Kristo Kono
| Kristo Kono | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | January 22, 1907 |
| Died | 1991 |
| Era | 20th century |
| Known for | Lulet e kujtimit (Flower of remembrance) operetta, choral rhapsodies and poems |
Kristo Kono (1907–1991) was an Albanian composer, and recipient of the People's Artist title in 1961, the highest artistic recognition title during the communist era. He was one of the early contributors to Albanian music and opera who spent all his life in their service, one of the symbols of the cultural traditions of his hometown of Korçë, same as other musicians as Tefta Tashko-Koço, Jorgjia Truja, and Kristaq Antoniu, and one of the main personalities of the early generation of Albanian composers together with Nikolla Zoraqi, Tish Daija, Tonin Harapi, and Feim Ibrahimi.
Kono was born on 22 January 1907 in Korçë, back then still part of the Ottoman Empire, today's southeastern Albania. His interest in music showed up at a very early age. He followed the "Vatra" orchestral band in order to learn how to play the clarinet. In the '20s he would start to compose songs and small instrumental parts.
In 1927, he went to Paris to study music at the Conservatoire de Paris but stayed there only 15 months. He moved to Milan and enrolled in the Giuseppe Verdi conservatoire. Finishing his studies in 1932, he returned home. In September of the same year, Kono participated in a concert of the cultural society "Skanderbeg" of Korçë, where he showed his skills for the first time before the Albanian public. The first post-study years he worked as a music teacher in the city of Gjirokaster and in the National Lyceum of his hometown, one of the most accredited schools of that time within Albania. At both schools he set up choirs and orchestras, and performed for the public. At the same time, he began working with renowned artistic choir "Lira" (The lyre). After creating romances like Asnjë shpresë ("No hope"), Vjollcat (The violets), and Ktheju ("Come back") based on Hilë Mosi's lyrics, he composed some well known urban lyrical songs which were sung by singers such as Truja and Tashko-Koço. The most known were Kur më vjen burrin nga stani ("When my husband comes back from dairy"), and Kur m'u rrite vogëloshe ("You have grown up little girl") based on lyrics from Poradeci, and Fol e qesh moj sylarushe (Talk and laugh o you bright eyed girl") based on the lyrics of Milto Sotir Gurra. A less known side of his work was as a folklorist; he engaged in collecting and processing for the chorus many folkloric songs, giving them new quality and value. This work was converged in the publication of two choral rhapsodies. The "Albanian Rhapsody No. 1" was based on southern-Albania folk motives and performed with great success in Tirana on 28 November 1942, the Albanian Flag Day.
...
Wikipedia