Page 157 - 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. 157
from courses to a conservatoir e ...
music college called after composer and conductor Juozas Tallat-Kelpša. For
some time, all those schools operated under one roof, however, after new
premises had been received in the main street of Vilnius, Stalin Avenue,
the Conservatoire moved there and stayed till the present time, only under
a different name.9
In the post-war years, the administration of Vilnius Conservatoire
faced a number of problems, including a huge dropout of teachers and
students. It was related to the repatriation of Poles, due to which the
formation of some groups failed, some courses had to be given up, and
the activities of the orchestra and chamber ensembles were disrupted. The
Conservatoire administration found a way out: they invited students of
the music colleges in Klaipėda, Panevėžys, and Šiauliai to Vilnius. Even
though they were already prepared for the studies in the Conservatoire
as performers, they lacked theoretical fundamentals, therefore they were
offered preparatory courses.10 Some teachers from Kaunas were invited:
in the spring of 1946, the academic staff consisted of 60 teachers, mainly
Lithuanian, although there were also some newcomers from Russia.
Due to the ideologisation of studies, the content of the syllabi and the
concert repertoires had to be revised. Quite a few compositions of Russia
and the USSR composers were included; after the 1948 Resolution of the
Central Committee of the USSR, works of Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri
Shostakovich were banned, and some compositions of Lithuanian
authors became undesirable in the academic repertoire. A department of
Marxism-Leninism had to be opened, and the courses of the History of
the USSR, Dialectical Materialism, Scientific Communism, and Military
Training had to be taught. Teachers were forbidden to teach from foreign
textbooks and had to rely on Russian literature alone. Everybody had
to obey the instructions of the Moscow authorities: on them depended
people’s survival and work.
Since 1945, two conservatoires operated in Lithuania. The greatest
attention was paid to Vilnius Conservatoire. After the attestation of those
schools, Kaunas Conservatoire received the 3rd, and Vilnius Conservatoire,
the 2nd category. It soon became clear that the Government of the Lithuanian
SSR did not intend to fund two conservatoires and was going to merge them,
9 In 1992, the Lithuanian State Conservatoire was renamed the Lithuanian Music
Academy, and in 2004, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
10 Tamara Vainauskienė, “Vilniaus konservatorijos formavimasis ir raida 1940–1949
metais” [Formation and development of Vilnius Conservatoire in 1940–1949], Me-
notyra, no. 1 (2003): 47.
155
music college called after composer and conductor Juozas Tallat-Kelpša. For
some time, all those schools operated under one roof, however, after new
premises had been received in the main street of Vilnius, Stalin Avenue,
the Conservatoire moved there and stayed till the present time, only under
a different name.9
In the post-war years, the administration of Vilnius Conservatoire
faced a number of problems, including a huge dropout of teachers and
students. It was related to the repatriation of Poles, due to which the
formation of some groups failed, some courses had to be given up, and
the activities of the orchestra and chamber ensembles were disrupted. The
Conservatoire administration found a way out: they invited students of
the music colleges in Klaipėda, Panevėžys, and Šiauliai to Vilnius. Even
though they were already prepared for the studies in the Conservatoire
as performers, they lacked theoretical fundamentals, therefore they were
offered preparatory courses.10 Some teachers from Kaunas were invited:
in the spring of 1946, the academic staff consisted of 60 teachers, mainly
Lithuanian, although there were also some newcomers from Russia.
Due to the ideologisation of studies, the content of the syllabi and the
concert repertoires had to be revised. Quite a few compositions of Russia
and the USSR composers were included; after the 1948 Resolution of the
Central Committee of the USSR, works of Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri
Shostakovich were banned, and some compositions of Lithuanian
authors became undesirable in the academic repertoire. A department of
Marxism-Leninism had to be opened, and the courses of the History of
the USSR, Dialectical Materialism, Scientific Communism, and Military
Training had to be taught. Teachers were forbidden to teach from foreign
textbooks and had to rely on Russian literature alone. Everybody had
to obey the instructions of the Moscow authorities: on them depended
people’s survival and work.
Since 1945, two conservatoires operated in Lithuania. The greatest
attention was paid to Vilnius Conservatoire. After the attestation of those
schools, Kaunas Conservatoire received the 3rd, and Vilnius Conservatoire,
the 2nd category. It soon became clear that the Government of the Lithuanian
SSR did not intend to fund two conservatoires and was going to merge them,
9 In 1992, the Lithuanian State Conservatoire was renamed the Lithuanian Music
Academy, and in 2004, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
10 Tamara Vainauskienė, “Vilniaus konservatorijos formavimasis ir raida 1940–1949
metais” [Formation and development of Vilnius Conservatoire in 1940–1949], Me-
notyra, no. 1 (2003): 47.
155
