Jazeps Medinš

Medinš, Jāzeps 

Born Feb. 1 (13), 1877, in Kaunas; died June 12, 1947, in Riga. Latvian composer and conductor; Honored Art Worker of the Latvian SSR (1945). Brother of the composers Jekabs and Janis Medins.

In 1896, Medins graduated from the Riga Music Institute, where he studied violin, cello, and piano; he then became a teacher and director of the institute. He was a member of orchestras in Riga and was later a conductor in the Riga Latvian Theater (1906-11) and the opera house in Baku (1916-22). From 1922 to 1925 he was concertmaster and conductor of the Latvian Opera (Riga). From 1945 to 1947 he taught piano at the Latvian Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1946.

As a composer, Mediņš was an adherent of the late romantic trend; he composed two operas (including The Priestess, staged 1927 at the Latvian Opera), three symphonies (1922, 1937, and 1941), the symphonic poem The Latvian Land (1935), a symphonic suite, choral works, and concerti for violin and orchestra (1911).

REFERENCE

Zälite, M. Jazeps Mediņš. Riga, 1951.

J. VĪTOLIŅŠ