Raimonds Pauls

Ojārs Raimonds Pauls (born 12 January 1936 in Iļģuciems, Riga, Latvia) is a Latvian composer and piano player who is well known in Latvia, Russia, post-Soviet countries and world-wide.[1] He was the Minister of culture of Latvia from 1988 to 1993.

Raimonds Pauls
Raimonds Pauls in August 2010
Born
Ojārs Raimonds Pauls

(1936-01-12) 12 January 1936
Rīga, Latvija
Citizenship Latvia
EducationSecondary Musical School of E. Darziņš
Alma materLatvian State Conservatory
Occupationcomposer, pianist
Years active1956-
Notable work
Million Roses (1982)
TitlePeople's Artist of the USSR (1985)
Awards

Honours
  • August 1967 – Celebrated Servant of Art
  • June 1976 – Artist of the People's Theatre of LSSR
  • January 1985 – Artist of the People's Theatre of USSR
  • 24 November 1992 - Honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences
  • Raimonds Pauls was decorated with the Three Star Order (3rd class) on 12 April 1995 and thus he is a commander of the Three Star Order (for merits on behalf of the state of Latvia).
  • A laureate of state and Komsomol awards.
  • A laureate of the Big Musical Award ‘1994 (for the poetic performance Visi koki dieva doti (Every Tree You See By God is Given Thee), the concert Svinga laiks (It's Time for Swing) and the CD Ziemassvētkos (In Christmas))
  • Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (Japan, 2020)[2]

Major works
Musical stage works
  • Pāri, kas dabonas (Lovers Who Get It) (1976)
  • Māsa Kerija (Sister Carrie) after Theodore Dreiser novel (1978)
  • Nāc pie puikām (Come to the Boys) (1982)
  • Vella būšana (A Matter of the Devil) (1987)
  • Meža gulbji (Forest Swans) (1995)
  • Leģenda par Zaļo Jumpravu (The Legend of the Green Maiden) (2000)
Ballets
  • Kubas melodijas (Melodies of Cuba) (1963)
  • Ritmi, ritmi (Rhythms, Rhythms) (1979)
  • Vitrāžas (Stained Glass Panels) (1979)

Music for 30 theatre performances including Īsa pamācība mīlēšanā (A Short Instruction in Love), Atjautīgā aukle (The Ingenious Nanny), Šerloks Holmss (Sherlock Holmes), Brands (Brand), Džons Neilands (John Neiland), Elizabete – Anglijas karaliene (Elizabeth – Queen of England), Grāfs Monte Kristo (The Count of Monte Cristo), Dāmu paradīze (Paradise of Ladies), Melanholiskais valsis (The Melancholic Waltz) etc. and for puppet theatre performances Runčuks Punčuks (The Belly Tomcat), Velniņi (The Two Imps), Ceturtais skriemelis (The Fourth Vertebra) etc. Music for radio performances and plays.

Music for more than 30 movies, including The Devil's Servants, The Devil's Servants at the Devil's Mill (Vella kalpi Vella dzirnavā), Tauriņdeja (The Butterfly Dance), Melnā vēža spīlēs (In the Pincers of the Black Lobster), Dubultslazds (Double Trap, Dāvana vientuļai sievietei (A Present for a Lonely Woman), My Frivolous Friend (Mans draugs – nenopietns cilvēks), Theater (Teātris) after S. Maugham novel, A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve, The Mills of Fate (Likteņdzirnas), for the series Long Road in the Dunes etc.

Choir music
  • 3 songs for choir and piano (1972)
  • 10 arrangements of Latvian folk songs for the boys choir (1980)
  • Song cycle with the lyrics of Aspazija for the boys’ choir (1980)
  • Baltās dziesmas (The White Songs) for the boys’ choir and instrumental ensemble (1981)
  • Song cycle for choir and piano (1984)
  • Vītola stabules dziesmas (Songs of a Willow Pipe) cycle for the boys’ choir (1984)
  • Mazs, laimīgs zēns (A Small and Happy Boy) – ten songs for the boys choir and piano with the lyrics of M. Karēms (1985)
  • Cycle Pērļu zvejnieks (Pearl Hunter) for the boys’ choir and a tenor (1986)
Cycles of light music songs
  • Vecās Rīgas vitrāžas (The Stained Glass Panels of the Old Rīga) (1971)
  • Five songs with the lyrics of D. Avotiņa (1972)
  • Oriental motifs (1982)
  • City romance (1983)
  • Melnais kliedziens (The Black Cry) (1985)
  • Cycle with the lyrics of Rainis (1985)
More than 500 songs
Approx. 70 songs for children
Jazz music
  • Suite Portreti (Portraits) (1962)
  • A Rhapsody for piano and light music orchestra (1964)
  • Suite Iespaidi (Impressions) (1965)
  • Suite Dienvidu akvareļi (The Water-Colours of the South) (1965)
  • Kalnu skices (Mountain Sketches) (1966)
  • Five improvisations in the spirit of Latvian folk songs (1967)
  • Suite Melnās krāsas (Black Colours) (1967)
  • Jazz expressions (1970) and other works.
Instrumental music

Approx. 300 works, including instrumental versions of songs, arrangements of folk songs, versions on familiar themes, arrangements of classical composer works.

More than 90 albums with songs and instrumental music.

(c)MicRec / Daiga Mazvērsīte

  • "Million Roses" ("Миллион алых роз") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Starinnie chasi" ("Старинные часы") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Maestro" ("Маэстро") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Bez menya" ("Без меня") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Pesnya na bis" ("Песня на бис") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Vozvrashenie" ("Возвращение") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Delu vremya" ("Делу время") by Alla Pugacheva
  • "Zeleni svet" ("Зелёный свет") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Ischezli Solnechnie Dni" ("Исчезли солнечные дни") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Kabare" ("Кабаре") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Verooko" ("Верооко") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Zatmenie serdca" ("Затмение сердца") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Muse" ("Муза") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Gody Stranstviy" ("Годы странствий") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Posle Prazdnika" ("После праздника") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Polybite Pianista" ("Полюбите пианиста") by Valery Leontiev or Andrei Mironov
  • "Dazhe Esli Ti Uydesh'" ("Даже если ты уйдёшь") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Tri minuti" ("Три минуты") by Valery Leontiev
  • "Vernisazh" ("Вернисаж") by Valery Leontiev and Laima Vaikule
  • "Esche ne vecher" ("Еще не вечер") By Laima Vaikule
  • "Listja zheltyje" ("Листья Желтые") By Laima Vaikule
  • "Scripach na krishe" (Скрипач на крыше) By Laima Vaikule
  • "Charli" ("Чарли") By Laima Vaikule
  • "O chem igraet pianist" ("О чем играет пианист") by Laima Vaikule
  • "Podberu muziku" ("Подберу музыку") by Jaak Joala
  • "Ya tebya risuyu" ("Я тебя рисую") by Jaak Joala
  • "Siniy len" ("Синий лён") by Larisa Mondrus
  • "Lubov Nastala" ("Любовь настала") by Roza Rymbayeva
  • "Tanez na barabane" ("Танец на барабане") by Nikolai Gnatyk
  • "To my Fatherland" (Manai dzimtenei) by Viktors Lapčenoks (co-composed with Jains Peters)

Recordings

Politics

Raimonds Pauls was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR and served as Minister of Culture in the Latvian government from 1988 to 1993. In 1993 he became an advisor to the President of Latvia. In 1998, he was elected a Member of the Saeima, the Latvian parliament, initially as leader of the New Party.[3] Before the 2002 elections he joined the People's Party and was elected on its party's list in 2002 and 2006. Pauls ran in the 1999 presidential election and received the highest number of votes, but below the required majority. He chose to decline the post.

After Latvia re-established independence, Pauls continued his musical work, most notably working with Dzeguzīte, the most popular children's group in Latvia at the time. In 1996, he went on a tour with singer Laima Vaikule, which included concert locations in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and New York City.

Works

As of 2004, Pauls has composed music for six musical films and musical theaters, three ballets and over 50 movies and theater performances. CDs with Pauls's music have been released in several countries outside Latvia, including Russia, Finland and Japan. On 2006 he has recorded a double-album of jazz music My Favourite Melodies / So Many Stars - a long-awaited venture of the pianist into the jazz genre.

References
  1. "Biography for Raymond Paul". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  2. "Latvian maestro Raimonds Pauls awarded Japanese state decorations". Lsm.lv. 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  3. Latvia votes for Europe, The Economist, 10 October 1998
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.