Raimonds Pauls

Raimonds Pauls

Raimonds Pauls in August 2010
Born Ojārs Raimonds Pauls
(1936-01-12) 12 January 1936
Rīga, Latvija
Education Secondary Musical School of E. Darziņš
Alma mater Latvian State Conservatory
Occupation composer, pianist
Years active 1960s-
Title People's Artist of the USSR (1985)
Awards

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.

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)).

Major Works

Musical Stage Works
Ballets

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 Vella kalpi (Servants of the Devil), Vella kalpi Vella dzirnavās (The Servants of the Devil in the Windmill of the Devil), Tauriņdeja (The Butterfly Dance), Melnā vēža spīlēs (In the Pincers of the Black Lobster), Dāvana vientuļai sievietei (A Present for a Lonely Woman), Mans draugs – nenopietns cilvēks (My Friend the Rattlebrain), Teātris (The Theatre) after S. Maugham novel, Limuzīns Jāņu nakts krāsā (A Limousine in the Colour of a Summer Solstice Night), Likteņdzirnas (The Hand-Mill of Fate), for the series Ilgais ceļš kāpās (The Long Way through the Dunes) etc.

Choir Music
Cycles of Light Music Songs
More than 500 songs
Approx. 70 songs for children
Jazz Music
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

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.[2] 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. 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.

Family

Pauls is married to Lana Paula from Ukraine. They have a daughter, Anete Paula and two grandchildren who are Anna Paula and Monika Pedersen.

References

  1. ↑ "Biography for Raymond Paul". IMDB. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  2. ↑ 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.