Raimonds Pauls

Raimonds Pauls is the second child of Iļģuciems' glass blowing factory worker Voldemārs Pauls and seamstress Alma Matilde Brodele. His father Voldemārs, began his career at the age of 15 years, when he joined his father (Raimonds Pauls' grandfather, Ādolfs Pauls) at the factory. Meanwhile, Voldemārs' mother, Aleksandra, respectively Raimonds' grandmother, hired an assistant at her shop – Alma. In 1932, Voldemārs and Alma celebrated their wedding. Unfortunately, their firstborn son, Gunārs Voldemārs died from meningitis at the age of four months. As Raimonds' father has played drums and his grandfather – violin, Voldemārs decides that his son should also play a musical instrument. Equipped with an old violin, Raimonds got into Riga's Institute of Music kindergarten branch. As it was decided by the teachers that he was too young and "his fingers were unfit" for playing violin, Raimonds started with piano lessons. In 1943, Raimonds began his studies at Riga's 7th Elementary school, while, in parallel, continuing to take piano lessons with the professor Valerijs Zosts and teachers Emma Eglīte and Juta Daugule. In 1946, Raimonds was admitted to the Secondary Musical School of Emīls Dārziņš, combining his studies at the elementary school for three years. At the age of 14, Raimonds gained experience playing piano at restaurants and clubs with a violin and saxophone virtuoso, Gunārs Kušķis. In 1949, he finished his studies at Riga's 7th Elementary School. During this time, he independently developed a liking for playing jazz by studying and imitating various jazz records. == Awards ==

{{Listen • August 1967 – Celebrated Servant of Art • 1994 – Laureate of the Big Musical Award (for the poetic performance "" ('Every Tree You See By God is Given Thee'), the concert ('It's Time for Swing') and the CD ('In Christmas')) • 2013 – Order of Honour (Armenia) • 2020 – Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (Japan) • 2025 – decorated with the Order of the Three Stars (1st class) == Major works ==

Musicals • (Lovers Who Get It) (1976) • (Sister Carrie) after the Theodore Dreiser novel (1978) • (Come to the Boys) (1982) • (A Matter of the Devil) (1987) • (Forest Swans) (1995) • (The Legend of the Green Maiden) (2000) Ballets • (Melodies of Cuba) (1963) • (Rhythms, Rhythms) (1979) • (Stained Glass Panels) (1979) Theatre performances 30 theatre performances, including: • (A Short Instruction in Love) • (The Ingenious Nanny) • (Sherlock Holmes) • (Brand) • (John Neiland) • (Elizabeth – Queen of England) • (The Count of Monte Cristo) • (Paradise of Ladies) • (The Melancholic Waltz) Puppet shows: • (The Belly Tomcat) • (The Two Imps) • (The Fourth Vertebra) Films Music for more than 30 movies, including: • ''The Devil's Servants'' • ''The Devil's Servants at the Devil's Mill'' () • (The Butterfly Dance) • (In the Pincers of the Black Lobster) • Double Trap () • (A Present for a Lonely Woman) • My Frivolous Friend () • Theater () after the novel by W. Somerset Maugham • ''A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve'' • The Mills of Fate () • the Long Road in the Dunes series. Choir music • Three songs for choir and piano (1972) • Ten arrangements of Latvian folk songs for boys' choir (1980) • Song cycle with lyrics from Latvian poet Aspazija for boys' choir (1980) • (The White Songs) for boys' choir and instrumental ensemble (1981) • Song cycle for choir and piano (1984) • (Songs of a Willow Pipe) cycle for boys' choir (1984) • (A Small and Happy Boy) – ten songs for boys' choir and piano with the lyrics of M. Karēms (1985) • Cycle (Pearl Hunter) for boys’ choir and tenor (1986) Cycles of light music songs • (The Stained Glass Panels of the Old Rīga) (1971) • Five songs with the lyrics of D. Avotiņa (1972) • Oriental motifs (1982) • City romance (1983) • (The Black Cry) (1985) • Cycle with lyrics by Rainis (1985) Jazz • (Portraits) suite (1962) • A Rhapsody for piano and light music orchestra (1964) • (Impressions) suite (1965) • suite (The Water-Colours of the South) (1965) • (Mountain Sketches) (1966) • Five improvisations in the spirit of Latvian folk songs (1967) • (Black Colours) suite (1967) • Jazz expressions (1970) and other works Instrumental music • Approximately 300 works, including instrumental versions of songs, arrangements of folk songs, versions on familiar themes, and arrangements of classical composer works. • More than 90 albums with songs and instrumental music (/Daiga Mazvērsīte) ;Music for radio performances and plays ;Approximately 70 songs for children. ==Popular songs==

• "Dāvāja Māriņa" by Aija Kukule (Russian: "Million Roses" ("") by Alla Pugacheva) • "" ("") by Alla Pugacheva • "Maestro" ("") by Alla Pugacheva • "" ("") by Alla Pugacheva • "" ("") by Alla Pugacheva • "" ("") by Alla Pugacheva • "" ("") by Alla Pugacheva • "Zeleni svet" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "Ischezli Solnechnie Dni" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev or Andrei Mironov • "'" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev • "" ("") by Valery Leontiev and Laima Vaikule • "" ("") by Laima Vaikule • "" ("") by Laima Vaikule • "" ("") by Laima Vaikule • "" ("") by Laima Vaikule • "" ("") by Laima Vaikule • "" ("") by Jaak Joala • "" ("") by Jaak Joala • "Zilie lini" by Margarita Vilcāne and Ojārs Grīnbergs (Russian: "" ("") by Larisa Mondrus) • "" ("") by Roza Rymbayeva • "" ("") by Nikolai Gnatyk • "The Dog Rose" ("") by Ojārs Grīnbergs • "Say, where is this Land" ("") by Margarita Vilcāne, Nora Bumbiere, Ojārs Grīnbergs and Viktors Lapčenoks • "In the Lantern Hour" ("") by Nora Bumbiere • "To my Fatherland" ("") by Nora Bumbiere and Viktors Lapčenoks (lyrics by Jānis Peters) == Albums ==

• "To You, My Good One" ("") (1969) • "Only the Amber" ("") (1970) • "Say, where is this Land" ("") (1971) • "Courland" ("") (1972) • "Voice of the Sea" ("") (1974) • "Don't forge Me in the Ring" ("") (1975) • "In the Lantern Hour" ("") (1976) • Dialogue, with Valery Leontiev (1984) • Velvet season, with Valery Leontiev (1986). ==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. Before the 2002 elections he joined the People's Party and was elected on its party 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 , 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' music have been released in several countries outside Latvia, including Russia, Finland, and Japan. In 2006 he recorded a double album of jazz music, My Favourite Melodies/So Many Stars – a long-awaited venture by the pianist into the jazz genre. ==References==