IGENBERGA, Elga

Composer and pianist Elga Īgenberga, the only female amongst the pioneers of Latvian popular music, began her career in this genre in the second half of the 1950s. Her brilliant breakthrough was the “Waltz” dance number written for ballerina Velta Vilciņa in 1955, but it soon turned out to that composing songs was Īgenberga’s true calling. Her first songs – “Rīgas bulvāri” (The Boulevards of Riga), “Varbūt” (Maybe) and “Vecais tilts” (The Old Bridge) – immediately attracted attention, especially after having been included in the Rīgas estrādes orķestris (Riga Popular/Variety Orchestra) repertoire and recorded for radio. Listeners quickly took to the distinctly melodic style of her music, which was highlighted in performances by some of the era’s best singers, including Valentīna Butāne, Edgars Zveja and Arnolds Liniņš, who together with the sisters Lolita and Regīna Vambute made Īgenberga’s “Cauri pilsētai” (Through the City, 1961) into an eternal hit. Īgenberga composed many songs for the singer Jānis Zābers and opera soloist Laima Andersone-Silāre. She also wrote popular songs for children in collaboration with actress Vera Singajevska.

Īgenberga wrote song cycles, the operetta Annele (Little Anne), the children’s review Šurum-burums (Hullabaloo), the musical plays Ziņģu lustes (Song Fun), Septiņas vecmeitas (Seven Spinsters) and Čaukstenes (Gossips) and also directed several vocal ensembles (Rīga, Triole, etc.).