On Saturday, December 4, a memorial event dedicated to Mārtiņš Brauns took place at the Riga Dome Church, where everyone had the opportunity to linger for a moment and commemorate the outstanding composer, who passed away on November 24 this year at the age of 70.
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The artist’s last wish was for his funeral not to be a public event. “The composer has never been delighted with his popularity, and in the last moments of his life he expressed the wish that the funeral should take place only in the presence of those closest to him,” his relatives said earlier.
Well-known people as well as officials also took part in saying goodbye to the artist.
It has already been reported that every evening at the end of November and the beginning of December, the authors of the popular Song Festival repertoire “Sun. Thunder. Daugava” and “Love is like Fire” are also mentioned on the big stage of Mežaparks, where his songs are played every night.
Mārtiņš Brauns (1951-2021) is one of the brightest Latvian composers of his generation. He has created one of the anthems of the Song Festival – “Sun. Thunder. Daugava”, has conducted one of the best Latvian rock bands of the 20th century – “Onion”, chamber choir “Sindi Bird Garden”, has been successful in both academic and popular music, and has written music for many theater performances and movies.
“His compositions are intertwined with classical composition techniques and experiments, bright melodies and exciting theatricality,” wrote musicologist Daiga Mazvērsīte about Mārtiņš Brauns when he was awarded the “Golden Microphone” in 2019 for a lifetime contribution.
Mārtiņš Brauns graduated from Emīls Dārziņš Special Music High School in 1970, but later studied at the Composition Department of the Latvian State Conservatory under symphony Adolf Skulte. At the same time, he is also passionate about current rock music.
Mārtiņš Brauns wrote his first music for a theatrical performance – “Sensation” by Edward Wolf in 1974. (The show was renewed at the National Theater in 2004) and very soon after became the musical director of the then Drama, now the National Theater. At the same time, in the second half of the 1970s, the group “Onions” led by Mārtiņš Brauns was formed, which existed until 1988 (Brown left the group in 1986) and has remained in history as a particularly original and innovative association. In 2009, the composer agreed to temporarily renew the group “Sīpoli”, several concerts took place, but later a DVD and an album were released.
In the second half of the 1980s, Mārtiņš Brauns and his colleagues founded the chamber choir “Sindi Putnu dārzs”, as well as continued to write music for theater and cinema. During this time, a cycle of songs “Daugava” with Rainis’ lyrics was made. The original series was written for the production of Rainis’ poem “Daugava” (director Valentīns Maculēvičs) at the Valmiera Theater – during the Awakening, in 1988.
It is from this cycle and the theatrical performance that the uplifting patriotic song “Sun. Thunder. Daugava” has become an integral part of the Song Festival. Shortly afterwards, Mārtiņš Brauns included the song in the repertoire of “Sindi Bird Garden” and rewrote it for the choir. Already in 1989, at the initiative of Jānis Erenštreits, it was performed for the first time at the Mežaparks Grand Stage, at the School Song Festival.
In 2011, the initiative “Change the anthem to” Sun, Thunder, Daugava “” was launched on the portal “Manabalss”, inviting people to sign the prayer “God bless Latvia!” instead of the official National Anthem, a song composed by Brown would be introduced. In 2014, with the composer’s permission, the song became the anthem of Catalonia’s independence fighters, and in 2017 the author himself was honored with the Catalonia’s High Culture Prize.
Mārtiņš Brauns has also created music for more than 150 domestic films, several of which have been awarded the National Film Prize “Kristaps the Great”.
Mārtiņš Brauns was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2018 for his special contribution to Latvian culture, while in 2019 the family of musicians honored him at the Daile Theater, where the composer was awarded the “Golden Microphone” for his lifetime contribution.
In 2018, a book was published with Mārtiņš Brauns’ own story about life and music “Saule. Mārtiņš. Daugava”, as well as Arvīds Krieva’s documentary “While You Play This Game” dedicated to the composer’s personality.
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