors. In them he has demanded of himself no less than
in his original compositions, while maintaining a reverent
faithfulness to the essential qualities of the folk tunes (among
them diatonicism, asymmetrical phrase structure, and mixed meters).
He has sought to underscore the unique content and expressive
nature of each folk song with appropriate musical
devices.
Jurjāns is also the founder of Latvian musicology – he was
the first person that systematically collected, studied, and
classified Latvian folk music, writing analytical commentary about
it. Along with some faithful assistants, he collected approximately
6000 examples of folklore – melodies, texts, games, dances, and
other rituals – among them are some 3000 folk melodies from all of
the regions of Latvia. His work was compiled in the six volumes of
Latvju tautas mūzikas materiāli (Materials of Latvian Folk Music),
the last volume of which was published
posthumously.
Nowadays Andrejs Jurjāns is remembered as the founder of the
Latvian national school in music, paving the way for further
development in Latvian professional music, and providing fertile
ground for the creative growth of his successors Jāzeps Vītols,
Alfrēds Kalniņš, Emīls Dārziņš, and others. His efforts in
collecting, studying, and arranging Latvian folk songs were
continued by Emilis Melngailis and Jēkabs Graubiņš. While Jurjāns’
contributions occupy an important place in the history of Latvian
culture, his works continue to be meaningful and relevant in
present-day Latvian cultural life.