Jāzeps Vītols

Jāzeps Vītols Sheet Music

  • Born: 26th July 1863
  • Died: 24th April 1948
  • Birthplace: Latvia

Jāzeps Vītols was a Latvian composer. Vītols, the son of a schoolteacher, began his studies in composition in 1880 at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. After graduating in 1886, he remained at the Conservatory to teach composition and reached the rank of Professor in 1901.[1] His pupils there included Nikolai Myaskovsky and Sergei Prokofiev.[1] Vītols was a close friend of fellow professors Alexander Glazunov and Anatoly Lyadov; he would regularly participate at Mitrofan Belyayev's "Weekly Fridays" — regular meetings of prominent Russian composers at Belyayev's home. At the time, Belyayev was Vītols' primary publisher. Besides academia, Vītols also spent time as a music critic for the St Petersburger Zeitung from 1897 to 1914.