Medins, Janis (1890 - 1966)
Biography Works
Jānis Mediņš was born on October
9, 1890 in Riga. The composer was raised in an unusually musical
family – the Mediņš family brought a whole three composers into
Latvian music culture – including Jānis’ two older brothers Jāzeps
and Jēkabs. Their sister Marija was a talented pianist. In 1900, at
the age of ten, Jānis Mediņš enrolled at the Riga Zīgerts Music
Institute, where he simultaneously studied piano, violin and cello.
In 1904, at the age of 14, Mediņš began his career in orchestral
music – first as the violinist for the Riga Latvian Society’s
orchestra and then as the violist for the Latvju
opera orchestra. During this time, he also became
known as a composer. He composed his first songs as soon as 1909,
and began work on his opera Uguns un nakts (Fire
and Night) in 1913. The opera was hoped to be
completed by October 1915, however, harsh events entered into his
life. During World War I, Mediņš was the conductor of the army
orchestra, and found himself in Siberia at the conclusion of the
war. As he wrote in his book, he was only able to endure this
thanks to the love and support of his wife, who, on
her own shoulders, carried the heavy, canvas bound score
of Uguns un nakts through the
Siberian snow. Unfortunately, to decrease the
weight of the baggage on the way home, approximately 30 other works
composed in Siberia had to be burned in the taiga.
After returning to his homeland, the composer was actively
involved in the development of music culture in the newly founded
Latvian state. At the Latvian Conservatory he led the conducting
and instrumentation classes. He was one of the conductors of the
Latvian National Opera beginning in 1920, and, from 1928 to even
1944, Jānis Mediņš was the conductor of the newly founded
LatvianRadio Orchestra, tirelessly making
efforts to popularise Latvian music throughout those
years.
After the reoccuption of Latvia in 1944 by the Soviet Union,
wishing to retain freedom for himself and his art, Jānis Mediņš,
along with his family, fled Latvia in August. For four years, he
lived in refugee camps in Germany – Segeberg and Blomberg, and, as
of 1948, Jānis Mediņš’s home was Stockholm. During this time,
Mediņš mainly composed chamber music.
The creative work of Jānis Mediņš has a significant place in
Latvian music culture. In many fields he was the first – J.
Mediņš’s Uguns un nakts, along with
Alfrēds Kalninš’s Baņuta began the
Latvian national classical opera genre, he also provided the first
Latvian piano concerto (1932), the first ballet (Mīlas
uzvara [The Victory of Love]), the first piano trio
(1930), and the first single movement symphonic sketch
(Imanta, 1923).
Jānis Mediņš created music seemingly easily, spontaneously,
proven by the impressive number of compositions – more than 300
works. However, it only seems to have been easy. The works of Jānis
Mediņš are significantly influenced by personal experiences – his
works, particularly his songs, are like an intimate diary. Beauty
and measure – one could briefly characterise the aesthetic of Jānis
Mediņš. In his rich, colourful orchestra one can occasionally hear
the influence of the symphonic poems of Richard Strauss. Critics
have noted Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner as Jānis
Mediņš’s musical foster fathers. One can
hear something of French Impressionism in Mediņš’s harmonies. And,
without a doubt, a particularly vital influence in his compositions
is from Latvian folk music – less direct quotation, more a Latvian
coloured melodic and harmonic language.
A vital turning point in the stylistic of Jānis Mediņš
appeared during his years of exile – the master of orchestra colour
began to compose constructive, rhythmic chamber music rather than
symphonic score. Longīns Apkalns wrote: "...he reacted to a lost
Latvia in a way that his art was broken. It did not become worse,
perhaps quite the opposite."
This broad range – Jānis Mediņš expressed himself in
symphonic works in the style of late Romanticism, and truly
Wagnerian dramaticism in Uguns un nakts,
to the the heartfelt lyricism of his solo songs and Rationalism and
Constructive Modernism in his later chamber music
compositions.