On Saturday, 23 March, right before the 32nd Liepāja International Star Festival closing concert, the new recording made by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra with music of the composer Agris Engelmanis “Musica Alba”, released by the SKANI record company, came out.
The new album includes three Diaphonies, which were recorded by the Orchestra in the “Lielais dzintars” Concert Hall under the direction of the conductor Atvars Lakstīgala accompanied by pianist Elīna Bērtiņa just recently, early this year, and also “Musica Alba” and Music for the Symphony Orchestra.
“Agris Engelmanis mainly composed symphonic music and choral songs, plus several vocalinstrumental works, a few pieces of instrumental chamber music, and a couple of compositions for organ. That is all. Like a nail, he drove every sound into precisely the only possible measure of every piece,” the introductory words to the album were written by the music reviewer Orests Silabriedis. “Likewise, Engelmanis followed his only possible creative path; he did not compare nor compete with anyone. He was one of the most modernist-oriented Latvian composers, yet he remains utterly underrated. Within the framework of his own life, however, he seems to have fulfilled his call and perhaps even been happy.”
Conductor Atvars Lakstīgala points out that Agris Engelmanis is a relatively little-known composer in Latvia. Of course, in the community of professional composers, conductors and musicologists, Mr.Engelmanis is known, however, the music composed by him in the Latvian cultural space is played too rarely.
“When holding and going through his sheet music, I feel deep respect, because in his music Mr.Engelmanis reflects very true, sincere and human emotions. The fact that he composed his music only using his inner hearing, without the piano, adds special value to his music,” says Mr.Lakstigala.
“We love the music composed by Agris Engelmanis very much, and, in our opinion, South Kurzeme is very lucky, it’s a real gift of fate that such a great triad of composers was born here: Pēteris Vasks from Aizpute, Ēriks Ešenvalds from Priekule and our own local Agris Engelmanis,” says Uldis Lipskis, director of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. “We have also included the first piece of the “Lielais dzintars” Concert Hall opening concert – Music for the Symphony Orchestra – in the album. The very first music sounds filling this concert hall were composed by Agris Engelmanis, and that was the premiere of this work.”
“This is a big day for us. If we don’t play Latvian music, who will? The head of the SKANI record company Egīls Šēfers, has confirmed many times that these CD’s are a bridge to the world, because there is a lot of interest in our music abroad, so it’s a great pleasure that we are doing this work,” says Guntis Kuzma, the artistic director of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. “Speaking of future plans, Requiem by Agris Engelmanis, which was left unfinished by him on purpose, is of great intrigue. We have found an author who will finish it, but for now let’s keep it secret.”
From 1964 to 2001, Engelmanis taught music theory and composition at the Emilis Melngailis Liepāja Music Secondary School. From 1987 to 1996, he served as the school’s director.
In1988,the sharp-wittedAijaŽivitere wrote in the magazine Māksla:“It’s good if a person is able to balance the fields of activity he has setfor himself. Agris Engelmanis,the composer-director, has succeed in this: with tragic poignancy assessing real social situations, with timid benevolence conducting his professional life in music, with audacious initiative directing the school’s development. He is ofthose people who stretch (andteardown)the boundarybetween whatis allowed and whatis not allowed.The righteous one, who speaks according to his thoughts and acts according to his words.The one whose artistic thinking is expressed in extremely concentrated (miniature)forms, while the fullness of his thoughtrequires the broad breath of a symphonic sound.”
Diaphony No. 1 (1972) had never before been performed publicly. Diaphony No. 2 (1979) and Diaphony No. 3 (1996) have been performed, but this album marks the first recordings of these pieces. Musica Alba (1988) is a relatively more frequently performed opus. This work was recorded at the Liepāja Latvian Society House in 2014.
Music for symphony orchestra (1971) is most likely Engelmanis’ first work for symphony orchestra, composed the same year he graduated from the Academy of Music. Atvars Lakstīgala chose this piece as a previously unknown “new work” by the Liepāja native for the inaugural concert in November 2015 of the Great Amber Concert Hall (Liepāja’s new concert venue), and this version is included on the present album. It is believed that Music had never before been performed in its entirety; thus, the goal of the album in your hands is to lay the foundation for a full and diverse discovery and celebration of Engelmanis’ music.
Olafs Gūtmanis, who was a close friend and colleague of Engelmanis, once wrote: “There are people who feel better in the shadows. In the twilight of the evening, at sunset, when an intimate hour has arrived, extinguishing the vivid impressions of the day, when loneliness hits the hardest and longing takes on a tragic hue. Not by dispelling thoughts and feelings, but by concentrating them in a sharp and vital experience. The clouds thicken in the sky, the trees thicken in the forest, and the shadows merge into a deep and cosy darkness. And man casts off his own longest shadow until it merges with the shadows of nature, until the human becomes unnoticeable as a being. He has melted into nature, he has hidden himself from the curious light, he has entered the night. And that is where he feels best. There his wings, the wings of the nocturnal bird, unfold. There his flight begins.”
“Musica Alba” is available on streaming platforms, while the disc itself can be purchased here!
