Prenkë Jakova, composer, People’s Artist, was born in Shkodër. He was educated up to high-school in his hometown. From a young age he participated in the city’s artistic life 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 1936-1939, he worked as a teacher in the villages of Shkodra and Mirdita, and in 1941-1942, in Katërkolla in Ulcinj and Ostros in Kraja. In 1938 he composed the children’s operetta “Dwarfs” (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 that has maintained its continuity. After the melodrama “Judas Makabe” (1945), the staging “Dasma Shkodrane” (1947), the musical action “Light on Albania” (1952), he composed the opera “Mrika” (libretto by Ll. Siliqi) in 1958, the first national work of this gender. Prenkë Jakova authorizes a second opera, “Gjergj Kastrioti – Skënderbeu” (1969, libretto by Ll. Siliqi). Founder of classical Albanian opera, Prenkë Jakova is one of the main representatives of vocal lyrics with classical-romantic orientation. In addition to stage music, he has composed many songs, among which “Syrin si kershia”, “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.
Photo: © Arian Kadiu
Graphic processing: AHCF
