Ilmārs Blumbergs created the graphic design of the coin, while the plaster model was created by Jānis Strupulis.
The obverse design depicts a radiant shooting star. At the top, it is half-circled by seven concentric bands of an arc representing a rainbow, with the year 1875 (birth of Emīls Dārziņš) at the left end and 1910 (his death) at the right end of the arc.
Ilmārs Blumbergs said that the falling star portrays the composer's tragic and early parting with life, while the seven bands of the rainbow spark conversation to God through music.
Emīls Dārziņš (1875–1910) personifies the soul of Latvian classical music.
He lived to be only 34, had a very talented son, composed 17 choir songs, 19 solo songs (one was destroyed, another one lost), four compositions for symphony orchestra (three destroyed), two fragments for an unfinished opera, wrote reviews and descriptions, and ended up dying a mysterious death on railroad tracks.
The coin will be on sale at the Latvian Bank on K. Valdemāra street 1B, Rīga, as well as in Teātra street 3, Liepāja. The face value of the coin is €5, and it'll be sold for €39.
Listen to the melancholy piece here:
