Darzins, Emils (1875 - 1910)
Biography Works
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Emīls Dārziņš, one of the most popular and most beloved Latvian composers, was born in 1875 to the family of teacher Andžs Dārziņš in Jaunpiebalga. Over the course of continual self-education, he was prepared for studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, in the organ class of Louis Homilius (1888). However, due to financial problems, Dārziņš was forced to leave the Conservatory in May 1901. The last nine years of his life Dārziņš spent in Riga. There the young musician, by means of his concert reviews, well-grounded criticism and idealistic philosophical essays, attempted to develop the society’s artistic taste. Working not only as a publicist, but also and as a private music teacher, he had little time left for composing. Only 17 a cappella choral songs and 19 solo songs, as well as one symphonic miniature – Melancholy Waltz, and an unfinished opera – The Rose Days, form his oeuvre. Emīls Dārziņš died tragically in a railway accident in 1910.
