Zigmund Lorenz, the founder, musician and composer of the group “Eolika”, passed away on February 26 after a long illness. We offer an obituary prepared by musicologist Daiga Mazvērsīte in memory of the musician.
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On the same day that the band “Eolika” received the “Golden Microphone” for a lifetime contribution to the development of Latvian music, on the other side of the world – in Canada – the door of eternity closed behind its founder Zigmund Lorenz. He also sang and played guitar in the groups “Baltijas balsis”, “Selga”, in the soldiers’ ensemble “Zvaigznīte”, becoming its leader, of course, wrote songs, in 1977 he received a diploma in composer at the Latvian State Conservatory.
At the age of six, the grandmother took the musically gifted boy to Emīls Dārziņš’s special music high school. Sigmund was admitted to the cello class, and like his peers, he became fascinated with beats and other Western rock stars.
When “Eolika” was made in 1966, Lorenz was already a figure on the Riga rock stage – at the age of 16 he was on a red Fender Stratocaster guitar, forming the band “Blue Stars”. Sigmund lived in the center of Riga, on Sarkanarmijas (Bruņinieku) Street, his apartment was also rehearsed by the famous ensemble “The Melody Makers”, in which one of the participants was Pitt Anderson.
Initially singing in English, the members of “Aolika” began to compose themselves – Lorenz was one of the most active. With the song “Captains” he won the 1st place in the pop song and performer competition. In the 1970 “Microphone” poll, Sigmund’s song “Grandmother and the Runtime” ranked 4th.
As a student of the composition class of Adolf Skulte, a symphony professor at the conservatory, Zigmunds collaborated with the Valmiera Theater several times in the 1970s – he composed music for the performances “Hey, You Come Here”, “Wake Up and Sing”, “Marriage”, etc., continued ensemble and his then-singer Sarmīte Lorenz.
In 1971, Zigmunds was drafted into the army, became the musical director of the soldiers’ ensemble “Zvaigznīte”, and successfully participated in the festival “Liepājas dzintars”. After resuming his studies at the conservatory, in 1975 Lorenz became the musical director of the Lapmežciems ensemble “Selga”, where the soloist was Andrejs Lihtenbergs, etc.
Lorenz’s composition is characterized by a wide range of genres; In the unique performance of the same author, the audience praised him – his “Lilacs” reached the 2nd place in the “Microphone” poll in 1977, but the song “January” remained in the 12th place in 1979. In total, more than 100 songs have been written, about half of which have been recorded, instrumental music and compositions for radio performances.
In the second half of the 1970s, Lorenz became a guitarist in the Latvian TV and radio light and pop music orchestra, collaborated with children’s ensembles “Dzeguzīte” and “Knīpas un knauķi”. . The music addressed to children was also performed at the State Puppet Theater, where the musician met his wife Manan, who worked there as an artist. Sonata for cello and piano, Concertino Symphony Orchestra and rock band, etc. written in academic style
At the beginning of the 80’s Lorenz played in the Ikšķile k / n ensemble, gave a lot of concerts, how the arranger collaborated with the singer and composer Lolita Vambuti. In the mid-1980s, Georg Siksna became a permanent partner of the musician, and a series of songs with poetry by Ojārs Vācietis was sung by the author himself. Sigmund tried to keep up with the sung revolution, translated the People’s Front newspaper into Russian, and led the ensemble in Džūkste.
In the 1990s, Sigmund stood for the founding of the festival “Sun Bunny”, took part in the activities of the competition “Little Vowel”, became the “right hand” of the popular singer Ojārs Grinbergs when he took over the children’s ensemble “Minipops”, as well as continued to perform with Georges Siksna Vilcāni, also acting as an arranger, wrote the song.
Due to the lack of proper application of his musical talent in Latvia, in 2002 Lorenz emigrated with his family to Canada. There, the musician earned a living as a bus driver, etc., played in the church, at weddings, conducted a choir, and composed for the student theater.
For the last time in his homeland, Zigmunds Lorencs, who endowed with versatile talent, performed at the 70th anniversary concerts of “Eolika” colleague Boris Rezņiks in May 2017, where he was received with applause.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXm-dsJRGzE
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