Nationality: Latvian

Romantic Latvian

DĀRZIŅŠ, Emīls

Born in Jaunpiebalga, Nov 3, 1875
Died in Riga, Aug 31, 1910

Dārziņš studied with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He was a music critic as well as a composer, and he is especially well-regarded for his songs and choral works.
Dārziņš died tragically at the age of 35 when he was run over by a train.
Dārziņš is considered the founder of Latvian music criticism.¹

20th Century Latvian

Jānis Mediņš, photographed in 1920

Born in Riga, Oct 9, 1890
Died in Stockholm, March 4, 1966

Mediņš worked as an opera and orchestral conductor and conservatory professor in Latvia until 1944, when he fled the Soviet invasion, eventually settling in Stockholm.
Mediņš wrote some of the first operas in Latvian, and composed the first Latvian ballet.
His brother Jāzeps Mediņš was also a significant composer and conductor.¹

Contemporary Latvian

Born in Aizpute, Apr 16, 1946²

Pronunciation:
[petɛɾɪs vɑsks]
“PAY-ter-iss VAHSKS”
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