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On 24 August at 19:00 in the “Put, vējini!” Concert Garden the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, together with soloists Renārs Kaupers, Daumants Kalniņš and Ieva Kerēvica, will encounter the legendary Latvian composer Mārtiņš Brauns through music.
Taking into account the great public interest, the concert program "Mārtiņš Brauns. A song abou the game you play" orchestra announces an additional concert at 2 p.m.
The concert will include such works as “Dziesma par spēli”, “Daugaviņa”, “Dzied' ar mani tautu meita”, “Es nesatiku”, “Lielais Alberts”, “Mīla ir kā uguns”, “Mūžīgā pilsēta” and other poignantly melancholic and ironically youthful songs.
Andris Veismanis will take the place at the conductor's desk, while the symphonic arrangements of popular songs were made especially for this concert programme by Emīls Zilberts, whose fine sense of orchestral sound has taken the audience on a transcendental musical journey in last summer's symphonic conversation “ImKa and Kaspars Zemītis” as well.
According to the Latvian National Encyclopedia, Mārtiņš Brauns (1951-2021) was an artist with a wide creative range covering rock and pop music, theatre and cinema music, choral songs, works of the academic genre, etc. He was a leader of the music band “Sīpoli” (1977-1986), musical director of the chamber choir “Sindi putnu dārzs” (1987-1992).
In 1970 Brauns got enrolled in the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian State Conservatory (conservatory) composition department in the symphonist Ādolfs Skulte’s class, and his career in rock music was temporarily put on hold.
In 1975 Brauns graduated from the conservatory, acquiring the qualification of a composer and music theory teacher. His graduation work was the symphonic ballad “Tālavas taurētājs”, which was performed once again in 2020 by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Ainārs Rubiķis.
While still a student, the composer started working at the Drama Theatre (nowadays called the Latvian National Theatre) as the head of the musical department, and music for a number of performances was composed for the theatre's repertoire. The theatre's repertoire also included the blues programme written by Mr. Brauns, which was performed by a music band that worked under its unofficial name “Sīpoli” (“The Onions”), where he was bandleader.
In 1980, “Sīpoli” became famous, thanks to their participation in the Tbilisi Rock Festival, followed by other festivals, where the music of the rock band led by Mr.Brauns has always been received with great interest. Because of Mr.Brauns’ original compositions that were completely different from the average music, it was difficult for the ensemble to fit in the common Latvian pop music industry. The composer mostly wrote large-scale works for his ensemble, such as extended song cycles, suites with high-quality poetry.
Without the author being present, the composer's name has become especially well-known because of the music composed in 1988 for the poem “Daugava” by Rainis staged at the Valmiera Drama Theatre. The song “Saule, Pērkons, Daugava” from the poem has nearly become the unofficial anthem of Latvia, but in 2014 it became the anthem of the Catalan independence movement in the northeastern region of Spain.
As a very versatile musician and music author, Mr.Brauns has created lasting values in both popular and academic music genres, distinguishing himself from his colleagues, composers, with his acting talent and wittiness, which was expressed through interviews, conducting concerts, in the creative process – he was a singer, lyrics composer himself.
Tickets for the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra concerts can be purchased at “Biļešu paradīze” ticket offices.
The Concert is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia and Liepāja City.
