Vytautas Klova (January 31, 1926 in

Tirkšliai Tirkšliai () is a town in Telšiai County, Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered b ...

Mažeikiai district Mažeikiai (; Samogitian: ''Mažeikē''; ; ) is a city in northwestern Lithuania, on the Venta River. It has a population of around 32,000, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania and eighteenth largest city in the Baltic States. The ...

– December 10, 2009 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

) was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n composer and educator. His best-known work is opera ''

Pilėnai Pilėnai (also ''Pillenen'' in German) was a hill fort in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its location is unknown and is subject to academic debates, but it is well known in the history of Lithuania due to its heroic defense against the Teutonic O ...

'', based on the historical events in

. It is by far the most popular Lithuanian

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Biography

From 1946 to 1948 Klova studied in the composition class of professor

Juozas Gruodis Juozas Gruodis (20 December 1884 in Rokėnai, Russian Empire – 16 April 1948 in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union) was a Lithuanian classic, composer, educator and professor. Biography His father was a woodworker who also made musical inst ...

at the Kaunas Conservatory. In 1951 he finished professor

Antanas Račiūnas Antanas Račiūnas (4 September 1905, Užliaušiai – 3 April 1984, Vilnius) was a Lithuanian and Soviet composer and pedagogue. He was awarded People's Artist of the Lithuanian SSR in 1965. Biography He graduated from the Kaunas People's C ...

' composition class at the

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported College or university school of music, conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts. History Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a ...

(then known as the Lithuanian Conservatory). From 1954 to 1994 Klova lectured on

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

at the same academy. In 1982 he received his professor's degree. Klova is the author of the first Lithuanian textbook of

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

. He received the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

State Prize for his works in 1957, 1960 and 1970.LMILC
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Works

Klova wrote 6 operas: * '' Pilėnai (opera)'' (1955) – most popular of his works and was named as classics of the Lithuanian opera * ''Vaiva'' (1957) * ''Duktė'' ("Daughter") (1960) * ''Žalgiris'' (Du kalavijai) ("Grunvald (Two Swords)") (1965) * ''Amerikoniškoji tragedija'' ("American Tragedy") (1968) * ''Ave, vita'' (1974) He also harmonized more than 100

Lithuanian folk songs Lithuanian folk songs (in Lithuanian: ) are often noted for not only their mythological content but also their relating historical events. Lithuanian folk music includes romantic songs, wedding songs, as well as work songs and archaic war s ...

References

1926 births 2009 deaths Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery People from Mažeikiai District Municipality Lithuanian classical composers Lithuanian opera composers Lithuanian music educators Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Academic staff of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Musicians from Vilnius Lithuanian male classical composers 20th-century Lithuanian male musicians {{Lithuania-composer-stub