Broun Herman Israilevich (1918-1979)

Broun Herman (Hermann) Israilevich (born 9 August 1918, Petrograd – died 15 December 1979, Riga) – pianist, accompanist, and educator. Son of D. Braun, and brother of I. Braun.

From 1931 to 1938, Herman Brown studied at the Latvian Conservatoire, graduating with distinction (piano class of N. Karkliņš, class of N. Dauge). In 1938–39, he pursued further studies in Paris under Professors R. Casadesus, A. Cortot, and A. Borovsky.

In Riga, he performed as a soloist and accompanist, giving concerts in Lithuania, Estonia, France, and the Netherlands, and offered private lessons. In 1940–41, he served in the active army on the Northwestern Front and worked as an accompanist in the Red Army concert brigade. He later became a pianist in the staff orchestra of the Baltic Military District (PribVO). From 1942 to 1944, he was a member of the Latvian SSR Artistic Ensemble in Ivanovo, formed from evacuees from Latvia. He returned to Riga in October 1944.

From 1945, Braun taught chamber ensemble at the Latvian Conservatoire. In 1946, he was appointed Associate Professor. He led classes in accompaniment, chamber ensemble, vocal ensemble, and solo piano. Among his students were N. Šreder, D. Graubiņa, R. Bulle, S. Heine, M. Geringas (Balter), N. Belinkaya, R. Pauls, B. Mieze, E. Ramoška, S. Heine, M. Saiva, N. Šreder, and I. Villerusha.

From 1959 to 1979, he also taught solo piano at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School. He performed in concerts at the Latvian Philharmonic and on Latvian Radio with vocalists including E. Pakul, A. Dashkov, Ž. Heine-Wagner, K. Zariņš, Ya. Zaber, G. Antipov, and with violinists S. Rashina, G. Kremer, R. Lielmane, V. Zariņš, and flautist A. Ratzbaum.

Renowned for his collaborations with vocalists, he curated numerous concert cycles for the Philharmonic, including All Romances by S. Rachmaninov, All Romances by P. Tchaikovsky, All Songs by A. Kalniņš, Latvian Vocal Music, Soviet Vocal Cycles, and Foreign Vocal Music of the First Half of the 20th Century. He toured in Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities of the USSR.

Herman Broun was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of the Latvian SSR (1947), was a laureate of the All-Union Glinka Competition, and was decorated with the Order of the Badge of Honour (1956). He prepared several collections of Latvian vocal music for publication, including the first complete edition of the songs of A. Kalniņš.

Literature:

SKV, pp. 30–32; Padomju Latvijas mūzikas darbinieki, Riga, 1965, pp. 69–73.