Page 147 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 147
from courses to a conservatoir e ...
not opened. After the political situation had changed and Lithuania became
an independent state, Naujalis once again tried to realise his dream. He
succeeded: in March 1919, the first private Lithuanian music school was
launched in Kaunas.
The start was very modest due to the shortage of everything, from
teachers to furniture. In the first years, the school had several teachers and
about 40 pupils. As the three, and later five, rooms of the schools did not
suffice, lessons sometimes were held at teachers’ places. At that time, there
were only three classes, those of piano, violin, and singing, and theoretical
courses were not taught for some time. When a year later the Government
demanded to give the premises to the Seimas Library, Naujalis transferred
his school to the Lithuanian Society of Art Creators. Through the efforts
of its members, on 1 October 1920, it was nationalised, and Naujalis again
became its director. In the course of several years, new teachers were
invited, more classes appeared, and the number of the pupils tripled. In
1923, the school administration developed the first curriculum and named
it the curriculum of the Lithuanian Conservatoire. That testified to the
intentions of Naujalis to transform the school into a conservatoire, i. e. an
institution of higher education, and to raise music teaching in Lithuania
to a higher level.
The Vision of the Lithuanian Conservatoire
in the European Context
The first professional Lithuanian musicians graduated from conserv-
atoires in Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow), Poland (Warsaw), Germany
(Leipzig, Berlin), or Latvia (Riga), therefore, more than one of them cher-
ished a dream to establish a conservatoire in Lithuania in order to pro-
tect young people from the hardships of studying abroad. In the early
20th century, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and Česlovas Sasnauskas
spoke about it, and Stasys Šimkus also fostered the idea. They understood
that only primary and secondary music schools did not suffice and a con-
servatoire was necessary to train high level performers, composers, and
teachers, who in turn would lay the foundations for the national musical
culture.
At that time, the oldest conservatoires in Europe were already enjoying
over a hundred years of their experience, while others were still being
established, as testified to by a table below:
145
not opened. After the political situation had changed and Lithuania became
an independent state, Naujalis once again tried to realise his dream. He
succeeded: in March 1919, the first private Lithuanian music school was
launched in Kaunas.
The start was very modest due to the shortage of everything, from
teachers to furniture. In the first years, the school had several teachers and
about 40 pupils. As the three, and later five, rooms of the schools did not
suffice, lessons sometimes were held at teachers’ places. At that time, there
were only three classes, those of piano, violin, and singing, and theoretical
courses were not taught for some time. When a year later the Government
demanded to give the premises to the Seimas Library, Naujalis transferred
his school to the Lithuanian Society of Art Creators. Through the efforts
of its members, on 1 October 1920, it was nationalised, and Naujalis again
became its director. In the course of several years, new teachers were
invited, more classes appeared, and the number of the pupils tripled. In
1923, the school administration developed the first curriculum and named
it the curriculum of the Lithuanian Conservatoire. That testified to the
intentions of Naujalis to transform the school into a conservatoire, i. e. an
institution of higher education, and to raise music teaching in Lithuania
to a higher level.
The Vision of the Lithuanian Conservatoire
in the European Context
The first professional Lithuanian musicians graduated from conserv-
atoires in Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow), Poland (Warsaw), Germany
(Leipzig, Berlin), or Latvia (Riga), therefore, more than one of them cher-
ished a dream to establish a conservatoire in Lithuania in order to pro-
tect young people from the hardships of studying abroad. In the early
20th century, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and Česlovas Sasnauskas
spoke about it, and Stasys Šimkus also fostered the idea. They understood
that only primary and secondary music schools did not suffice and a con-
servatoire was necessary to train high level performers, composers, and
teachers, who in turn would lay the foundations for the national musical
culture.
At that time, the oldest conservatoires in Europe were already enjoying
over a hundred years of their experience, while others were still being
established, as testified to by a table below:
145
