Faustas Latėnas

Faustas Latėnas
Born(1956-05-16)16 May 1956
Died3 November 2020(2020-11-03) (aged 64)
Vilnius
Education
Occupation
  • Composer
  • Theatre manager
  • Vice-minister of culture
  • Cultural attaché
Organization

Faustas Latėnas (16 May 1956[1] – 3 November 2020) was a Lithuanian composer, theatre manager, politician and diplomat. He composed mostly incidental music, and also scores for films and television. He was vice-minister of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, advisor to the Prime Minister in cultural affairs, and cultural attaché in Moscow.

Life and career

Born in Dusetos,[2] Latėnas studied composition, first at the Kaunas Juozo Gruodžio Conservatory [lt] in Kaunas with Giedrius Kuprevičius, graduating in 1975, then at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius with Eduardas Balsys [lt], graduating in 1980.[3] He then was director of music at the puppet theatre Lėlė [lt], becoming the theatre's director in 1990. From 1991, he was director of music department at the National Youth Theatre of Vilnius.[3]

From 1996, he was vice-minister of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture,[2] also the country's advisor for cultural affairs the following year. He was from 1999 director of the National Drama Theatre, and from 2000 director of the National Youth Theatre of Vilnius. In 2005, he served again as vice-minister. From 2006 to 2008, he was cultural advisor to the Prime Minister. He was cultural attaché at the Embassy of Lithuania in Moscow from 2011 to 2012, and then again advisor to the Prime Minister until 2016.[3]

Latėnas died at age 64.[4][5][6]

Work

Latėnas composed incidental music for 200 drama and puppet theatre productions, often recognized by awards. Even his non-theatrical works often sound dramatic. He named his style "post-social realism", expressing emotional aspects such as joy, sadness and sarcasm. He composed for a 2019 Dutch-Lithuanian collaboration for The King Ubu at the Lele Theatre.[7]

He also composed soundtracks for nine films, including My Little Wife, The Children from the Hotel America and Wooden Staircase, and for 20 documentaries, and music for five television productions.[3] He said:

I have always regarded theatre as a refreshing current in my concert music, something like an islet where one is free to incarnate the most radical, banal, or quirky thoughts, because the attitude to theatre music has always been more lenient.[3]

Chamber music by Latėnas was recorded in 2006, including a flute sonata (1977), a cello sonata (1978), a violin sonata (1983) and the String Quartet No. 2 "In loving memory" (1986).[8] The composer said that he dedicated the string quartet "to the loving memory of all the good friends who emigrated from Lithuania; it's music for the loving memory of all the happy moments I've experienced; it is music for a loving memory of all dear people who are no longer with us".[9] Another CD, ...in extremis..., included in 2008 the String Quartet No. 1 "...in extremis...", piano music, and the Rondo Sonata for Saxophone and Piano.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Faustas Latėnas". vrk.lt (in Lithuanian). 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Mirė kompozitorius Faustas Latėnas". University of Jena. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Parulskienė, Daiva. "Faustas Latėnas". Music Information Centre Lithuania. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Eidamas 65-uosius mirė kompozitorius Faustas Latėnas". lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian). 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Mirė kompozitorius Faustas Latėnas". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Mirė kompozitorius Faustas Latėnas". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 4 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  7. ^ "The King Ubu / Based on Alfred Jarry play / Puppet performance for adults". teatraslele.lt. 29 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Faustas Latėnas Samba Lacrimarum". musicperformers.lt. 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Eidamas 65-uosius mirė kompozitorius Faustas Latėnas" (in Lithuanian). National Philharmonic of Lithuania. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  10. ^ "...in extremis... Faustas Latėnas". musicperformers.lt. 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

External links


This page was last updated at 2020-11-05 15:14 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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