Kalsons, Romualds (1936)
Biography Works
Foto 1
Romualds Kalsons was born on
September 7th, 1936 in Riga. He studied at the Jāzeps Mediņš
College of Music (in the choir conducting department), and later
enrolled at the Latvian State Conservatory in the composition
department, which Kalsons graduated in 1960 (Ādolfs Skulte’s
class). In 1971, the composer graduated Jāzeps Lindbergs’ symphony
orchestra conducting class.
From 1957 to 1973, Romualds Kalsons worked as a sound
engineer at Latvian Radio and Television. From 1973 to 2009, the
composer taught at the Latvian State Conservatory/Latvian Academy
of Music. In 1987, he was elected as a professor. From 1990 to
2001, Kalsons was the head of the Composition
Department.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, Romualds Kalsons performed as a
conductor with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and other
orchestras, performing mainly the music of Latvian composers. As a
pianist, together with his wife, singer Irēna Kalsone, and other
musicians, he gave chamber music concerts in Riga, other places in
Latvia, as well as in other countries. Romualds Kalsons is an
active member of the Latvian Composers’ Union and has served as the
secretary and chairman of this organization. In 1978, Kalsons was
given the title of Honoured Artist, and in 1986 - the title of
People’s Artist. In 1996, the composer was presented with the Great
Music Award, and in 1997 the Award of the Culture Ministry of the
Republic of Latvia.
Expression and images that are psychologically conflicting
and encompass many different emotional gradations, as well as a
wide range of musical stylistics, characterise Romualds Kalsons’
creative work. The neoclassicist and neoromantic aesthetic dominate
in works of different genres written during the 60s and 70s, as
well as new compositional techniques of the time, such as serial
technique and restricted aleatory. In the 1980s, folklore elements
enter his music, and he develops a greater interest in sonoric
expression. All three stylistic lines are visible in the creative
work of Romualds Kalsons to this day, and those reflect the nucleus
of Kalsons’s musical expression – at its core is an often grotesque
imagery, concert-like development and a vivid instrumentation.
Romualds Kalsons’ Concerto for Violin and Orchestra has had great
success internationally, as well as other works like the Concerto
for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra, works for symphony orchestra
such as Mozaīka (Mosaic), Kāzu dziesmas (Wedding
Songs), Poēma fantāzija (Poem Fantasy), the Second
Symphony for Chamber Orchestra (Somu
[Finnish]), and other works.
