(b. 1943, Ventspils).
Canadian composer, born in Latvia, of mostly orchestral, chamber, choral, and vocal works that have been performed throughout the world.
Mr. Raminsh earned his ARCT in violin at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and his BMus at the University of Toronto, then spent two years at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, where he studied composition, conducting, fugue, and violin. In addition, he studied biology and geology privately.
He is also active in other positions. As a violinist, he briefly played in the Camerata Salzburg in the 1960s. He is the founding conductor of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan, as well as of the AURA Chamber Choir and the NOVA Children's Choir, all in British Columbia. He worked for many summers as a naturalist/interpreter in provincial parks in British Columbia.
He has lived in Canada since 1948.
He is married to the architectural designer and poet Becky Strube.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
The Nightingale (opera for children, libretto by James Tucker, after Hans Christian Andersen), boy soprano, tenor, baritone, children's chorus, small orchestra, 2003–04 (also version [Latvian translation by Astrida B. Stahnke] as Lakstīgala, 2007)
The Eternal Forest (opera, libretto by Morton Marcus), 2009–11
ORCHESTRAL:
Suite on Five Latvian Folk Songs, string orchestra, 1972 (also version for small orchestra, 1983)
Prelude to the Golden Horse, 1975
...and the great day that dawns, 1978
Sahali, 1991
Legend, cello, orchestra, 1991 (version of chamber work)
Odyssey: A Symphonic Poem, 1995, revised 2000
Two Canzonas and a Fugue, string orchestra, 1997
Concerto, soprano ad libitum, violin, orchestra, 1997
The Rattler (concerto), bassoon, orchestra, 2000 (also version as Concerto, cello, orchestra, 2005)
Canzona, cello, string orchestra, 2001
...And the Light that Fills the World, trumpet, orchestra, 2003 (version of chamber work)
Singing Songs of Sorrow, Songs of Joy (Second Suite on Latvian Folk Songs), string orchestra, 2003
Aria, violin, orchestra, 2005 (version of chamber work)
CHAMBER MUSIC:
A Penfield Pentameron, violin, viola, cello, 1980
Earth Chants, violin, cello, piano, 1982
Dialogues, violin, viola, 1983
Aria, violin, piano, 1987 (also version for violin, orchestra)
Legend, cello, piano, 1989 (also version for cello, orchestra)
A Family of Friends, recorder, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, trumpet, piano, 1994
Papillons, 2 flutes, piano, 2000
Fanfare for the Voices of Man, 3 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, 2002
...And the Light that Fills the World, trumpet, piano, 2003 (also version for trumpet, orchestra)
String Quartet No. 1, 'A Falcon, a Storm, or a Great Song' (in memoriam David Mardon), 2003
String Quartet No. 2, 'The Waking' (in memoriam Sylvia Russell), 2008
Field Notes, 2010 (its six sections may be performed separately: Morning, piano; Meadowlark, flute, piano; Juniper and Pine, cello, piano; Balsamroot and Sage, piano; Nighthawk, violin, piano; Field Notes [text by Becky Strube], mezzo-soprano, piano)
String Quartet No. 3, 2010
CHORAL:
Cantarcillo de la Virgen (text by Lope de Vega), soprano, female chorus, guitar, string orchestra, 1970
Mary Magdalene (text by Boris Pasternak), mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, harp (+ piano), organ, 1970
Silent Flowers (text from haiku from Japan), soprano, mixed chorus, flute, glockenspiel, cymbal, string orchestra, 1970
Ice and Fire (text by Lope de Vega [translated by W. S. Merwin]), mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, timpani, string orchestra, 1971
Ave, Verum Corpus, mixed chorus, 1972 (also versions for female chorus, piano [+ organ], 1992; male chorus, 1998; mixed chorus, string orchestra, 2000; female chorus, string orchestra, 2006)
The Great Sea (text from a traditional source of the Copper Inuit people [translated by Knud Rasmussen, W. E. Calvert]), mixed chorus, string orchestra, 1972
The Face of my Mountains (text from a traditional source of the K'iche' people [translated by John Bierhorst]), mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, 1978
I Wonder as I Wander, female chorus, 1979
Mary Had a Baby, baritone, male chorus, 1979
Stabat Mater, mezzo-soprano, 8 mixed voices, 1979
A Northwest Trilogy, mixed chorus, 1980
Gloria, soprano, female chorus, 1981
Lo, at the Day's End (text by Alan G. McDougall), mixed chorus, 1981
Pau: A Testament (text by Pablo Casals), baritone, mixed chorus, 4 cellos, 1981
Along the Flower Trail (text from various poems of native people of North America, Inuit people, edited by John Bierhorst), 8 mixed voices, 1982
¿Dónde Vais, Zagala?, soprano, mixed chorus, string orchestra, 1982 (version of vocal work)
Ave Maria, mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, 1983
The Birthplace (text by Robert Frost), mixed chorus, flute, string quartet, 1983
Psalm 23, female chorus, piano, 1984 (also version for female chorus, string orchestra, 1993)
Psalm 121, female chorus, piano, 1984 (also version for female chorus, string orchestra, 1984)
Five Latvian Folk Songs, soprano, baritone, 8 mixed voices, 1985 (also version as Four Latvian Folk Songs, youth chorus, string orchestra, 2001)
Magnificat No. 2, mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, 1985
Pater Noster, mezzo-soprano, baritone, 8 mixed voices, 1985
Songs of the Lights (set 1) (texts from traditional poems of the Algonquin people, Navajo people [translated by Nellie Barnes, Eda Lou Walton]), female chorus, flute, piano, glockenspiel, 1985 (also version for female chorus, flute, glockenspiel, string orchestra, 1985)
Two Psalms (texts from Psalm 130, Psalm 150 [Latvian translations]), mixed chorus, orchestra, 1985 (also version [English translations])
I'll Give my Love an Apple (text from a traditional source from Nova Scotia, collected by Helen Creighton), female chorus, oboe, piano, 1986
Smile, o voluptuous cool-breathed Earth (text by Walt Whitman), mixed chorus, piano, 1986
Come My Light (text by Dimitry of Rostov [translated by Kallistos Ware]), 8 mixed voices, 1987
Song (And I think over again), mixed chorus, 1987
In the night we shall go in, mixed chorus, cello, piano, 1987 (version of vocal work; also version for mixed chorus, cello, string orchestra, 1992)
Songs of the Lights (set 2) (texts from traditional poems of the Maya people, Pima people, an unknown tribe, Zuni people, Ojibwe people, Shoshone people, Tohono O'odham people [translated by Ralph L. Roys, Frank Russell, Frances Densmore, Natalie Curtis, Henry Schoolcraft, Mary Hunter Austin]), female chorus, piano, 1987
Lullaby (text by Henrik Ibsen), mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, 1988
Of Home and the Great Wide World (Five Slavic Folk Songs), mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus, 1988
As Water to the Thirsty (text by Timothy Dudley-Smith), mixed chorus, violin, piano, 1988
I Will Sing unto the Lord (text from Psalm 104), children's chorus, mixed chorus, piano, 1988 (also versions for children's chorus, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1998; children's chorus, mixed chorus, string orchestra, 2000)
Sing Hey! It's Christmas Day! (text by Margaret Fleming), mixed chorus, 1989
Missa brevis, soprano, female chorus, piano, 1989 (also versions for soprano, female chorus, orchestra, 1989; soprano, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1998)
Divi Korāļi – Two Chorales (texts by Terēze Brence, Veronika Strēlerte), mixed chorus, piano ad libitum, 1989
Prayer of St. Francis, female chorus, piano, 1990
Two Nightsongs (text by Ben Abel), female chorus, piano, 1990
Magnificat No. 1, mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1990
How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place (text from Psalm 84), soprano, mixed chorus, piano, 1991
In the Beginning (text from the Book of Genesis), female chorus, piano, 1991
Live the Circle (text by Sara Sanderson), female chorus, piano, 1991
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, mixed chorus, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, organ, timpani, 1991
Vestigia (text by Bliss Carman), female chorus, violin, cello, piano, 1991
Ubi Caritas, mixed chorus, 1992
The Chariot Children (text by Cyril Dabydeen), female chorus, piano, 1992
Gloria, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, mixed chorus, piano, 1992 (also version for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1992)
Song of the Birds (text from a traditional source from Catalonia [translated by James Woodhouse], adapted by the composer), mixed chorus, 1993
Veni, Creator Spiritus, mixed chorus, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, organ, timpani, 1993
Ceļā (text by Kārlis Skalbe), mezzo-soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1993
I Turn to You, mixed chorus, 1994
Mighty River, Mighty Fire (text by Charles Devanesan), mixed chorus, 1994
O Ignis Spiritus (text by St. Hildegard of Bingen), mixed chorus, 1994
Sing to Us, Cedars (texts by A. J. M. Smith, Pauline Johnson), mixed chorus, flute, piano, 1994
Cantate Domino, female chorus, trumpet, timpani, string orchestra, 1994 (also version for female chorus, trumpet, orchestra, 1995)
The Infinite Yes (text by Becky Strube), mixed chorus, 1995
Song of the Stars, mixed chorus, piano, 1995
Surrounded with Great Joy (text from a poem of the Inuit people, edited by John Robert Colombo), mixed chorus, flute, oboe, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 1995
Alleluia, Amen, children's chorus, mixed chorus, 1996 (also version for children's chorus, mixed chorus, string orchestra, 2000)
O Holy One (text by G. Malcolm Sinclair), mixed chorus, 1996
Dies Sanctificatus (texts from Psalm 117, Psalm 118), mixed chorus, piano, 1997 (also version for mixed chorus, orchestra, 1997)
In the Shadow of Evening Rocks (text by Becky Strube), girls' chorus ad libitum, mixed chorus, cello, piano, 1997
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, soprano, mixed chorus, organ/piano, 1997
Rise Up My Love, My Fair One (text from the Song of Solomon), female chorus, viola, piano, 1997
Serenade to Music (text by William Shakespeare), tenor, baritone, bass, male chorus, cello, 1997
Christmas Morn (text by Ruth Sawyer), female chorus, piano, 1998
Lacrimosa, mixed chorus, piano, 1998
Sonnets to Orpheus (text by Rainer Maria Rilke [translated by Stephen Mitchell]), baritone, mixed chorus, piano, 1998 (also version for baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1998)
Into an Unknown Land, female chorus, piano, 1999
Osanna and Benedictus, children's chorus, female chorus, cambiata voices ad libitum, male chorus ad libitum, piano, 1999
Two Windsongs (texts by William D. Sargent, Robert Louis Stevenson), female chorus, piano, 1999
Es Dziedāšu Tam Kungam (text from Psalm 104), mixed chorus, organ, timpani, string orchestra, 1999
Psalm 100 (2 settings), mixed chorus, piano/organ, 2000
Recordare, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, children's chorus, mixed chorus, orchestra, 2000
Te Deum, soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, 3 trumpets, organ, timpani, string orchestra, 2000
Two Visionary Songs (texts by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Mechthild of Magdeburg [English translations]), children's chorus, mixed chorus, piano, 2000
Singet dem Herrn, mixed chorus, 2001
Ave Regina Cælorum, mixed chorus, 3 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, organ, timpani, 2001
Hodie Christus Natus Est, mixed chorus, piano/organ, 2001
Like Whispers Gone (text by Janel Goyette), female chorus, flute, piano, 2001
Symphony of Psalms (texts from Psalm 100 [Latin translation], Psalm 130 [German translation], Psalm 51 [Spanish translation], Psalm 104 [Old Church Slavonic translation], Psalm 23 [Hebrew translation], Psalm 139 [French translation], Psalm 133 [Latvian translation], Psalm 24 [English translation], Psalm 150 [Latin translation]), soprano, mezzo-soprano, female chorus/mixed chorus, orchestra, 2001
What Voices in an Unknown Tongue (text by Emily Carr), mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus, viola, 2002
In Widening Circles (8 songs, text by Rainer Maria Rilke [translated by Anita Barrows, Joanna Macy]), mixed chorus, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, harp, organ, timpani, percussion, 2002 (also version of three songs for soprano/tenor, piano)
A Shining Peace (texts by Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, liturgy of the Anglican Church), mixed chorus, orchestra, 2002
Christmas Lullaby for a New-Born Child (text by Yvonne Gregory), children's chorus, viola, piano, 2002
Let Wilderness Sing (text by Becky Strube), children's chorus, piano, 2002
Lux Æterna, mixed chorus, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, organ, timpani ad libitum, 2002 (also version for mixed chorus, flute, oboe, 2 French horns, trombone, harp, string quartet, 2002)
Two Temples (text by Hattie Vose Hall), mixed chorus, violin, viola, piano/organ, 2002
Victimæ Paschali Laudes, mixed chorus, 2003
Deux Chansons (texts by Ausma Ahmed, Emma Lightstone), children's chorus, piano, 2003
For the Four Winds (text by Lindsay Kesselman), 6 mixed voices, 2003
The Shepherds' Hymn (text by Richard Crashaw), mixed chorus, piano/organ, 2003
Cantus Lauelibilis (text by Irene Leviton), mixed chorus, clarinet, 2004
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (texts from the Book of Jeremiah, Psalm 139), mixed chorus, cello, piano, 2004
To the House of the Bird with the Golden Feathers (texts from traditional sources from Central America [English translations]), mixed chorus, flute, piano, 2004
Līksmojiet, Gavilējiet, Spēlējiet (text from Psalm 98), girls' chorus, organ, 2005
Love Song (text by Rainer Maria Rilke [translated by M. D. Herter Norton]), mixed chorus, violin, 2005
The Peace of Wild Things (texts by e. e. cummings, Wendell Berry, Morton Marcus), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, children's chorus, mixed chorus, orchestra, 2005
There Was a Star Danced (And under That Was I Born) (text by Becky Strube), female chorus, orchestra, 2005
Within the Circles of Our Lives (text by Wendell Berry), mixed chorus, piano, 2005
In the Trail of the Wind, In the Shadow of God (A Cantata of Life) (texts by Rabia Basri, Thích Nhât Hanh, Crowfoot, Wendell Berry, St. Hildegard of Bingen), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, mixed chorus, small orchestra (2 flutes, 2 oboes, bassoon, 3 trumpets, timpani, strings), 2006
Through the Eyes of a Child (text by Susan Falbo), children's chorus, piano, string quartet ad libitum, 2006
Lielā Junda Brāļu Kapos (cantata, text by Kārlis Kurbads), mezzo-soprano, baritone, male chorus, orchestra, 2007 (also version for mezzo-soprano, baritone, male chorus, piano/organ, 2007)
The Lilies of the Field (text from the Book of Matthew), female chorus, organ, 2007
might there be thrushes...? (text by e. e. cummings), mixed chorus, 2007
The Path That Leads to Nowhere (text by Corinne Roosevelt Robinson), female chorus, violin, piano, 2007
Praise the Lord, Ye Dragons and All Deeps (text from Psalm 148 [English translation]), mixed chorus, French horn, organ, percussion, 2007
Under the Baltic Sun (Four Songs of the Sun and the Sea) (texts from folksongs from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland), mixed chorus, small orchestra (2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings), 2007
Ziemsvētku Naktī, mixed chorus, piano, 2007 (also version for mixed chorus, flute, oboe, harp, percussion, string orchestra, 2007)
Endless Song (text by Sara K. Astle), mixed chorus, flute/oboe/violin, 2008
Jau Saulīte (text from a folksong from Latgale), youth chorus, 2008
Šiandien man linksma dienelė (Seven Lithuanian Folk Songs of Love and Courtship), mixed chorus, piano, 2008
Empowered by Song (text by Tom Gordon), mixed chorus, orchestra, 2009
In the Old Country of My Heart (text by Agnes Walsh), female chorus, 2009
Unto the Hills (text by Jean H. Mather), mixed chorus, 2 pianos, 2009
The Flame (text by Kerry Gilbert), mixed chorus, piano, 2010
Let the Great Song Come (text by Wendell Berry), mixed chorus, piano, 2010
The Mystical Bond (Songs of Brotherhood) (texts from Psalm 133 [French translation], Rainer Maria Rilke, Alexander Pushkin, Du Fu, Thomas Wolfe, Gabriela Mistral), mixed chorus, harp, string orchestra, 2010
Ode to Music (text by Emmy Zeetsen), female chorus, 2010
Quaternity (A Cantata of Seasons) (text by Becky Strube), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, mixed chorus, orchestra, 2010
Reedsong (text by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī [English translation]), mixed chorus, oboe, 2010
VOCAL:
Balada (text by Gabriela Mistral), soprano, flute, violin, cello, piano, 1971
¿Dónde Vais, Zagala? (text by Lope de Vega), soprano, piano, 1971 (also version for soprano, mixed chorus, string orchestra)
English Lessons (text by Boris Pasternak), soprano, 2 flutes, harp (+ piano), string orchestra, 1971
Six Chinese Lyrics (texts by Yun-Kang Tzu, Li Shangyin, an anonymous poet [translated by Jerome P. Seaton, Charles Hartman, Eugene Eoyang, Irving Y. Lo]), alto, flute, oboe, string quartet, 1981
Three Spanish Lyrics (texts by Lope de Vega, Antonio Machado, Gabriela Mistral), soprano, piano, 1982 (also versions for soprano, orchestra, 1988; soprano, string orchestra, 2000)
most this amazing day (Four Lyrics of e. e. cummings), mezzo-soprano, piano, 1984
Saeta Que Voladora (Three Poems of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer), medium voice, piano, 1984
In the night we shall go in (text by Pablo Neruda [translated by Donald D. Walsh]), medium voice, cello, piano, 1986 (also versions for mixed chorus, cello, piano; mixed chorus, cello, string orchestra)
Of Mothers and Children (Five Irish Lyrics) (texts by Freda Laughton, Patrick Pearse [translated by Thomas MacDonagh], Padraic Colum, Edward Walsh, Francis Ledwidge), soprano, piano, 1993
The Pilgrim Soul (text by William Butler Yeats), baritone, piano, 2000
In Widening Circles, soprano/tenor, piano, 2002 (version of three songs from choral work)
Kas Spēj Gaismu Šķilt (text by Ingrīda Vīksna), bass-baritone, string orchestra, 2004
Field Notes, mezzo-soprano, piano, 2010 (section of Field Notes; may be performed separately)
PIANO:
Three Temperaments, 1997
An Amber Sheaf of Songs (Five Latvian Folk Songs), 2005
Morning, 2010 (section of Field Notes; may be performed separately)
Balsamroot and Sage, 2010 (section of Field Notes; may be performed separately)
Suite Soleil, 2010
ORGAN:
Prelude and Fugue, 1992
ARRANGEMENTS:
Jingle Bells (James Pierpont), mixed chorus, orchestra, 1980
Abendsegen from Hänsel und Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck), string orchestra, 1990
DISCOGRAPHY
A Northwest Trilogy. Jon Washburn/Vancouver Chamber Choir (CBC Records: SMCD 5097)
Songs of the Lights (set 2); Song (And I think over again); The Great Sea; Come My Light; Ave Maria; Ave, Verum Corpus (original version); Magnificat No. 1. Sandra Graham, mezzo-soprano; Jon Washburn/Vancouver Chamber Choir, CBC Radio Orchestra (CBC Records: SMCD 5116)
Missa brevis (version for soprano, female chorus, orchestra); Along the Flower Trail; Alleluia, Amen (original version); Ubi Caritas; What Voices in an Unknown Tongue. Jon Washburn/Vancouver Chamber Choir (CBC Records: SMCD 5219)
In the night we shall go in (version for mixed chorus, cello, piano); Psalm 121 (original version); Smile, o voluptuous cool-breathed Earth. Jon Washburn/Vancouver Chamber Choir (Centrediscs: CMCCD 4893)
Ave, Verum Corpus (original version). Chad Stride/Cantus Vocum Chamber Choir (FMDC: 4609)
Cantate Domino (original version). Stuart Laughton, trumpet; Jean Ashworth Bartle/Toronto Children's Chorus, members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Marquis Classics: MAR 199)
Ave, Verum Corpus (original version). John Tuttle/Exultate Chamber Singers (ND: 0191)