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Traditional Latvian music is often set to traditional poetry called dainas , featuring pre-Christian themes and legends, drone vocal styles, and Baltic psaltery.
Traditional Latvian folklore, especially the dance of the folk songs, date back well over a thousand years. More than 1.2 million texts and 30,000 melodies of folk songs have been identified. [1]
Dainas are very short, which usually consist only one or two stanzas, are unrhymed, and are in a four-footed trochaic metre. Lyrically, dainas concern themselves with native mythology, but in contrast to most similar forms, do not have any legendary heroes. Stories often revolve around pre-Christian deities like the sun goddess Saule, the moon god Mēness and, most notably, the life of people, especially its three most important events – birth, wedding, and death (including burial). The first collection of dainas was published between 1894 and 1915 as Latvju Dainas by Krišjānis Barons.
Latvju tautas mūzikas materiāli, translated in English as the Materials of Latvian Folk Music, is the anthology and commentary of Latvian folk. It analysed 5999 items of Latvian ethnography published in 6 editions from 1894 to 1926 by the Latvian musicologist and composer Andrejs Jurjāns (1856–1922). [2]
Latvju tautas mūzikas materiāliSestā grāmata (the sixth book) was published posthumously in Riga, 1926. On page 1 latvju komponistu biedrības izdevums is inscribed, translated as the Latvian Society of Composers edition. [3]
Accompaniment to the village songs is played on various traditional instruments, the most significant of which is the kokles, a type of box zither related to the Lithuanian kanklės and other Baltic psalteries. In the 1970s, artists like Jānis Poriķis and Valdis Muktupāvels led a revival in kokles music, which had only survived in the Courland and Lettgallia regions. The Latvian-exile community abroad, especially in the United States, has also kept kokles traditions alive. In the last hundred years, a new kind of kokles was developed, with many more strings, halftones levelers and other improvements that expand the capacities of the instrument to play not only modal music but, in another point of view, displeased more traditional musicians. This modernized version of the instrument is called "concert kokles". However, currently Imants Robežnieks is the only remaining master concert kokles maker, [4] although recently he has taken in two apprentices. [5]
Choir traditions are very strong in Latvia. Alongside many professional choirs, there are tens of thousands of Latvians who are part of different amateur choirs. Once every five years the Latvian National Song and Dance Festival takes place with around 20,000 singers taking part in it.
The 2014 World Choir Games took place in Riga. [6]
This year (2019) Latvia hosts the inaugural Riga Jurmala Music Festival, a new festival in which world-famous orchestras and conductors perform across four weekends during the summer. The festival takes place at the Latvian National Opera, the Great Guild, and the Great and Small Halls of the Dzintari Concert Hall. This year features the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra. [7]
Internationally famous Latvian musicians include conductors Arvīds Jansons and his son Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, violinist Gidon Kremer, cellist Mischa Maisky, and soprano Kristīne Opolais.
During the Soviet era, rock music became extremely popular, because it, as well as folk songs, offered a chance to rebel against the local authorities. Imants Kalniņš was the most important composer of the time, and his songs were extremely popular. He also wrote music for the movie "Four White Shirts", which spoke about the need for freedom and was therefore banned. One of the most important social gatherings of the time was the annual Imantdiena ('The Day of Imants (Kalniņš)'), forbidden on grounds of interfering with hay-gathering. The tradition continued informally at the composer's house.
The songs of Imants Kalniņš were best known as performed by the group Menuets which only played songs by this composer. Most of the members of the group moved on to form another group, Pērkons ('Thunder') later. Pērkons was a symbol of rebellion. They played fascinating rock and roll bordering on hard rock music, composed by the band's frontman Juris Kulakovs , using poems mostly written by Māris Melgalvs . Many of those were strongly disapproved by the Soviet authorities, as they implied the ridiculousness of the system. The most famous concert by Pērkons resulted in the destruction of a train compartment by the young people who had attended the concert. This, as well as other events, is portrayed in the movie "Is It Easy to Be Young?" by Juris Podnieks. Acts such as Pērkons certainly played an important role in the lives of the youth of the time and were a serious challenge to the Soviet system.
Nowadays, the pop music sphere is dominated by pop music (e.g., Prāta vētra [8] ) and alternative rock.
| Composers of contemporary music [9] | Rock or (and) Pop | Other |
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Skyforger is a heavy metal band from Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of doom metal band Grindmaster Dead.
Imants Kalniņš is a Latvian composer, musician and politician. Having studied classical and choral music, he has written seven symphonies, several operas, oratorios, cantatas, choir songs, a lot of movie and theater music. However, he is generally best known for his rock songs. In 2021, Kalniņš received the Grand Music Award for lifetime achievement.
A daina or tautas dziesma is a traditional form of music or poetry from Latvia. Lithuanian dainos share common traits with them, but have been more influenced by European folk song traditions. Latvian dainas often feature drone vocal styles and pre-Christian themes and legends, and can be accompanied by musical instruments such as Baltic psalteries . Dainas tend to be very short and are usually in a trochaic or a dactylic metre. Dainas are being translated into English by Latvian American Ieva Auziņa-Szentivanyi.
The kanklės is a Lithuanian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery, along with the Latvian kokles, Estonian kannel, Finnish kantele, and Russian gusli.
Pēteris Vasks is a Latvian composer.
Kokle or historically kokles (kūkles) is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish kantele, and Russian krylovidnye gusli. The first possible kokles related archaeological findings in the territory of modern Latvia are from the 13th century, while the first reliable written information about kokles playing comes from the beginning of the 17th century. The first known kokles tune was notated in 1891, but the first kokles recordings into gramophone records and movies were made in the 1930s. Both kokles and kokles playing are included in the Latvian Culture Canon.
Inese Galante is a Latvian soprano opera singer. Galante is known for a great beauty of tone, nuanced pianissimos and sensitive command of dynamics and colour. Her performance of Vladimir Vavilov's Ave Maria, from her "Debut" album (1995) attracted worldwide interest in the piece.
The culture of Latvia combines traditional Latvian and Livonian heritage with influences of the country's varied historical heritage. Latvia is divided into several cultural and historical regions: Vidzeme, Latgale, Courland, Zemgale and Sēlija.
Anna Krauja Čena is a lyric soprano from Latvia. Born in Riga, Anna Krauja was elected International Mini Miss in a competition at the Latvian National Theatre in 1993 and was the first Latvian child to win this award. At her appearance she sang a song by Latvian composer Imants Kalniņš and received also the audience award. This success encouraged her already in childhood to become a singer.
Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, formerly the Riga Conservatory, is a higher education establishment of music at 1 Barona Street, Riga, Latvia. The junior institute is the Emīls Dārziņš Music School.
Pauls Butkēvičs is a Latvian film and theater actor, best known for starring in I Remember Everything, Richard and Elpojiet dziļi!. He also starred in Ilgais ceļš kāpās, Rallijs (1978), Nepabeigtās vakariņas (1979), Mirāža (1981) and Aija (1987).
Lūcija Garūta was a Latvian pianist, poet and composer. She is mostly known for composing the cantata Dievs, Tava zeme deg! in 1943.
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Alfrēds Bruno Jānis Kalniņš was a Latvian composer, organist, pedagogue, music critic and conductor; the founder of national Latvian opera. Kalniņš is primarily remembered for his national opera Baņuta (1920).
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Valdis Muktupāvels is a Latvian ethnomusicologist, composer, musician, teacher and doctor of art criticism.
The Youth Choir BALSIS is a mixed youth choir in Riga, Latvia. The choir consists of some 50 young persons from Riga and other cities of Latvia who are permanent singers with the choir. The choir performs about 70 concerts every year in Latvian concert halls, churches and open-air venues.
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