It is he who is the author of music for the hits of the Soviet stage of the 70-80s “Hey you there, upstairs”, “It's not evening yet”, “Blue linen”, “Vernissage”, “Yellow leaves”. The maestro became a favorite composer among many stars of that time - Laima Vaikule, Alla Pugacheva, Valery Leontiev. Together with Igor Krutoy, Pauls came up with the idea of the New Wave song contest.
early years
Raimonds Pauls was born on January 12, 1936 in Riga in the Latvian SSR. His father and grandfather worked in the glass industry all their lives. Mom earned money by embroidering pearls, and later took up housekeeping. 
However, from the birth of the boy, live music surrounded him. The father of the future composer, together with his friends, created an amateur orchestra, the rehearsals of which took place in the Pauls' apartment. Dad played drums, the boy's grandfather sometimes liked to play the violin, and Raymond's mother had a beautiful voice, although she did not sing often.
At the age of three, the boy was sent to a preschool institution from the Riga Musical Institute. Kindergarten teachers advised Raymond's parents to send him to the piano class.
Musical education
In 1946, 10-year-old Raymond began his studies at the music school at the Latvian Conservatory. In high school, he loved to play the piano and could not imagine a single day without jazz. At this time, Raymond and his father's friends were already performing at dance and music evenings, in restaurants. 
In 1953, as planned, he became a student of the piano department of the Latvian State Conservatory. After graduating from the conservatory, Pauls continued to study at the composition department. While still studying at the conservatory, the young pianist performed in local restaurants and toured with the Riga Orchestra.
Musical career
In 1964-71, the musician worked as the head of the Riga Variety Orchestra of the Latvian Philharmonic. Around this time, he began to present his works to the audience - he wrote his first music for the Puppet Theater and for the Academic Drama Theater of the Latvian USSR. The memorable style of Raimonds Pauls' compositions has already become recognized in professional circles. 
On November 27, 1968, the premiere of the first program of Raimonds Pauls took place at the Latvian State Philharmonic Society, which brought him success throughout the country. At the same time, the composer wrote his first hits in collaboration with the poet Alfred Kruklis: "Old Birch", "We'll Meet in March" and "Winter Evening".
In 1975, in collaboration with Janis Peters, one of the most famous hits by Pauls was recorded - "Yellow Leaves" (in the original - "Par Pēdējo Lapu", that is, "The Last Leaf") performed by Margarita Vilcane and Ojars Grinbergs. Igor Shaferan translated the composition into Russian. At different times, it was performed, perhaps, by almost every artist of the Russian stage.
Raymond Pauls - "Yellow Leaves"
Throughout his busy career, Raimonds Pauls composed not only pop compositions, but also music for theater productions, as well as his own musicals. So, in 1979, Raymond created the musicals Sherlock Holmes and Sister Carrie.
Music by Raymond Pauls from the film "Long Road in the Dunes"
From the mid-70s, Pauls began close collaboration with poets Andrei Voznesensky, Robert Rozhdestvensky, Ilya Reznik. On their poems, the composer wrote many songs that are still popular today. These are "A Million Scarlet Roses", "Three Minutes", "Hey you up there", "It's not evening yet", "Vernissage". Many compositions were written specifically for the prima of the Soviet stage Alla Pugacheva. Pauls' creative unions with Valery Leontiev, Edita Piekha, Sofia Rotaru, Laima Vaikule were also successful.
Alla Pugacheva and Raymond Pauls - "Maestro"
In 1979, the Kazakh singer Roza Rymbaeva performed the lyrical song "Love Has Come" to the verses of Robert Rozhdestvensky at a song festival in Moscow. Later, this gentle composition was sung by Lyudmila Senchina, Valeria, Ani Lorak - songs to the music of Pauls have a long time. In the 80s, the composition "Grandfather next to Grandmother" became mega-popular, which was sung by the children's group "Dzeguzite", created by Pauls.
In 1985, the composer received the title of People's Artist of the Soviet Union.
Political career
For some time, Raimonds Pauls was active in politics. In 1989-1993 he was the Minister of Culture of Latvia, and then, from 1993 to 1998, he worked as a cultural adviser to the Latvian government. 
In 1999, Raymond Pauls was even a presidential candidate, but later changed his mind and withdrew his candidacy.
Pauls finally decided to leave politics in February 2009, officially declaring that he would no longer participate in municipal and parliamentary elections. From that moment on, he became engaged only in music.
Personal life of Raymond Pauls
During the collaboration of Raymond Pauls and Alla Pugacheva, they were often seen together, and soon the whole union was discussing their alleged romance. But Raymond later admitted that the love story was their own invention and a good PR duet.All contemporaries know the name of the famous pianist, composer Raimonds Pauls. The best concert halls of the Soviet Union and many foreign countries heard the works of the famous Latvian composer. He is the author of pop songs, miniatures for cinema and theater. Notes of jazz, folklore, blues, modern rhythms harmoniously sound in his compositions. Raymond Pauls is a very interesting personality. Biography, personal life of this celebrity deserves special attention.
little genius
In 1936, little Raymond was born in Riga. His father, Valdemar, was a glass maker, and his mother, Alma Matilda, was an embroiderer. The family lived modestly. From a very early age, parents noticed their son's ability to music and began to develop them. A specialized kindergarten was opened at the first musical institute, where little Oyar-Raymond (initial name) was sent. The boy was then only three years old. At the age of four, Raymond had already mastered such a complex instrument as the piano. When he was 10 years old, the boy was sent to study at the music school. Darzin, who is in the conservatory. Here he was given lessons by Professor Dauge. Even before the age of 15, Raymond could masterfully perform jazz compositions, so he easily entered the Latvian State Conservatory in the department of performers.
First steps in music
What did Raymond Pauls start with? The biography of the composer is very rich. While still a student at the conservatory, he worked as a pianist in one of the clubs. Soon he learns to write his first creative masterpieces. The first musical miniatures were written for the puppet and drama theater of the Latvian SSR. At the conservatory, he became the organizer of a pop sextet from his classmates. Compositions by young Pauls performed by a sextet and other professional singers began to sound more and more often on the Riga radio. The most famous songs of that time: "Winter Evening", "We met in March", "Old Birch". The pianist entered the conservatory twice, the second time - to the composition department, where he studied with Professor Ivanov.
Young Pauls began to give concerts throughout the Soviet country. Then he was entrusted with the Latvian Variety Orchestra. Here he writes music for the film "Three plus two" and collaborates with the poet Alfred Kruklis. Here are the famous compositions of the musician: "Old Harpsichord", "Drop of Rain", "Restless Pulse".
Political career
In the early 1990s, Pauls became interested in political issues. He passes to the deputies of the Supreme Council of Latvia. In 1990, the musician was elected to the people's deputies of the USSR. Then he becomes the head of the Ministry of Culture of the Latvian SSR and continues to head it after the independence of Latvia. Pauls left his post in 1993, having made this decision himself. He spent the next five years as a cultural adviser. In the late 90s, he created a political force in Latvia - the New Party, at the head of which he became. Then, for four years, Raimonds Pauls was a deputy from the People's Party and even ran for the President of Latvia, but at the last moment he recused himself. In 2009, the politician decides to no longer participate in the election race and devote himself only to art.
The activity of the musician today
For his great contribution to the art and development of the Baltic States in 2008, Raimonds Pauls was awarded the Baltic Star Prize. The main direction of the composer's work was the organization of a competition for young talents in Jurmala, which was called the "New Wave". Igor Krutoy and Alla Pugacheva became active assistants in organizing this event for the musician. For the spread of the Russian language in Latvia and for the strengthening of cultural ties between the two countries, the master was awarded. The award was presented to the artist by former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev.
Today, the maestro continues to collaborate with the Choir of Boys. Darzin. The composer also continues to create music for new musicals and films. In 2014, the premiere of the musical All About Cinderella, which was sensational in Russia, took place. Many people know that it was Pauls who wrote the musical intro for the weather forecast in the Vremya program. Of the young performers with whom the master worked, Valeria, Kristina Orbakaite, Ani Lorak can be noted.
Pauls Raymond Pauls Career: MusicianBirth: Latvia» Riga, 12.1.1936
Raimonds Pauls (real name Oyar Raimonds Pauls) - Soviet and Latvian composer, conductor, pianist, politician. Born January 12, 1936. Raymond Pauls is the author of music for many pop hits, melodies for films. Pauls' songs are performed by such famous performers as: Larisa Dolina, Edita Piekha, Alla Pugacheva, Sofia Rotaru, Lyudmila Senchina, Laima Vaikule, Valery Leontiev and others.
Raymond Voldemar Pauls was born on January 12, 1936 in Riga in the family of a glass blower. His father worked at the Iltsugem glass factory. From the age of three he attended the children's kindergarten of the 1st Musical Institute, where the musical education of the future composer began.
In 1946, Raimonds Pauls entered the music school at the Conservatory of the Latvian SSR. In 1953 he became a student of the performing department of the Latvian State Conservatory; his piano tutor was Professor Herman Braun. In parallel with his studies, Pauls worked as a pianist in the variety orchestras of trade union clubs. After completing the course in 1958, Raimonds Pauls worked in the Riga Variety Orchestra, gave concerts in Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine.
In 1962-1965 he studied composition at the Latvian Conservatory, where he was mentored by J. Ivanov, and in 1964 he took up the post of artistic director of the Riga Variety Orchestra of the Latvian State Philharmonic.
It was then that Pauls wrote his first songs that became widely known in the republic - "We met in March", "Winter Evening", then his service in the cinema ("You are needed") began. Subsequently, the composer created music for a number of performances, films and television films ("Servants of the Devil", "Arrows of Robin Hood", "Death Under Sailing", "Theater", "Double Trap", "How to Become a Star").
In 1973-78 he was the artistic director of the instrumental ensemble "Modo", and in 1982 he became the editor-in-chief of the Latvian Radio's musical programs.
The song "Yellow Leaves" brought fame to the composer in 1975, and over the next five years he created a few more hits - "I'll Pick Up the Music", "Dance on the Drum". In 1979, he created the musicals "Sister Carrie" and "Sherlock Holmes".
A huge happy moment accompanied the creative union of Raymond Pauls and Alla Pugacheva: the songs "Maestro", "Old Clock", "Million Scarlet Roses", "Without Me" were known throughout the country.
Then the composer worked with other well-known performers - Valery Leontiev ("Sunny days have disappeared", "Cabaret", "Love the pianist"), Laima Vaikule ("Vernissage", "It's not evening yet", "Sherlock Holmes"), and his songs invariably became hits.
In the mid-1980s, the song "Grandfather and Grandmother" performed by the children's ensemble "Dzeguzite" created by Pauls gained great popularity.
In the late 1980s, Raimonds Pauls initiated a song festival for young performers in Jurmala. In 1988, the composer became chairman of the Latvian State Committee for Culture, and after Latvia withdrew from the USSR, he took over as Minister of Culture of the republic.
After retiring in 1993, Pauls was the cultural adviser to the President of Latvia.
In 1999, he ran for the post of President of Latvia, but lost the election.
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Oyar-Raymonds Pauls is a famous Soviet, Russian, Latvian composer and author of a huge number of hits. At the same time, this incredibly creative person manages to act in films, perform concerts, striking fans with his virtuoso piano playing. And also to engage in social and political activities.
Among other things, the great Maestro is the standard of a husband, father and grandfather, who does everything to ensure that his family and friends realize all their wildest desires and become happy.
Height, weight, age. How old is Raymond Pauls
Fans of the pianist and composer want to clarify what his height, weight, age are. How old is Raymond Pauls is also a rather interesting and popular question on the Internet.
Raymond was born in 1936, so he recently turned eighty-one years old. Raymond Pauls: photos in his youth and now have changed slightly, Raymond got wrinkles and glasses, he turned gray and aged, but remained the same Maestro.
The zodiacal circle hurried to give the talented genius the sign of stubborn, persistent, talented, courageous, stable and creative Capricorn. At the same time, the Eastern horoscope endowed Raymond with character traits that are characteristic of the Rat, namely, caring and sociability.
Pauls' height reaches seventy centimeters, while the artist weighs only seventy-two kilograms.
Biography and personal life of Raymond Pauls
The biography and personal life of Raymond Pauls is a fabulous story of how a boy who fell into the maelstrom of World War II and was born in an ordinary family managed to achieve everything on his own.
The little boy at birth received the name Oyar-Raymond, his future was predetermined by the fact that he began to attend kindergarten at the Riga Music Institute. Already at the age of 10, the boy studied at a music school and later managed to enter the conservatory. At the same time, he wrote music, including for productions of the local puppet theater, and played the piano in the railwaymen's club.
Father - Voldemars Pauls - worked for a long time at the factory as a glass blower, he had a delicate ear for music, so he tried to develop this quality in his son. The man wanted to make a violinist out of his son, so he bought a violin and sent it to a music school, giving the world a famous musician and pianist.
Mother - Alma-Matilda Paula - devoted herself entirely to raising her son, she was a housewife, since her father could fully provide for his family. The most interesting thing is that earlier she was a sought-after pearl embroiderer, and her works were recognizable and sold.
Sister - Edite Paula-Wigner - is three years younger than the famous brother. She also studied music and drawing, but chose the profession of a tapestry artist for herself.
For a long time he held the position of artistic director of the Riga variety orchestra, for which he wrote author's songs, and already in 1970 he created his own group "Modo" and the children's group "Kukushechka". Another talented composer was the conductor of the orchestra, as well as the national television choir, was the editor-in-chief of musical radio programs, and was the author of numerous musicals.
He wrote real hits in Latvian and Russian for Pugacheva and Dolina, Leontiev and Vaikule, Zivere and Pigars, Gnatyuk and Senchina, Bulanova and Orbakaite, therefore he was known as a real Maestro.
He was repeatedly a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR, a people's deputy and served as the country's minister of culture. Later he put forward his candidacy for the post of President of Latvia and was a member of the country's Seimas. At the same time, he supports talented youth and children, while being a grandfather.
Grandson - Arthur Pedersen - was born in 1995, studied at an elite school and at the same time studied at a music school, went in for sports and drew beautifully.
Granddaughter - Monique-Yvon Pedersen - was born in 1994, she graduated from the special film school of Los Angeles and the Rome University of Film Directing. By the way, Laima Vaikule and Igor Krutoy became the godparents of the girl, and at the age of eighteen she fell in love with Robert Downey Jr.
Granddaughter - Anna - Maria Pedersen - the eldest granddaughter of the famous Maestro, who was born in 1989 from the first young man Annette, while at the age of two she was adopted by her current husband, also received a secondary education at a school with in-depth study of foreign languages. She is fluent in English and French, takes vocals and plays the piano, and graduated from film school in New York.
Family and children of Raymond Pauls
The family and children of Raimonds Pauls are the most valuable thing in the life of the composer and pianist, he claims that he could give up everything he has achieved in his career for the sake of his family and friends.
Raymond says that everything he could achieve in life is dedicated to his father, who was not professionally involved in music, but was able to help his son find himself in this area. Pauls tried to do absolutely everything in order to support and help his own parents, he was proud of them, although they were far from famous people, but an ordinary glassblower and embroiderer.
Raymond has one beloved daughter who adores her parents and considers them her friends, while she calls her mother shortly and simply - our Lana. He considers his granddaughters and grandson to be the most dear people, rejoices in their successes and constantly supports them in all endeavors.
Daughter of Raimonds Pauls - Annette Pedersen
The daughter of Raymond Pauls - Annette Pedersen - was born in 1962, was the most beloved and long-awaited daughter. She studied at a regular school, where she was not very fond of teachers and classmates, since Annette had a famous father. At the same time, the girl knew how to stand up for herself and often fought for the honor of the family.
The girl was baptized when she was eighteen years old, currently she is a very religious person. At the same time, she lived in Moscow for a long time, diplomats and members of their families, as well as famous actors, singers and metropolitan bohemia became her friends. By the way, the girl was very burdened by the fact that she had to let these people into the house and then see them off late at night.
Annette graduated from high school, worked as a director at a television center for several years, while her father forbade her to sing.
Since 1991, she married an employee of the SAS aviation company from Denmark, Marek Pedersen, while the young people met at a charity ball at the Ministry of Culture. The woman is currently working as an assistant to the Latvian Consul General in the Russian capital.
Raymond Pauls' wife - Svetlana Epifanova
The wife of Raymond Pauls - Svetlana Epifanova - appeared in the artist's life in 1961. He simply idolizes his wife. The young people met in Odessa, where the pianist arrived with a concert as part of the Riga variety orchestra. Young Svetochka was at that moment a student at the University of Odessa, but she moved from it to the distant Latvian Riga.
By the way, Raymond was in no hurry to make a marriage proposal to his beloved woman and muse. He is grateful that his wife and newborn daughter saved him from drinking and helped him understand that it is worth making a career. When Svetlana and Raymond came to the registry office, they refused to sign them, because they had no witnesses. Therefore, these guests of honor were a janitor and a woman registrar.
The birth of a new family was celebrated by eating donuts and going to the cinema.
Svetlana gave up her career because the Maestro asked her about it, but she became his Muse, costume designer, make-up artist, accountant.
Wikipedia Raymond Pauls
The Wikipedia of Raymond Pauls has been around for quite some time, as he is a popular, bright and incredibly creative person. The article about Raimonds Pauls in the world encyclopedia is official, therefore it contains only relevant and reliable facts that can be used in reports and abstracts.
It is worth clarifying that on Wikipedia you can find information that relates to childhood and adolescence, parents and children, spouses and personal life, education and the creative path of the great Maestro.
A separate place in this article is occupied by political and social activities. As well as creativity, awards, a list of melodies, musical compositions, co-authors and performers of copyright works.
Ojars Raimonds Pauls (b. 1936) is a Latvian composer, pianist and conductor. He composed music for the best hits of the Soviet era - "A Million Scarlet Roses", "Old Clock", "Maestro", "Yellow Leaves", "Grandma next to Grandpa", "Drum Dance", "It's Not Evening Yet". From 1989 to 1993 he served as the Minister of Culture of Latvia. In 1981 he became a laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize. In 1985, Pauls was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Soviet Union.
Parents
Raymond was born on January 12, 1936 in the Baltic city of Riga in the working area of Ilguciems.
Both grandfather and father of Raymond worked in the glass industry. Grandfather, named Adolf, started working at the age of eight. Despite such a profession, grandfather adored music and taught himself to play the violin.
Dad, Voldemar Pauls, came to the glass factory at the age of fifteen. Production for health was considered harmful and difficult, but the earnings of glassblowers were not bad. And what amazing things they made - unusually beautiful candy bowls, curly bottles, bright vases. In the last years before retirement, my father became a carpenter. And when he had already gone on a well-deserved rest, at home he was constantly making something, twisting, repairing, he could not be idle for a minute. Even if nothing needed to be repaired, he sat down to compose poetry or went to play in a folk ensemble.
Mom, Alma Matilda Brodele, came from the village of Svetciems, 130 km from Riga. All her education was reduced to two elementary grades of school. Together with a friend in 1931, she moved to work in Riga, where the girls rented a room and began to learn sewing from a fashionable Riga dressmaker. Over time, Alma Matilda learned the most elegant work - she made pearl and beaded embroideries on elegant blouses and dresses.
One of the clients, Alexandra Pauls (Raymond's paternal grandmother), liked not only the girl's work, but she herself - pretty, always friendly and very hardworking. Alexandra drew attention to how deftly Alma Matilda copes with a sewing machine. The woman was just looking for a housekeeper and a small petty shop, which the Pauls had had for many years, they sold herring, kerosene, matches and soap.
So Alma Matilda came to the Pauls house as a worker, and a year later she was already a daughter-in-law, the eldest son Voldemar offered the girl to marry him. Neighbors immediately began to gossip about whether this marriage would be long and happy, because the bride is eight years older than the groom. In addition, Alma Matilda was Orthodox, and Voldemar was a Lutheran, each attended his own church on weekends. But this did not affect their happiness in any way, Raymond's parents lived together for fifty years and raised two wonderful and talented children.
The composer has a younger sister Edite, born in 1939, now a famous tapestry artist in Latvia. Raymond was the second son of the Paulses. The first boy Gunnar was born, but he died at the age of four months. Having experienced such a tragedy, parents always felt fear for their children. They never spoke about it aloud, but they were very kind to Raymond and Edita.
Childhood
The future composer spent his childhood years in the working area of the Latvian capital. On the left bank of the Daugava there were large factories (glass, leather, textile), breweries, and a stunning view of old Riga. When the working day ended, a siren howled in the factories, and women with children went out to the fences of their houses to meet their husbands.
Although the area was industrial, it was very much like a village. Around the wooden houses there were plots of land on which people grew onions, pumpkins, and potatoes. The Pauls family was also in full swing engaged in subsistence farming, they had a goat, a cow and pigs. Children always helped, harvested with their parents in the garden and carried baskets of fruits and berries to the market.
The Pauls family did not live very well; from childhood, Raymond remembered well how his mother worked from morning to evening. And she didn’t like to ask someone for something, so the family kept a large supply of soap, salt, flour, onions and matches. Mom said it's for a rainy day, if everything ends, so as not to ask the neighbors.
From childhood, Raymond still remembers the aroma and taste of his mother's amazing potato pancakes and dumplings. Since then, his preferences have not changed much, the composer's favorite food is soup with meatballs, a piece of rye bread with bacon and onions, and a pork chop with fried potatoes.
My mother had a beautiful voice, but she rarely sang. And the father, who adored music, like grandfather Adolf, organized an ensemble with friends. The men called him "MiHaVo", taking the first two letters of the names of the band members - Mikhail (played the guitar), Khariy (violin), Voldemar Pauls (drums). The musicians were known all over the area, they played at parties and weddings, they received not only pleasure from this, but also a small extra income. They rehearsed at the Pauls' house, so little Raymond was surrounded by music from childhood.
The father really wanted the children to become talented and firmly believed in their happy future. It is difficult to say whether dad was able to discern the spark of God in Raymond, or whether it was lit in the boy thanks to the strong father's faith. He was not even four years old when his father bought his son the first violin and took him by the hand to a musical kindergarten at the Riga Institute. But the teachers immediately said that a violinist would not work out of him, his fingers were too short, but you could try to learn to be a pianist.
Dad began to collect money for the piano, but it was then very expensive. But soon he was lucky, before the war, the Baltic Germans began to leave Riga for Germany and sold their property. My father bought a piano from one of these Germans. Raymond remembers the day when this black and white monster was brought into the house. The boy named the instrument that way because now he had to work on it, and he wanted to run around in the yard with friends.
Education
Raymond went to first grade at the height of the war in 1943. He studied at elementary school No. 7, next to the house, once his father also graduated from this institution. Voldemar Pauls was not taken to the front, he was entitled to a reservation. For security reasons, he sent his wife and children from Riga to the village of Vidrizhi to stay with relatives.
After the war, when they returned to Riga, the father believed that it was necessary to make up for lost time in music lessons and hired private teachers for Raymond. Since 1946, a ten-year-old boy began to study at the music school of Emil Darzin at the Latvian Conservatory. There was almost no time for walks and friends. In the morning, a regular school, then music, lessons in the evening, and playing the piano until late. Even the neighbors were indignant that Voldemar did not give life to his son with this music. But my father did not want to listen to anyone, he believed that he was doing the right thing, he represented Raymond on stage and even heard the noise of applause.
Dad was right. At school, Raymond began to be involved in performances as an accompanist. And the music teachers praised him and said that Pauls had a different sound of the piano than other students.
Once, during a performance at a school evening, a teenager was seized by completely new feelings, he felt that the audience was listening to his music and they liked it. It was very pleasant, and this moment became a turning point in Raymond's life. From that time on, he did not need to be forced to study, he himself ran to the piano at any free moment.
In 1949, he graduated from a seven-year school and moved to a secondary school. He continued to study music, from the age of fourteen Raymond played with his father's friends in restaurants, in cinemas before the show, and even accompanied silent films. At this time, he became interested in jazz. He also felt that playing the same thing every evening was becoming uninteresting to him, a craving for improvisation appeared, and Raymond began to take his first steps in writing music.
In 1953, Pauls entered the Latvian Conservatory, where he studied for ten years, first in the piano class, then in the composition department.
creative path
In his first year at the conservatory, Raymond and friends organized a jazz orchestra before the New Year 1954 to perform at the celebration. But time passed, the team did not break up, but, on the contrary, gained popularity in Riga, performing in the Houses of Culture.
By 1956, the jazz orchestra was slightly disbanded and an instrumental ensemble was created. In the same year, their music was first heard on the Latvian radio. Soon, All-Union Radio became interested in their work, and employees of the Melodiya company arrived in Riga to record the ensemble. The first two records had a very large circulation in the Soviet Union.
In 1957, the group was transformed into the Riga Variety Orchestra, which performed from the Latvian Philharmonic. A series of tours around the USSR began, and in his musical career, Pauls conquered more and more new horizons:
- After graduating from the conservatory in 1964, he was the artistic director of the Riga Variety Orchestra, remaining in this position for seven years.
- Since 1967 he has been a member of the Union of Composers and the Union of Cinematographers of the Latvian SSR.
- Since 1973 - artistic director of the instrumental ensemble "Modo".
- Since 1978 he has been the conductor of the Light and Jazz Orchestra of the Latvian Television and Radio.
- Since 1982 he has been the editor-in-chief of musical broadcasts on the Latvian Radio.
- In 1986, he initiated the creation of the Jurmala International Competition for Young Performers, which lasted until 1992.
- Since 1989 Minister of Culture of Latvia.
- From 1993 to 1998 – cultural adviser to the President of Latvia.
- In 2002, together with the composer Igor Krutoy, he again became the initiator of the creation of the International Competition for Young Performers in Jurmala "New Wave".
Carried away by politics, in 1999 Pauls put forward his candidacy for the post of President of Latvia, but then withdrew from the elections.
Maestro
Pauls' first fruitful collaboration was with the Latvian poet Alfred Kruklis. This is how the songs came about:
- "Old birch";
- "We met in March";
- "Winter evening".
All-Union fame came to Pauls after the songs "Blue Flax" and "Yellow Leaves". By the mid-1970s, the poets Robert Rozhdestvensky and Andrei Voznesensky began to collaborate with the composer. For the first time, Voznesensky agreed to write poetry to ready-made music, so the songs “Pick up the Music” (sung by Yaak Yola) and “Dance on the Drum” (sung by N. Gnatyuk) appeared. Both of these compositions received prizes at the Sopot Music Festival.
After the beginning of cooperation with the songwriter Ilya Reznik and the singer Alla Pugacheva, fame and great love of the audience for his work came to Pauls. Until now, the compositions that were born then remain hits:
- "Antique clock";
- "Maestro";
- "Million Scarlet roses";
- "Without me";
- "Hey, you're up there."
The composer collaborated with many famous poets - Mikhail Tanich, Larisa Rubalskaya, Nikolai Zinoviev, Evgeny Yevtushenko. Their songs were sung by Soviet pop stars - Roza Rymbaeva, Valery Leontiev, Lyudmila Senchina, Laima Vaikule, Sofia Rotaru, Larisa Dolina, Edita Piekha, Rinat Ibragimov. Very popular in the Soviet Union was the children's ensemble "Kukushechka" with their famous song "Golden Wedding" (or "Grandmother next to grandfather"), the music for which was written by Pauls.
Raymond wrote many musicals and musical accompaniments for theatrical productions, films, the most famous of which are:
- "Three plus two";
- "Theater";
- "Bartender from the Golden Anchor";
- "Long road in the dunes".
Personal life
During a tour with the Riga Variety Orchestra in Odessa, Raymond met his future wife Svetlana Epifanova. A tall beautiful Odessa woman conquered the young composer. In the summer of 1961 they got married.
In 1962, the couple had a girl, Aneta. She studied at LGITMiK, received a diploma in television directing, lives and works in Moscow. Married to airline manager Marek Petersen. The daughter gave Raymond three grandchildren - two girls Anna-Maria (1989) and Monique-Yvonne (1994) and a boy Arthur Pauls (1995).
Every year on December 24, on the eve of Christmas, on his father's birthday, Raymond comes to his grave at the Lachupsky cemetery in Riga (mother, grandparents are also buried there). He lights a candle, remembers his parents, and once again marvels at how they, poorly educated people, were so firmly convinced of the great future of their children. And again he thanks his father for those childhood activities on the "black and white monster", which brought him everything in life - family, love of fans, success, fame and happiness.
