Pauls, Raimonds (1936)
Biography Works
Foto 1
Raimonds Pauls, the most
distinguished composer of Latvian popular music, as well as
pianist, arranger, conductor, and producer, was born on January 12,
1936 to a working class family. At the age of 4, he began his piano
studies. In 1946, he enrolled at the Emīls Dārziņš College of
Music, and, at the same time, he studied at the 7th Riga Primary
School. After graduating the Dārziņš College, in 1953, Pauls
enrolled in the piano division of the Latvian State Conservatory in
the class of Hermanis Brauns, which he completes in 1958. Along
with his classmate at the Conservatory, Egils Švarcs, in 1956, he
founded the Latvian Radio Light Music Sextet, and, in April of the
same year, he records his first song Nenosūtītā
vēstulīte (Unsent Letter), as well as his first
instrumental works.
In 1957, together with the Sextet, Pauls becomes a musician
of the Riga Light Music Orchestra, and after completing the
Conservatory, he is employed at the Latvian Philharmonia as an
accompanist, and composes at the same time. In 1961, for his
cycle Portreti (Portraits) he
receives an award at the young composers’ forum in Moscow. Pauls
forms a new creative collective – an instrumental trio, for whom he
composes many significant works, cycles, and suites in a jazz
style. That inspires the composer to return to the Conservatory,
studying composition with Jānis Ivanovs (1962–1965).
In 1962, he composes his first music for a theatre production
(Miks un Dzilna [Miks and Dzilna], Drama
Theatre), and, in 1964, Pauls composes his first soundtrack for a
full length art film (Aloizs Brenčs, Līdz rudenim
vēl tālu [Autumn is Still Far]). In 1963, he composes
his first ballet – Kubas melodijas (Melodies of
Cuba). At the same time, his lyrical popular songs
are recorded at radio.
In 1964, Pauls becomes the musical director, conductor and,
at the same time, pianist of the Riga Light Music Orchestra. As of
1967, he has been a member of the Latvian Composers’
Union.
In 1969, Tev, mana labā (For You, My
Dear) Pauls’ first record, is released, and, at the
end of the 1960s, Larisa Mondrusa’s performance of the composers
work Zilie lini (Blue Flax) becomes
the composers’ first international hit, and Pauls becomes famous in
all of the former USSR. Together with the Riga Light Music
Orchestra, Pauls performs in Finland, Hungary, Poland, the German
Democratic Republic, republics of the USSR, and, in 1969, he
receives awards at the international jazz festival in Prague and at
the Festival Menschen Und Meer in
Rostock (GDR).
In 1971, Pauls leaves the Riga Light Music Orchestra to form
his own vocal instrumental ensemble (as of 1974 it is
called Modo), which, in 1973, becomes a
collective of the Latvian Philharmonia, and he composes his first
choir songs. With Modo, he prepares a
cycle of concert programmes, and concerts are presented in the USSR
and internationally.
In the second half of the 1970s, Pauls songs are sung by
stars of Russian popular music, and, in 1981, his first solo
concert takes place in Moscow, which is followed by regular
performances in Russia and elsewhere. In 1979, he becomes the
artistic director of the Latvian State Television and Radio music
ensembles (radio choir, symphony orchestra, and the Latvian
Television and Radio popular and light music orchestra) until 1982.
He works as a lecturer in the Latvian State Conservatory and
teaches jazz improvisation (1980–1983).
As of 1982, Pauls is Head of the Music Department at Latvian
State Television and Radio, and, as of 1985, Head of the Radio
Music Department. On his initiative, along with the Latvian
Television and Radio Light Music Orchestra, the
group Remix (1985) is founded, for
whom Pauls composes songs.
In 1988, the composer is appointed chairman of the Latvian
SSR State Culture Committee, and, from 1989 to 1993, he is the
Latvian Culture Minister. He is the initiator of the Latvian Great
Music Award.
From 1993 to 1998, Pauls is the presidential advisor on
matters of culture, and, in parallel, from 1993 to 1995, he works
as the lead conductor and artistic director of the Latvian Radio
Big Band. As of 1998, he is a Parliament member of the Latvian
Saeima (Parliament). He is a Commander of the Three Stars and was
awarded the Great Music Award in 1994.
He is undoubtedly one of the most famous Latvian composers,
in whose music Latvian folk music elements are joined by jazz,
blues, rock and roll, French chanson,
German schlager and the traditional
Latvian ziņģe style, as well as
fashionable trends. After his vivid career as a jazz pianist and
composer in the 1960s, Raimonds Pauls selected the song as his main
form of expression, and at the same time he has also been able to
develop his creative fantasies in broader stage works – musicals
and musical comedies. He is a vivid interpreter of his own songs at
the piano, and is a producer blessed with unbelievable intuition,
who is always able to find new talents, and is always creating new
concert programmes!
http://www.raimondspauls.lv/
