Composers > Agris Engelmanis

Agris Engelmanis

"I feel, that in music can be found interesting collisions, as not just melody is the only thing with which can be conjured sound paintings."

Agris Engelmanis


BIOGRAPHY

Agris Engelmanis was born on April 26th, 1936 in Liepāja. After finishing primary school, he studied in the Liepāja College of Art, which he graduated with distinction in 1956. In parallel, he privately studied piano. After obligatory military service (1956–1959), he studied in the Liepāja College of Music, in the music theory department. He studied at the Latvian State Conservatory in the composition class (1965–1971) of Ādolfs Skulte. He worked as a teacher of composition and theory in the Liepāja College of Music (1964–2001), and was the director of this school (1989–1996). He worked also as the Director of the Music Division at the Liepāja State Theatre (1975–1979).

Agris Engelmanis has done much to develop the cultural life of the city of Liepāja: he was the chairman of the Liepāja Culture Fund (1995–1997), the Latvian Music Society’s Chairman of the South Kurzeme Region, worked on many different competition juries and regional cultural commissions. The composer’s choir songs have been frequently performed at the All Latvian Song Festivals. As of 1977, Agris Engelmanis was a member of the Latvian Composers’ Union, and he has been a member of the Composers’ Union Executive Committee.

Agris Engelmanis died on April 7th, 2011.



DISCOGRAPHY
CD

Liepu taka (The Linden Trail) / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 1’17” / Dzintara dziesma (Amber Song) / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 2’12” / Putekļaini dienas ceļi (The Dusty Roads of the Day) / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 1’39” / Septiņi gulbji kā pasakā / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 2’40” / Burtnieks (Soothsayer) / Text – Pēteris Zirnītis – 1’15” / Etīde korim (Etude for Choir) / Text – Ilga Rismane – 1’21” / Līgo (Midsummer) / Text – Leons Briedis – 1’37” / Ēna (Shadow) / Text – Tamāra Skrīna – 1’16” / Dzersim melleņmētru vīnu (Let us Drink Bilberry Bush Wine) / Text – Skaidrīte Kaldupe – 1’24” / Asteru zilganā miglā (In the Bluish Fog of Asters) / Text – Ojārs Vācietis – 1’54” / Rezignācija (Resignation) / Text – Vizma Belševica – 2’23” / Jau debess suns (The Sky Dog is Already) / Text – Egils Plaudis – 1’51” / Maza impresija (Small Impression) / Text – Egils Plaudis – 1’43” / Baltā vakarā (In the White Night) / Text – Egils Plaudis – 4’04” / Miglas rīts (Fog Morning) / Text – Laima Līvena – 3’35” / Dzērvju dziesma (Song of the Cranes) / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 4’ / Princesīte (Princess) / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 3’59” / No zemes dziesma sākusies (The Song Began From the Earth) / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 2’48” / Latvian Radio Choir, conductor Jēkabs Ozoliņš // Miglas rītā – 2007, Liepāja Culture Department


LP

Mūsu atbalss (Our Echo) for men’s choir / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis / Combined Men’s Choirs, Conductor Pauls Kvelde // Soviet Latvia’s Song Festival [1985 Soviet Latvia’s Song Festival] – 1986 Melodija C60 25051 000

Dzintara dziesma (Amber Song) for mixed choir / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 2’10” / Ugunszeme (Fire Land) for mixed choir and piano / Text – Elza Sudmale – 3’48” / Kūko dzeguze (The Cuckoo Calls), Latvian folk song arrangement for mixed choir – 1’30” / Lietavu nakts (Rainy Night) for mixed choir and piano / Text – Pēteris Jurciņš – 4’30” / Dzērves [Dzērvju dziesma] (Cranes [Song of the Cranes]) for mixed choir / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 3’49” / Liepu taka (The Linden Trail) for mixed choir / Text – Olafs Gūtmanis – 1’14” / Folk Choir Līva, Artistic director Jēkabs Ozoliņš, piano – Daiga Hiršsone // The Folk Choir Līva – 1985 Melodija C30 23061 002


LITERATURE

Latviešu komponisti un muzikologi (Latvian Composers and Musicologists) – Riga: Latvian Composers’ Union, 1989 • I. Roģe, Trīs jautājumi Agrim Engelmanim pēc Rekviēma pirmatskaņojuma (Three Questions for Agris Engelmanis after the Premiere of the Requiem) // Literatūra. Māksla. Mēs, June 15th, 1995 • D. Zandfelde, Kādreiz biju briesmīgi avangardisks... (Once I Was Terribly Avant Garde) // Kurzemes Ekspresis, August 23rd, 1995 • D. Zandfelde, Agra Engelmaņa Rekviēms Sv. Annas baznīcā (Agris Engelmanis’ Requiem at the St. Anna Church) // Kurzemes Ekspresis, November 8th, 1995 • I. Imbovica, Agra Engelmaņa Rekviēma pirmatskaņojums Liepājā (The Premiere of Agris Engelmanis’ Requiem in Liepāja) // Kurzemes Vārds November 10th, 1995 • M. Ķeniņa, Svētbrīdis apcerei and atcerei (Service for Reflection and Remembrance) [review essay about the performance of A. Engelmanis’ Requiem at the St. Anna’s Church in Liepāja] // Kurzemes Vārds, November 21st, 1995 • O. Gūtmanis, Ar spēcīgu dabas izjūtu (With a Strong Sense of Nature) // Kurzemes Ekspresis, February 3rd, 1996 • I. Imbovica, Vientuļnieks? Nē. Vienpatis (Recluse? No. Singleton) // Kurzemes Vārds, May 2nd, 1996 • O. Gūtmanis, Dabas apliecinātājs mūzikā (Nature Attestant in Music) // Kursas Laiks, May 11th, 1996 • I. Vanags, Daži meti par komponista Agra Englemaņa dziesmām (Some Outlines about the Songs of Composer Agris Engelmanis) // Kurzemes Vārds, August 11th, 1998 • L. Leine, Divi darbi, viena dziesma (Two Jobs, One Song) // Kurzemes Vārds, November 20th 1998. • D. Gūtmanis, Skaņas mīl kā Dzimteni (He Loves Sounds Like He Loves his Homeland) // Kursas Laiks, April 29th, 2000 • P. Jaunzems, „Neskūtu“ pirmatnībā, kur piedzimst mūzika (The Primeval “Neskūti”, where Music is Born) // Kurzemes Vārds, October 14th, 2000 • I. Imbovica, Liepājai uzticīgā komponista Agra Engelmaņa jubilejas koncerts (The Anniversary Concert of the Faithful to Liepāja Agris Engelmanis) // Kurzemes Vārds, April 27th, 2001 • D. Gūtmanis Tikai radošajā darbā komponists saredz savas dzīves īsto jēgu (Only in Creative Work does a Composer Find Their Life’s Meaning) // Liepājas Acis, April 27th, 2001


Ligita Ašme, Mārīte Dombrovska
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