Volfgangs Dārziņš (25 September 1906 – 24 June 1962) was a Latvian composer,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

Biography

Volfgangs Dārziņš was born on 25 September 1906 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 ...

to Latvian composer

Emīls Dārziņš Emīls Dārziņš (November 3, 1875 – August 31, 1910) was a Latvian composer, conductor and music critic. Dārziņš' work bears a distinct romantic character, with a strong trend towards national themes. His main musical authorities and i ...

and Marija Deidere. He was named Volfgangs in honour of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. He studied composition at the Latvian Conservatory under Jāzeps Vītols and graduated in 1929. Later he continued studies in the conservatory's piano class, from which he graduated in 1934. In 1933 Dārziņš participated in VIII Latvian National Song Festival where several of his Latvian folk song arrangements were acclaimed. He also worked for several Latvian newspapers as music critic. Overall he published more than 1000 articles. During this time he also became known for extensive research into Latvian folk music, mapping the distribution of many folksongs. In 1944 he emigrated to Germany and lived in the main Latvian

displaced persons Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displaceme ...

center, Esslingen. In 1950 he relocated to United States and until 1955 worked as a teacher in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

Conservatory. He also worked in a music school of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and was a conductor of several church choirs. Also he continued to perform as a pianist and made several concert tours through the country. His most notable performance was in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1954. He became close friends with two of his students, Ken Benshoof and Alden Andreassen. Andreassen began performing Dārziņš' songs in memorial concerts after 1962. Volfgangs Dārziņš died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, on 24 June 1962. Volfgangs Dārziņš is best known for his ability to include folk motives into classical music. He made more than 200 Latvian folk song arrangements for piano and voice and also for

symphonic orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

. Also he wrote two piano concertos and several suites. He developed a strong original style, influenced to some degree by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

. His compositions are in three categories: piano, solo vocal and choral.

References

1906 births 1962 deaths Musicians from Riga People from Riga county 20th-century Latvian composers Latvian folk music Latvian pianists Latvian Academy of Music alumni Latvian World War II refugees Latvian emigrants to the United States {{Latvia-bio-stub