Prenkë Jakova, composer, People’s Artist, passed away. He was born in Shkodër, in 1917. He completed high school in his hometown. From a young age he participated in the artistic life of the city as a chorister, instrumentalist, theater actor and later as a leader of choirs, bands and orchestras. The first compositions also belong to this period. During the years 1936-1939 he worked for some time as a teacher in the villages of Shkodra and Mirdita and in the years 1941-1942 in Katërkolle in Ulcinj and in Ostros in Kraja. In 1938 he composed the children’s operetta “Xhuxhmaxhuxhët“ (“Midgets”) (libretto by Kolë Jakova) and then an album of children’s songs. In 1943, he studied clarinet at the “Santa Cecilia” Academy (Rome). After the liberation, he worked at the House of Culture in Shkodër, where he directed the musical creativity of the district for 30 years. There he founded, in 1962, the Song Festival for Pioneers, as a national activity of its kind, which has maintained its continuity. After the melodrama “Juda Makabe” (1945), the production “Dasma Shkodrane“ (“Shkodra Wedding”) (1947), the musical action “Dritë mbi Shqipëri“ (“Light on Albania”) (1952), he composed the opera “Mrika” (libretto by Ll. Siliqi) in 1958, the first national work of this gender. Prenkë Jakova is the author of a second opera, “Gjergj Kastrioti – Skënderbeu” (“Gjergj Kastrioti-Skanderbeg”) (1969, libretto by Ll. Siliqi). As the founder of classical Albanian opera, Prenkë Jakova is one of the main representatives of vocal lyrics with a classical-romantic orientation. In addition to stage music, he has composed many songs, among which “Syrin si qershia“ (“Eye like a cherry”), “Margjelo“, many children’s songs, romances, etc. have become popular. (In the photo: Prenkë Jakova)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1059-1060.
Graphic processing: AHCF
