I remember the moment in 2011 when I heard a piece of music that changed my life. I was surfing through YouTube looking for Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus. This was a period of time when I was exploring scared music, which I have always loved, but admittedly knew less about than other classical music. I saw a video for Ave Verum Corpus and clicked it. A few moments into the video, it was clear this was not Mozart. But who? I read the description and learned that this was Ave Verum Corpus by Imant Raminsh. Who is Imant Raminsh? Before I tried to figure that out, I watched and listened to the video....an absolutely gorgeous, spellbinding work, performed by the University of Utah Singers. I literally sat there frozen by what I had experienced. So I listened to it again....and again....and again. Today, in 2017 as I write this, I still come back to this work frequently. The recording itself is very bright and clear. The performance is exceptional. The voices blend together so beautifully. The human voice is the finest instrument of all...and choral singing of this quality knows no equal. Anyway, I read all I could about Imant Raminsh and became a big fan of his music. He is a composer, musician, teacher, and conductor from Canada. I decided to see if I could contact him and talk to him about his music. He was very gracious to me and agreed to answer my questions via email and let me share his answers it in this blog.
TH I first learned about you when I “stumbled” on a video of Ave Verum Corpus on YouTube…your Ave Verum Corpus…performed by the University of Utah Singers. I was absolutely blown away and transfixed by it. It remains one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard, which is why I have sought you out to talk to. I appreciate your willingness to answer my questions.
Where did your Ave Verum Corpus come
from...meaning tell me about when it was composed, your inspiration for it
etc….
IR In 1972/73, I took a trip around the
world that included trekking into Everest Base Camp and some small climbs in
that area, exploring Sarawak (north Borneo) and crisscrossing Australia where I
had lots of relatives. It was while I was in Adelaide staying with my aunt and
uncle that the urge came upon me to write a short motet. In the botanical
gardens that were close to where I was staying there was an immense Araucaria tree
at the base of which I would often sit and contemplate. It was there that the
Ave Verum Corpus came to be written in a couple of days. The choice of text was
out of homage to Mozart and there are a couple of hidden references to Mozart’s
Ave Verum Corpus in mine.
TH Where did you grow up?
IR I was born in Latvia in 1943 but our family fled westward
in July 1944 with the approach of Russian tanks, and we spent the end of the
war years and the first post-war years as refugees and later, transit camps in
Germany. We came to Canada in the Summer of 1948 and settled in northern
Ontario where my father was employed as a forester and my mother supplemented
the family income by teaching piano (she had finished a piano performance
course at the Riga Conservatory before the war.) Later, I moved to Toronto to
pursue violin studies at the Royal Conservatory while finishing high school.
TH Did you hear classical music in your home during
childhood?
IR Yes, of course. All of my siblings (3 sisters one younger
brother) took piano lessons. I also took up violin. We did have a record
player.
TH Are there any composers who you would list as
your primary influences or favorites?
IR Initially the Romantics, later the Classicists, and
Baroque masters. Even later, some of the Moderns such as Bartok and Kodaly and
Poulenc. I hate to be more specific because I respond to
the works rather than
the composers. I remember being completely stunned the first time I listened all the way through Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
TH One of my standard questions for musicians and
composers is: do you actually listen to much music in your free time? I find
that many say they don’t because they play music for a living and therefore
want to get away from it when they are not working, which I think is sad, What
about you?
IR Who has free time? Mostly I listen when I am driving but
hardly ever at home. My composition takes place away from any instruments and
my wife says you would never know there was a musician living here considering
how quiet the house normally is.
TH What instruments do you play?
IR My primary instrument has always been violin and I was
for many years one of the principle violinists in the Okanagan Symphony
(British Columbia), but I play viola as well and my piano skills are generally
good enough for accompanying students.
TH Where do you live?
IR My wife Becky and I and our golden retriever Jaspor live
in Coldstream B.C. (adjacent to Vernon, B.C.) in the Okanagan Valley. The north
Okanagan is a transition zone between the dry, arid bunchgrass-Sonoran desert to the south and
the interior Montana Douglas Fir/hemlock/cedar rain forest to the north and
east.
TH I write a lot about classical music in our
culture. I’m not sure about Canada, but here in the US, it has a very small
audience. Are you optimistic about the future of classical music?
IR Classical music requires time and effort to listen
to-also an extended attention span and ability to focus. Audiences will always
be smaller than for big pop events, but they will always be there.
TH If you had to name your top 5 composers, who
would they be?
IR This list will always change from day to day, but J.S.
Bach, will always be there.
TH This may seem like a stupid question, but as
amazing as you are, why haven’t more people heard of you?....and I mean this in
the nicest possible way because you are an amazing composer!!!
IR I don’t know why more people haven’t heard of me. Maybe
it’s enough that you have. How many do I need?
TH Are you a baseball fan?
IR Not particularly. My sports are hiking, cross country
skiing, canoeing, and such.
TH Do you like coffee?
IR Yes!!! Dark roast-maybe Sumatra-black if its good
coffee-often with cream, but no fancy other flavors. Coffee is one of the food
groups (also chocolate).
TH Thank you so much for your time and help with this. If you
are ever in the Kansas City area, please give me a call and we can meet for
coffee.
Here is Ave Verun Corpus by Imant Raminsh, performed by the University of Utah Singers.
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