Marģeris Zariņš

Who was Marģeris Zariņš?

Marģeris Zariņš was a Latvian composer and writer. He was an author of symphonic and vocal symphonic music, choir music, vocal chamber music, cantatas, oratories and operas; contemporary picaresque novels, short stories.

Marģeris Zariņš is a unique figure on the Latvian arts scene in the second half of the 20th century. In the post-war period he maintained and developed the approach to folklore that had already appeared in the choral arrangements of the younger generation of composers in the 1930s, mainly in the works of Volfgangs Dārziņš and Jānis Kalniņš. More than his predecessors, however, he chose to develop the elements of dance, humour and play found in folk music. The heightened expression of play brought with it developments in the art of choral writing: an increase in its virtuosity and its enhancement with techniques normally used in instrumental music. He composed mainly opera and musicals, and works in other genres of music with lyrics.