Valdemārs Ozoliņš (5 November 1896 Vestiena parish – 15 February 1973,

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, US) was a Latvian composer and conductor. Valdemārs Ozoliņš songs have been treasured by choirs ever since his triumphant debut during the VI Latvian Song Festival in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

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in 1926. The author of about 500 songs and several cantatas, Valdemārs Ozoliņš was chief conductor at several Latvian Song Festivals.

Biography

Valdemārs Ozoliņš was born November 5, 1896, in Vestiena, in the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...

(present-day

). His parents were farmers. He attended school in Vestiena, enrolled the conservatory of St Petersburg 1914, later in Moscow, and in 1921 the composition and conducting classes of the conservatory in Riga, Latvia, which he graduated in 1931. In Riga he was the substitute of the conductor Teodors Reiters. Valdemārs Ozoliņš song “Papardes zieds” – "The

fern flower The fern flower is a Magic (paranormal), magic flower in Baltic mythology (, ), in Estonian mythology () and in Slavic mythology (, , , ). Tradition According to the myth, this flower blooms for a very short time on the eve of the summer sol ...

" (text by K. Krūza) was received very well at the VI Latvian Song Festival in Riga in 1926. He obtained the master's degree in music from the Chicago conservatory, US. Valdemārs Ozoliņš was honoured by the Latvian Culture fund for his solo and choir songs in 1926. He had some involvement with the Baltic neopagan movement Dievturība, where he was the first conductor of the ''dievturi'' choir. He died in exile on February 15, 1973, in Pueblo, Colorado, US. The urns of Valdemārs Ozoliņš and his wife Valija, née Alberts, were buried in Forest Cemetery, Riga, Latvia, on August 20, 1993, next to his teacher, professor Jāzeps Vītols.

Bibliography

* Valentīns Bērzkalns. Latviešu Dziesmu svētku vēsture – 1864–1940. Brooklyn, New York: Grāmatu Draugs, 1965.

' * Valentīns Bērzkalns. Latviešu Dziesmu svētki trimdā – 1946–1965. Brooklyn, New York: Grāmatu Draugs, 1968. * Latvju Enciklopēdija. Stockholm, Sweden: Trīs Zvaigznes, 1952–1953, vol. 2, p. 1818. * Latvju Enciklopēdija 1962–1982. Lincoln, Nebraska: ALA Latviešu institūts, 1987, vol. 3, p. 322. * Blanka-Alberta, Ē. Kur palicis Ozoliņš? Zviedrijas latviešu pensionāru biedrības biļetens ‘Sveiciens’ 1982, vol. 43, p. 21. * Gleške, L. Atceroties mūsu kultūras darbiniekus. Komponista Valdemāra Ozoliņa atdusas vieta Rīgas I Meža kapos. Brooklyn, New York: Laiks, 1995, 27 (4653), 3. * Velta Ruke-Dravina, Rūķe-Draviņa, V. Dzeja un mūzika. Raiņa un Aspazijas gada grāmata. Stockholm, Sweden: RAF, 1969, pp. 95–100. * Slaucītājs, L. Zinātnes darbā – draugos ar mākslu, Lincoln, Nebraska: Vaidava 1969, p. 145. * Unāms, Ž. Es viņu pazīstu. Latviešu biogrāfiskā vārdnīca. Riga: Rota, 1938 & Grand Haven, Michigan: 1975, p. 368.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozolins, Valdemars 1896 births 1973 deaths People from Madona Municipality People from Cēsis county Latvian modern pagans Performers of modern pagan music 20th-century Latvian composers Latvian World War II refugees Latvian emigrants to the United States Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga