Santa Ratniece

Santa Ratniece (born Jelgava, Latvia 1977) is a Latvian composer.^[1]

Ratniece's music has been performed by the Latvian Radio Choir, ensemble Altera Veritas, Sinfonietta Rīga, Liepaja Amber Sound Orchestra, Estonian National Male choir, the Deutsch-Skandinavische Jugend-Philharmonie, Cappella Amsterdam, Musiques Nouvelles, Kronos Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Canadian string quartet Quatuor Molinari, the Sydney Symphony Fellows, International Contemporary Ensemble, and The Crossing choir, among others.^[2]

Latvian composer Santa Ratniece started her musical studies with piano playing classes at Valmiera Music School. In 1992 she took up music theory classes in Emīls Dārziņš College in Riga. She continued her musical education at J. Vītols Latvia Academy of Music and graduated in Musicology (2000) and Composition (2002). Later on she studied composition with English composer David Rowland at Enschede Conservatory in Netherlands. Afterwards Santa Ratniece went on with her studies at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Estonian composer Helena Tulve and in 2007 she obtained her MA. Santa Ratniece first came in public view in 2004 after winning the 1st prize at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (in the category of composers under 30) for her piece "sens nacre" for ensemble, performed by Ensemble Nove and conductor Normunds Šnē. ^[3]

Works

Selected works include:

• Sens nacre for ensemble (2004) (1-1-1-0/ 0-0-0-0/ 1 batt/ 2 harps (or 2 kokle)/ accordion/ 1-0-1-1-1)
• "Ruby" for clarinet, piano, violin and cello (2004)
• Glittering Pomenade for orchestra (2005/2016) (2-2-2-2/ 2-2-2-0/ 3 batt/ harp/ celesta/ 12-10-8-6-4)
• "myrrh" for piano (2005)
• "Aragonite" for string quartet (2005)
• "Alvéoles" for string quartet (2005)
• "...Between the Shores of Our Souls..." (2005) for soprano, flute, kannele and cello
• "Saline" for mixed choir (2006)
• "Olivine" for two percussion (2006)
• "Ombres chinoises lunaires" for trombone and piano (2007)
• "Hirondelles du Coeur" for mixed choir and orchestra (2007) (2-2-2-2/ 2-2-1-0/ 5 batt/ p-no/ harp/ 8-6-4-4-2)
• "råså" for two kokles, flute and accordion (2008)
• Horo horo hata hata for chamber choir (2008)
• "hall kristalltaevas" for twelve cellos (2008)
• "Chu dal" for mixed choir (2008)
• "muqarnas" for piano (2009)
• "libellules" for clarinet and cello (2009)
• "hummingbirds" for flute, harp, accordion and cello (2009)
• "Chant des Dunes" for organ and percussion (2009)
• "Shant Nadi" Chamber Symphony for chamber orchestra (2011) (0-2-2-1/ 2-2-0-0/ 1 batt/ 0-2-4-4-2)
• "WAR SUM UP. Music. Manga.Machines", multimedia opera (2011) for 12 voices and electronics
• "fuoco celeste" for cello and mixed choir (2011)
• "ondulado" for five electric guitars (2012)
• "in this white snow the pearls are lost" ("mirdzums") for clarinet, violin and piano (2012)
• "Es mīlu mazo, smalko lietu..." (2013) for soprano, flute, cello and piano
• "Silsila" for string quartet (2014)
• "Concerto" for piano and symphonic orchestra (2014) (3-3-3-3/ 4-4-3-1/ 3 batt/ p-no/ celesta/ harp/ 10-8-6-4-2)
• "Nada el Layli" (2015) for kemenche, qanun and mixed choir
• "My soul will sink within me" (2016) for mixed choir and ensemble (1-1-1-1/ 1-0-0-0/ 1 batt/ harp/ 1-1-1-1-1)
• "In Love with Liberty" for piano (2016)
• "El mirollo de l'arbore" for soprano and organ (2017)

References