Lithuanian Nonet for winds & strings A Clarinet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1358397

Juozas Žilevičius (1891–1985) was an organist, composer, educator, and researcher in the history of music. In 1919, when graduating from the Petrograd Conservatory, he composed Symphony in F minor, the first Lithuanian composition in this genre. Upon his return to Lithuania in 1920, Žilevičius worked in various musical life spheres of the young republic: he took part in the activities of the Society of Lithuanian Art Creators, contributed to the establishment of Kaunas Opera House, worked for several years as the head of the Art Department at the Ministry of Education, prepared the first music curricula for secondary schools and progymnasiums, conducted courses for music teachers, taught at music schools in Kaunas and Klaipėda, published a musical periodical, and initiated the first Lithuanian Song Festival. 
Musicologist Danutė Petrauskaitė managed to bring copies of three-movement Nonet for strings and wind instruments  from Chicago to Lithuania. Žilevičius started writing it in December 1924. The composition was apparently inspired by the Czech Nonet members, working at Klaipėda School of Music, who had been invited by its director Stasys Šimkus from Prague. This was a lively and youthful group that gave concerts all over Lithuania. It amazed audiences with its high artistic level and set an example for students, encouraging them to form various ensembles. The repertoire of the Czech Nonet consisted mainly of works from the Classical and Romantic eras. There were few contemporary compositions, and therefore the Czech Nonet performers turned to composers with a request to write new works for them. They might have discussed the matter with Žilevičius with whom they maintained a close relationship, as they did later with Lithuanian composer Jeronimas Kačinskas.
Žilevičius finished writing Nonet on 15 November 1926. All three movements were based on the intonations of Lithuanian folk melodies. The first movement (Andante. Allegro moderato) imitatively developed the motifs of the song “Autumn will Come”, while the second one (Andante cantabile) featured fragments of the song "I Rode through the Wood”, and the third one (Allegro) of the song “Oh, you Bird Cherry”. The composition was written professionally, it should have been attractive and interesting for the performers, but, unfortunately, it was never performed. The reasons for this could have been various: disagreements between the director of  Klaipėda Music School, Šimkus, and his deputy, Žilevičius, as well a the Czech teachers’ falling into disgrace and starting to resign from their teaching positions in the autumn of 1926. A few years later, Žilevičius also resigned from the school: in January 1929 he left for the USA and settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he worked as a church organist. He also brought his Nonet from Klaipėda, hoping that this work would be heard in America. To this end, he found transcribers who made instrumental parts from the score. As it turned out, there were few Lithuanian instrumentalists in the USA, and Žilevičius did not have close relations with Americans. Thus Nonet, which the composer regarded as one of his most successful compositions after his Symphony in F minor, sank into oblivion. 
Thanks to Kazys Daugėla, an opportunity appeared to edit and digitise it after the sheet music of Nonet had arrived in Lithuania. This work reveals the origins of the Lithuanian musical culture, enriches the repertoire of chamber-instrumental ensembles, broadens music education curricula, inks the name of Žilevičius, the author of both the first Lithuanian symphony and of the first nonet, in the history of music, and contributes to the preservation and fostering of the Lithuanian musical heritage.

by Prof. Dr. Danutė Petrauskaitė.