Page 154 - 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. 154
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
with the approved Statute and the Order of the Minister of Education of
7 February 1933 by which Kaunas Music School was closed and
a Conservatoire set up in its place. Neither the teachers (32 full time and
freelance) nor the students (about 250) felt any changes. They just had to
write applications for continuing work or studies in the same, only renamed,
institution.
The Kaunas Conservatoire opening ceremony took place on April 1
in the State Opera House. The ceremony was attended by the President of
Lithuania Antanas Smetona, ministers, foreign ambassadors, honourable
representatives of the Church, and guests, including the Rector of the
Latvian Conservatoire Jāzeps Vītols. Gruodis made a speech to overview
the development of teaching music in Lithuania and to emphasise the
significance of the establishment of the Conservatoire:
Our country cannot boast treasures hidden in the earth or millions
of soldiers. We can only win the right to live in dignity by raising
our culture and especially art. Even science does not make the name
of the country as famous as art. Science is more cosmopolitan: it
sheds light and gets immersed in the common sea of culture, while
art brings out characteristic features of the nation, keeps the nation
alive, and makes it loved by all and honourable. Now, when we
have the centre of the science of music, we expect our musical
culture to develop faster.7
The Development of Kaunas Conservatoire
and the Consequences of Occupation
Kaunas Conservatoire was gradually growing and strengthening, and the
number of its graduates kept increasing. In 1933, nine students graduated
from it, and in 1937, there were 30 of them. Gruodis made every effort to
update the curriculum and to include new courses, such as, e. g., counter-
point, canon, and fugue, that he himself taught to prospective composers
and organists. However, tense administrative and academic work affect-
ed the poor health of Gruodis, therefore, in 1937, he resigned from the di-
rector’s position yet stayed to teach. The Ministry of Education appointed
another composer, graduate of Leipzig Conservatoire Kazimieras Viktoras
Banaitis (1896‒1963), as the director. He held the post until 1943 and had to
survive an especially difficult period.
7 A. Mušaitis, “Kauno konservatorijos atidarymas” [Opening of Kaunas Conservato-
ire], Vairas, no. 5 (1933): 63.
152
with the approved Statute and the Order of the Minister of Education of
7 February 1933 by which Kaunas Music School was closed and
a Conservatoire set up in its place. Neither the teachers (32 full time and
freelance) nor the students (about 250) felt any changes. They just had to
write applications for continuing work or studies in the same, only renamed,
institution.
The Kaunas Conservatoire opening ceremony took place on April 1
in the State Opera House. The ceremony was attended by the President of
Lithuania Antanas Smetona, ministers, foreign ambassadors, honourable
representatives of the Church, and guests, including the Rector of the
Latvian Conservatoire Jāzeps Vītols. Gruodis made a speech to overview
the development of teaching music in Lithuania and to emphasise the
significance of the establishment of the Conservatoire:
Our country cannot boast treasures hidden in the earth or millions
of soldiers. We can only win the right to live in dignity by raising
our culture and especially art. Even science does not make the name
of the country as famous as art. Science is more cosmopolitan: it
sheds light and gets immersed in the common sea of culture, while
art brings out characteristic features of the nation, keeps the nation
alive, and makes it loved by all and honourable. Now, when we
have the centre of the science of music, we expect our musical
culture to develop faster.7
The Development of Kaunas Conservatoire
and the Consequences of Occupation
Kaunas Conservatoire was gradually growing and strengthening, and the
number of its graduates kept increasing. In 1933, nine students graduated
from it, and in 1937, there were 30 of them. Gruodis made every effort to
update the curriculum and to include new courses, such as, e. g., counter-
point, canon, and fugue, that he himself taught to prospective composers
and organists. However, tense administrative and academic work affect-
ed the poor health of Gruodis, therefore, in 1937, he resigned from the di-
rector’s position yet stayed to teach. The Ministry of Education appointed
another composer, graduate of Leipzig Conservatoire Kazimieras Viktoras
Banaitis (1896‒1963), as the director. He held the post until 1943 and had to
survive an especially difficult period.
7 A. Mušaitis, “Kauno konservatorijos atidarymas” [Opening of Kaunas Conservato-
ire], Vairas, no. 5 (1933): 63.
152
