Apkalns, Longins

Langins Apkalns ( Latvian: Longīns Apkalns ; December 17, 1923 , Riga - 1999 ) - a Latvian composer and musicologist who worked mainly in Germany.

The son of a priest. He began to study music at the Riga Conservatory . After World War II he emigrated to Germany, studied with Jazep Vitol in Detmold , then with German specialists. Later he taught vocals in Detmold and Höfelhof .

He published the monograph “Latvian Music” ( German Lettische Musik ; Wiesbaden , 1977 ). Prepared for publication a collection of materials of the Third World Latvian Song Festival in Cologne (1973). The author of six symphonies, choral and chamber music; in Apkalns' work, the cycle “Latvian funerary songs” ( Latvian. Bēŗu dziesmas ) for the choir and orchestra stands out.

In 1982 , according to archival materials from German radio stations, he reconstructed the oratorio “Lord, Your land is on fire!” By Lucia Garuta , which has since been widely performed in Latvia and included in the national cultural canon ^[1] .

He also sporadically acted as a singer (tenor). In particular, in 1965 he took part in the Göttingen Handel Festival, playing the role of the Messenger in Handel’s oratorio “Samson” (conductor Gunter Weissenborn ); The live recording of this performance has been reprinted several times.