Prenk Jakova (; 27 June 191719 September 1969) was an Albanian composer, musician, and author of ''

Mrika ''Mrika'' (''Maria'') is an opera in three acts composed by Prenkë Jakova with a libretto in Albanian by Llazar Siliqi. It premiered (in a four-act version) in Shkoder, Albania in 1958 at the Migjeni Theatre. The revised three-act version (an ...

'' (1958), which is considered the first Albanian opera. A native of

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

, he studied under Martin Gjoka and Zef Kurti, and he was also an alumnus of the

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia () is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Gre ...

. A virtuoso clarinetist he worked as a music teacher for most of his life and distinguished himself as the mentor of the four most important composers of classical music from northern Albania:

Çesk Zadeja Çesk Zadeja (8 June 1927, Shkodër – 15 August 1997, Rome) was an Albanian composer. A native of Shkodër, he studied in Moscow and did much to promote the arts in Tirana. He is known as "The Father of Albanian Music".Tish Daija, Tonin Harapi, and

Simon Gjoni Simon Gjoni (Shkodër, 1925–1991) was an Albanian conductor, and composer of many popular pieces for piano and orchestra.Jim Samson Music in the Balkans 2013 p458 "Finally, Simon Gjoni (1928-91), another Shkodér—born composer, studied conduc ...

. Jakova was the director of the music band and of the House of Culture of Shkodër. Besides ''Mrika'', Jakova also composed ''Skënderbeu'', another opera which premiered in 1968. Along the operas Jakova left to posterity many songs and other musical pieces, several of which are commonly believed to be Albanian folk music, rather they are Jakova's compositions. He committed suicide at the heat of hard work he had taken on and also because of the bad health state of his mother. He is regarded as one of the best Albanian composers.

Early life

Prenk Jakova was born on 27 June 1917 in

, northern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. His family's background was from

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

, from which originated the last name. His grandfather, Dedë Jakova, was a clarinetist at the Shkodër Jesuit College, whereas Prenkë's father, Kolë Dedë Jakova, was a commander in the Albanian army. Jakova went to elementary school in 1924–1929 and from there he pursued secondary studies in the ''Illyricum'' Lycee of his native city. When in high school, he switched from the classical concentration into the general gymnasium, which he finished in 1935. During his high school years he was part of the musical band of school and also, encouraged from his father, he started acting in the theatrical associations ''Bogdani'' and ''Vllaznia''. Later, the school band became the city's band, and Jakova its clarinetist. During that period Jakova started to write musical motifs based on well known folk songs such as ''Delja rudë'' (), ''Hajredini'' (), ''Besa e një trimi'' (), and ''Shkoj e vi flutrim si zogu'' (). His two musical teachers were Martin Gjoka and Zef Kurti, probably the most important Albanian musicians of northern Albania at that time.

Work

At 18, Jakova was nominated artistic director of his school band and his first students were

, Tonin Rrota, Zef Gruda, and many other famous Albanian composers. Jakova started to compose marches and other pieces. On 2 January 1936 he was sent to teach in

Bërdicë Bërdicë is a former municipality in the Shkodër County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Shkodër. The population at the 2011 census was 5,773. Settlements There are 7 settl ...

where he took care of the musical education of the children. There he learned to play the guitar. During the summer of 1939 he purchased an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and learned that too. At that point he was an advanced, sometimes virtuoso player of the clarinet, the guitar, and the accordion. In 1939 Jakova went to teach in

Orosh Orosh (or ) is a small village in Mirditë within the county of Lezhë in the northwest of the Republic of Albania. Geographically, it is located inside the mountainous region of northern Albania in the Valley of Fan. The seat of the former muni ...

Mirditë District Mirditë District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 37,055 in 2001, and an area of . It is in the north of the country, and its capital w ...

, where he wrote a piece for accordion entitled "Mall" (), and later the song "Fyelli i Bariut" (), whose text is unknown to us today. This was the first song of Jakova whose text and music had been both composed by him, according to the tradition of the ''aheng from Shkodër '' (). In 1940 Jakova was transferred back to Shkodër where he started a cycle of songs for children and an operetta on two acts entitled "Kopshti i Xhuxhmaxhuxhëve" (). In the academic year 1941–42, Jakova was again transferred in

Katërkollë Vladimir ( cnr-Cyrl, Владимир; ) is a village in the Municipalities of Montenegro, municipality of Ulcinj Municipality, Ulcinj, Montenegro. Demographics According to Montenegro's 2011 census, the population of Vladimir is 99.6% ethnicall ...

, a village close to Ulqin and Osho in the Krajë region of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, to where he would commute with his bike from Shkodër, covering every day. In 1942 he went to study

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

at the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

where he finished with excellent results. In 1944 Jakova was hired by the chorus of the First Partisan Brigade of the House of the Youth where he was named director. During this time he was arrested by the communist regime and held in prison because his brother had been an opponent of the regime, persecuted, and killed by the communists. His former alumni, Çesk Zadeja and Tonin Harapi witnessed that, once released from the prison, Jakova went back to work and started to go to work at 7 in the morning and go back home only by late night. The group gave performances not only in Shkodër but also in various cities of

, such as Ulqin,

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

Titograd Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

etc. In 1947, Jakova wrote a cycle of songs entitled "Dasma Shkodrane" (), with which he represented his city in a song festival in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

. During 1948–1951, Jakova worked as a music teacher in two schools of Shkodër and never quit for a single day practices of the chorus and the orchestra of the House of Culture of Shkodër. At that time he composed the song "Gruri i ri" () with a text of

Dhimitër Shuteriqi Dhimitër Shuteriqi (26 July 1915 ‒ 22 July 2003) was an Albanian scholar, literary historian, and writer. He participated in the anti-fascist National Liberation Movement. After the war, he was a member of the People's Assembly and one of th ...

, which was put on stage from

Pjetër Gjoka Pjetër Gjoka (3 August 1912 – 12 May 1982) was an Albanian film and theatre actor. He started his theatre activity with the amateur groups in Shkodër in 1929. In 1947 he started to work as a full-time actor in the National Theatre of Albani ...

along with other songs which were brought to the 1950 Festival in Tirana. At the beginning of the 1952 festival in Albania there were high quality soloists and good symphonic orchestras. In June 1952 poet Llazar Siliqi was put in charge to write a poetry on youth's work on a new hydroelectric power station, which was being built on the Mat river. The piece started as a song, but afterward it took a longer shape and was divided into two movements called ''Dritë mbi Shqipëri'' (), and was presented in 1952 in Tirana. The piece was nothing but the embryo of the first Albanian opera, ''

'', which was worked upon by Jakova in the following 6 years and eventually rehearsed on 2 May 1958, and put on stage on 12 November 1958. Rehearsing was done in the House of Culture, the Old Theatre and the new Migjeni Theatre in Shkodër. On 27 November the general rehearsal was given and on 1 December 1958 the opera premiered in the Migjeni Theatre, and after some performances in the city, on 27 and 28 December it showed in the theater of the

Academy of Music and Arts of Albania The University of Arts (), formerly known as the Academy of Arts (), is a public university and the main institution that offers higher education of arts in Albania. History Founded in 1966 as the Higher Institute of Arts (), it merged three arti ...

, where

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

, then Albania's premier, assisted it. At the end of the show

Kadri Hazbiu Kadri Hazbiu (15 July 1922 – 10 September 1983) was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). Biography Early life Kadri Hazbiu was born in Mavrovë, Vlorë District, on 15 July 1922. He was the son of Hasbi Cano Dautaj ...

, then Minister of Interior, thanked all the artists and raised a toast to Jakova. The event was considered important and Jakova received telegrams of congratulations from many of his peer composers all around the world for the success of his first opera. The extraordinary success of ''Mrika'' led to an encounter between Enver Hoxha and Jakova. Hoxha asked Jakova to write another opera, this time on Albanian national hero,

Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

, but Jakova answered that "operas are not like loafs which can be put in the oven at any time". It is reported that Hoxha laughed at that response and that he immediately assured Jakova, that he personally would provide to all the necessary conditions to guarantee the opera's success. ''Skënderbeu'' would indeed premiere 10 years after ''Mrika'' and was of a much better artistic quality then ''Mrika''. Jakova worked very intensively on the music while at the same time he had other responsibilities as the director of the House of Culture and also teaching assignments. He spent several months only on the work of separating the Turkish music from the Arabic one, which was one of the elements of the opera, and many classical composers struggled with, because of the very distant relationship between classical music and oriental one. When Jakova finished the opera, he brought it to Tirana for an approval, but he was asked to review many parts of it. Jakova categorically refused to revise, eventually Fadil Paçrami, then Minister of Culture, backed him up. Although ''Skënderbeu'' was a great success, and Jakova was congratulated by Enver Hoxha, the vicissitudes of its realization had heavy consequences on Jakova's spirit. This occurred when Jakova's mother was paralyzed at home. The stress accumulated and the despair of a heavy life without recognition, brought him to attempt to kill himself on 9 September 1969, by throwing himself from the second floor of the House of Culture of Shkodër. He eventually died a few days later, on 16 September 1969 in a Tirana hospital, from the fatal wounds. The people of Shkodër, shocked and embittered for the great composer, organized an imposing funeral procession for Albania's greatest musician and composer of that time. The procession was unattended by public authorities, with the exception of the secretary of the Albanian League of Writers and Artists. The death ceremony was accompanied by the sounds of the musical band of the city of Shkodër, which Jakova himself had created.

Legacy

Jakova left a very important musical heritage. Beside the two operas there are dozens of songs, orchestral and choral pieces, movies' music, and operettas that he left to posterity. Jakova is considered as one of the most important Albanian composers of all times. He composed the operas ''Mrika'' in 1958 and ''Skanderberg'' in 1968, for which he is known as the creator of the Albanian national opera. His operas were influenced by traditional

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

, the

belcanto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

style and Albanian folk song. Jakova has also become noted for many folk Albanian songs, which are so widespread, that there is an erroneous belief that they are traditional Albanian popular songs, whereas they are instead composed by Jakova. One of his most famous songs is Margjelo.

Operas

*''Mrika'' (1958) *''Gjergj Kastrioti-Skënderbeu'' (1968)

References

External links

* *
Full List of works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakova, Prenke 1917 births 1969 suicides 20th-century classical composers Albanian opera composers Albanian musicians Musicians from Shkodër Albanian composers Suicides by jumping in Albania Male classical composers 20th-century Albanian musicians 20th-century male musicians Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni 1969 deaths Albanian film score composers Male film score composers