Raymond Pauls is a famous Soviet musician and composer. Whole generations have grown up on his hits, and his creations have been immortalized in music and cinema. Luck accompanied this amazing person throughout his life, and hard work brought fame and success.
Biography
Raymond Voldemarovich Pauls was born in Riga on January 12, 1936 in an ordinary family. His father worked as a simple glassblower at a factory, and his mother was a housewife. At the age of 3, the boy was sent to a kindergarten at a music institute, apparently this was influenced by the hobbies of his father, who himself was a member of an amateur orchestra. It was from this moment that the path of the great composer began.
A couple of years later, the kindergarten was closed, but little Raymond continued to study at home. After World War II, he entered a music school, where his talent was immediately noticed by the selection committee. This was followed by education at the conservatory, first a piano class, then a composition department. After graduation, Raimonds Pauls joined the Riga Orchestra and a few years later took over as musical director.
Career
In the 1960s, fame fell on the composer. He wrote his first hits, which became incredibly popular in Latvia, and also created several compositions for films. It was then that he released his first disc, which sold millions of copies throughout the USSR. Since the 1970s, Raymond Pauls began touring throughout the country, and a little later, in 1975, his song "Yellow Leaves" was released, which brought him final success.
The maestro collaborated with many famous performers, the whole country admired his duet with Alla Pugacheva, each of the new songs immediately gained hundreds of thousands of fans. Famous poets of the country asked the master to put their poems to music, and directors lined up for music for their films.
In 1976 Pauls was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Latvian SSR, and in 1985 he became People's Artist of the USSR. Raimonds Voldemarovich is the owner of many awards and achievements. In addition to his rapid career on the stage, he took part in the political life of his homeland, going from the Minister of Culture of the Republic to the adviser to the President of Latvia for culture. In 1999, Pauls even ran for president, but after the first round of elections decided to withdraw his candidacy.
Personal life
During the tour, Raymond Pauls met a young student, his future wife, Svetlana Epifanova. The young people decided to get married, and in 1962 they had a daughter, Aneta.
The composer was credited with many novels on the side, but Svetlana's wisdom was enough to disbelieve rumors and save the family. The maestro himself has repeatedly admitted that only the love of his wife and the support of the family gave him the strength to give up many temptations and bad habits, including alcohol. The couple are happy to this day. The daughters received a good directorial education, she married a citizen of Denmark, and now they are raising three children.
