Latvia is a country
in northern Europe on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, neighbouring with
Estonia, Lithuania, Russia and Belorus. It is generally flat and forested, with
uplands in the north-east and in the east, where numerous lakes are placed. The
original inhabitants were Balt tribes - Indo-European speaking Curonians,
Semigallians, Latgalians and Selonians, and, besides, Finno-Ugric Livs, of whom
only a small group has survived on the north-western shore and in some towns.
Nowadays in the Latvia's territory of 65 791 square-kilometres there is a
population of more than 2.5 million, of whom almost a million live in its
capital Riga.
Ethnogrphically
Latvia is subdivided in four regions: Kurzeme (Courland) - western part,
Zemgale (Semigallia) central and southern part, Vidzeme (Liefland) - central
and northern part, and Latgale - eastern part. After German crusaders' conquest
in the 13th century, for the next 300 years Latvia and Estonia were ruled -
under the name of Livonia - by the Livonian Order and the Catholic Church.
Livonia was dissolved in 1561, and three parts of what is now Latvia,
experienced diverse development: Kurzeme and Zemgale - as the Duchy of
Courland, Vidzeme - as a part of Latvian-Estonian province Liefland, ruled by
the Swedes, and Latgale - as a part of Polish-Lithuanian State. After Russian
conquest in the 18th century they became three separate provinces within the
Russian empire. Latvia achieved its independance in 1918, was incorporated in
the USSR in 1940, and regained its independance in 1991.
Due to natural and
historical conditions Latvian traditional culture has been quite conservative.
Thus even after Reformation Christian faith failed to reach all social strata,
and some forms of paganism were still practiced in the beginning of the 20th
century. Latvian language has changed very little within millenia, and together
with Lithuanian language are regarded as still surviving dialects of primitive
Indo-European. Before World War II majority of Latvians (64%) were Lutherans,
whereas Latgale and a small conclave in western Kurzeme - suiti region (4
villages - Alsunga, Gudenieki, Basi, Jūrkalne) - were Catholic (26%). Half
a century later those two main confessions almost equalled by number. The sense
of religious identity tends to strengthen in 1990s.
Musical practices
in the Lutheran and Catholic part are much the same, yet major differences in
musical style and repertoire exist between Vidzeme and Kurzeme on one side and
Latgale on the other. On the whole, traditional singing is preserved much
better in Latgale, especially in its eastern part, in suiti region and south
western part of Kurzeme. Recent lyrical and other popular styles are common in
most of Vidzeme and Kurzeme, particularly in central, northern part and along
the Riga Gulf.
Singing in Latvian
rural vicinity is mostly women's domain, though men know repertoire and style
in no less degree than women. Communal singing is characteristic for calendar
and family celebrations, and for joint field works, when many members of the
community participate.The situations of solo singing, except lullabies, are not
so strictly defined by tradition.
There is no general
term in Old Latvian for "music", most of the "musical"
activities have their own names. Two terms - dziedāt and gavilēt -
cover all expressions of vocal music. Dziedāt "to sing" stands
for most musical forms with text, melody and average, not too energetic,
expression. Gavilēt "to cheer, to exult, to shout, to howl"
refers to vocal forms, usually sung solo, outside, in a loud voice and with
characteristic cheering/howling formulas in the middle or end of phrases.
Gavilēšana (substantive form from gavilēt) was practised mostly
by shepherds, ploughmen and fishermen, it could as well substitute
"singing" in an actual or emotional culmination of, let's say,
calendar festivity celebrations.
It is not usual in
folk tradition to identify songs by title, however, the first text line serves
occasionally for this purpose. In some cases the kind of singing is nominated
after the specific refrain or after the event, when the respective tune or
melodic formula balss is applied; thus, the term godu balss "tune of
life-cycle (usually - wedding) rituals and communal feasts" is known in
many parts of Latvia. A good set of such terms is used in Latgale: there is
pavasara balss "spring tune", talku balss "tune of joint field
works", rudzu balss "rye-field tune", ogu balss
"forest-berry tune", kāzu balss "wedding tune", etc.
The basic form of
the Latvian folksong text is daina - a term used to denote a short
self-contained quatrain of two non-rhyming couplets; when sung, the couplet or
each line of text is usually repeated. There is a striking metric uniformity of
texts of dainas - about 95% are octosyllabic trochaic, and the rest - dactylic.
This unbelievable uniformity is set against a great variety of metres in
melodies, from simple or compound duple metres to complex asymmetrical and
mixed metres (5/8, 5/4, 7/8, 6/4=2/4+4/4, 7/4 and others). Such metres are
common, as are changes of metre within a melody (e. g. in midsummer solstice
celebration songs, the texts are sung in 2/4, while the līgo refrains are
often in 3/4). <CAP>1.
During the process
of singing a quatrain is followed rather freely by other quatrains. The choice
of the following dainas is up to the singer; it depends on his/her ability,
skill, knowledge, and is determined by the situation, local habits, textual
associations, etc. Though each quatrain is short, the singing can go on for
hours.
A limited body of
Latvian folksong texts is the so-called "long songs"; they have at
least 8 lines of text and are not composed of separate quatrains.
Dainas are mostly
lyrical in tone, and they only rarely tell stories, but rather comment on
performed rituals, express feelings, or condense folk wisdom into pithy
epigrams. Remarkable is the parallelism between a full cycle of human life and
the calendar cycle of a year with its big festivities linked to the major
stations of the sun - the summer and winter solstices and the spring and fall
equinoxes.
2.2.1. Recited
songs
Two terms are used
in scholarly writings, in regards to melodic style of Latvian folk songs:
teicamās dziesmas "recited, declamatory songs" and
dziedamās dziesmas "sung songs". The recited songs are a part of
traditional events and celebrations; the recited style occurs in family
celebration songs, especially at wedding, in lullabies, in a good portion of
calendar festivity songs and in tunes associated with field works and cattle
breeding. This style is characterized by the domination of text over melody,
and actually the melodic formula, which is in the base of a recited song, is
varied according to prosody of the text. The "spoken" character of
the recited songs is reinforced by narrow tonal range, usually not exceeding a
fifth, by the lack of melodic ornamentations and by syllabic structure of the
chant, that is, each syllable corresponds to one tone. When celebrations and
other gatherings of people take place, the recited songs are performed by many,
usually by a group of participants of the celebration in a certain way. It can
be a kind of responsorial singing, performance of which may differ from place
to place.
The
"spoken" character of the recited songs is not so evident in Latgale,
especially in its eastern regions. A peculiar style of traditional calendar and
other tunes exists in south-eastern Latgale: sung in a narrow tonal range,
melodies are rhythmically rather free and highly ornamented. Therefore they are
sung by a few skillful singers or even by soloist.
2.2.1.1. Vocal
drone and its varieties
In certain areas
vocal drone is practiced as a part of the recited style singing, and above all,
in the suiti region in Kurzeme. The singers are some elderly women. Among them
there is at least one recognized soloist - teicēja "the one, who
says, recites", who starts the singing: a period, usually a half of the
four-line stanza, is sung. This period is repeated by one or several
countersingers locītājas "those, who twist, inflect,
variate", while a vocal drone part is performed by vilcējas
"those, who drawl, pull (a tone)". Soloist and countersinger sometimes,
but not necessarily, overlap as they sing together the last few syllables of
each other's phrases, and besides, countersinger repeats the period in a manner
ar uzviju "with surplus", which means, that the last four or more
syllables are repeated again. The drone is sung on a vowel "e" (as in
there), in unison with the last tones of the soloist, and in the end is raised
one tone up to make a unison with the countersinger. The vowel quality of the
raised drone is also changed from "e" to "o" (as in more).
<CAP>2.
Other varieties of
vocal drone are known throughout Latvia. Thus, even or monotonal drone is
characteristic for southern Kurzeme, eastern Zemgale, central and northern
Latgale. In few recordings from southern Zemgale the drone starts higher and
then is lowered one tone down. In southern part of Vidzeme and Latgale syllabic
drone is used, that is, the same text is sung both in the melodic and in the
drone part. There are few cases of even/monotonal and syllabic drone both being
sung simultaneously in Kurzeme and eastern Zemgale, etc.
Having been
mentioned in some 17th-19th century sources, vocal drone singing can still be
heard in western Kurzeme and in northern and central Latgale.
2.2.2. Sung
songs
On the contrary,
the sung songs are not so closely connected with traditional festivities or, if
they are as, for instance, wedding songs, their functionality is not so
evident. The sung songs are performed mostly solo, but other singers can join
as well, thus resulting in a unison, two- or multi-part singing. Two- or
three-part singing, resembling that of western Lithuanian homophony, is
characteristic for south-western Kurzeme. Singing in thirds with the melody in
the upper voice can be heard all over Latgale, and this style is certainly
influenced by liturgical singing. Besides, there may occur more or less
frequently added thirds up from the melody, thus resulting in triadic
sequences.
Melody of the sung
songs, with its range often exceeding an octave, is basically as important as
text, and lyrical character of those songs can be reinforced by some musical
refinements: ornamentation, short vocalizations, refrains. Most of the sung
songs' texts are the "long songs", though some quatrain sequences
might be used as well.
Vocal genres
dominated in Latvian rural life over the instrumental music making. Singing
accompanied different episodes of everyday life, field works, labour. It was
indispensable part of all ritual and religious events. Singing and dancing
were, in fact, forms of socializing and entertainment; besides they offered
creative and aesthetic challenges.
In the past two
ritual cycles were crucial for the community's survival - seasonal rituals and
rituals marking the progression of family members through major stages of life.
Many themes and symbols of these cycles overlapped, in that participants
intended each to assure wealth, fertility, and continuity.
2.3.1. Seasonal
rituals and their music
As the result of
the changing social and economical situation in the second half of the 19th
century, traditional contexts of singing disappeared from more developed and
urbanized areas. Nevertheless in most rural districts traditional calendar was
still observed, and it would seem that singing was intended to assure efficacy
of seasonal rituals.
After winter the
first occasion for singing was in Easter. Young girls greeted spring and the
"jumping Sun" with singing in the morning. On the second day of
Easter young people walked around from house to house, collecting eggs and
expressing their good wish in songs. A certain singing situation emerged at
swings, which were erected for the occasion and where gathered mostly young
people.
A specific singing
which started after Easter and could continue until Whitsun, was
rotāšana. It was practised on still, not cold evenings by young
girls. They gathered on a hill side, from where their singing could be heard
afar. The respective songs usually had a refrain rotā, which was sung
after each line of the text. Rotāšana with the vocal drone was
characteristic for Sēlija - left-bank lands of the Daugava river in
southern Latvia. Spring songs with vocal drone, but without refrain rotā
were sung in western Kurzeme. Spring singing traditions were different in
Catholic Latgale - every evening in May until Whitsun women and girls gathered
by a road-side crucifix, where they sang psalms and religious folk-songs.
There are no
specific songs of St. George's day (April 23), unless as such would be regarded
shepherds' singing by the bonfire in the night pasture, where horses were let
for the first time. Shepherds of cows and sheep developed their specific genre
gavilēšana. They also knew and made use of different herding calls.
Some notated tunes of gavilēšana are found in folklore collections,
but this art seems to be lost in live tradition by the beginning of the 20th
century.
One of the most
developed vocal genres - līgotnes - is connected with Jāņi -
midsummer solstice celebration on June 23. Jānis is the central
mythological figure of this orgiastic feast of midsummer night, the celebration
of which has the features of solar, phallic and fertility rites alltogether.
Singing of līgotnes can start a fortnight before and can continue a week
after the midsummer, but the culmination is reached on the evening and the
subsequent night of the celebration. A specific feature is the refrain
līgo, which is sung once or twice after each line of the text.
Līgotnes are sung in a manner, when a chosen soloist sācēja or
ievilcēja starts with the first line of the text, while others join with
the refrain līgo and then sing the quatrain all together. Melodies of
those songs vary from place to place, while several different melodies might be
used in one place during the celebration. Different forms of the refrain like
līgā, līgo Jānīti, leigō, leigū etc. are
known throughout Latvia. Midsummer songs with the refrain rūtō are
specific for eastern Latgale. <CAP>3.
A rite of
"catching of Jumis (a fertility god, living in fields)" was performed
during apjumības "a festive conclusion of talka "joint autumn
field works"", thus ensuring the maintenance of the fertility of
fields for the next year. Jumja balss "tune of Jumis" or talku balss
"tune of joint field works" was sung during the rite and on the way
home, where the feast started.
Some autumn
activities were connected with singing. Thus grinding, which used to be a hard
women's job, was accompanied by grinding songs with their characteristic
mythological motifs, narrow tonal range and some fermated (long) tones in the
end of phrases. Another situation, where singing was indispensable, was
vakarēšana "joint needle-works and handicraft in autumn and
winter evenings".
The masked
processions started on St. Martin's day in Lutheran part and on Christmas in
Catholic part. Christmas carolers in a noisy crowd walked from house to house,
asking gifts, making jokes, and often pulling a log with them, which they burnt
afterwards. During those processions Christmas songs were sung, melodically
similar to līgotnesof narrow tonal range, but with specific refrain after
each text line. Thus, kaladō, kalandō, kaladū, kolandō were
characteristic for Latgale, eastern Vidzeme and Sēlija. Other refrains
like olilō, kūčo, toldarā, judabrū, tōtari had
rather local distribution. Budeļi "masked revellers in Kurzeme and
western Zemgale" used quite primitive responsorial singing: a monotonously
recited couplet was repeated one forth lower. A name for the masked revellers,
common to all parts of Latvia, was čigāni "Gypsies", and
čigānu dziesmas "Gypsy songs" were quite popular. Those
songs have longer refrains like ai džindžallā, ai
džindžallā, čāri māri rallallā, which are
sung once or even twice after each couplet and are meant to sound like
"Gypsish".
2.3.2. Life
cycle events and their music
All major
life-cycle events were primarily observed with a church service, but their
informal part is so elaborated, that its significance seems to overwhelm
Christian contents. It concerns mostly wedding, while christening and funeral
to less degree.
After christening
in the church some singing started at home during the feast, which in
south-western Kurzeme was followed by dīdīšana "ritual
swinging and rocking of baby by all participants of the celebration,
accompanied by special songs". That was also a way, how to express wishes
for the baby's future.
Rural wedding
started in the bride's house, where used to be some farewell party.
Girl-friends of the bride used to sing, and in Latgale and eastern Vidzeme
those songs resembled much of the funeral songs.
After marriage
ceremony there should be much noise and joy, therefore singing, playing,
dancing etc. was essential part of the celebration. The central musical event
at the wedding, as well as at the feast, which was given after joint field
works, was apdziedāšanās - antiphonal, humorous, competitive singing,
involving two opposite parts of singers (boys and girls, relatives of bride and
of bridegroom, house-people and guests); each group sang in turn, teasing or
making fun of the other, with texts largely improvised. A melodic formula godu
balss "family celebration tune" or kāzu balss "wedding
tune", characteristic for certain location, was used in this case. In
recent decades, when the traditional terminology is partly lost, people still
refer to this special tune as to "melody, with which one sings all songs
(that is, song texts)". In most cases this is the recited style tune,
usually a ten-bar period; in suiti region it is sung with the vocal drone.
Semi-professional
women singers were invited to the wedding party in Latgale. Apart from singing
at the entrance into the house, at the table, they performed
apdziedāšana - witty, humorous, sometimes sexual songs (quatrains)
were sung to the new couple and in turn to every guest.
Another important
event was about midnight, when the bride's crown was taken off and woman's
head-dress was put on instead. At this point all participants embraced the new
couple in circle and sang mičošanas dziesmas "songs of replacing
bride's crown with a woman's head-dress".
The singing in
funeral has the strongest relation to Christian ceremonial, as mostly psalms
and parts of liturgy were sung in the house, on the way to the cemetary, and by
the grave. Funeral was anticipated by vāķēšana
"praying and singing by the corpse the night before funeral", which
was still observed throughout the country in the end of the 19th century, but
nowadays - only in Latgale.
2.3.3. Dance and
games songs, lyrical songs
In addition to
ritual contexts, both men and women sing at the table during feasts, in pubs,
as well as in other social occasions. Courting and wedding motifs are the most
common, nevertheless certain mythological, orphan, recruiting, soldiers',
humorous, sailors' or drinking songs are important as well. A peculiar feature
of those songs is the lack of reality, concerning time, place and persons, even
if the story is told from/in the first person.
When youth gathered
on certain occasions, a popular pastime was iet rotaļās "to play
games, usually circle dances with singing". This singing focused on
courting and wedding, and quite usually it was expressed through the symbolism
animals or plants.
Some communities in
western Kurzeme practiced a special kind of games - vāķu rotaļas
"games performed by the corpse the night before funeral" as long as
until the beginning of the 20th century. Characteristic features of such games
are recited-style melodies, often comprising two or three pitches, and the
action, when a specially chosen person is replaced by another one in the course
of the game.
Most traditional
musical instruments are common throughout the Baltics and the neighbouring
regions of Northern and Eastern Europe, though there may be local or regional
peculiarities regarding the way and purpose of use, symbolism, history, etc.
Dance music is the main field of instrumental playing, besides, musical
instruments were significant in certain economical and ritual activities.
Herding was the
most familiar situation, when svilpes "bark or clay whistles",
stabules "wooden flutes with 6-7 fingerholes or reeds", ragi
"horns, as well as hornpipes", taures "wooden and birch-bark
trompets with mouthpiece or with a single reed" were made and played. The
purpose of it was not merely pastime, players say they have used their trompets
to collect the herd in the morning and to signal about the returning in the
evening. Hornpipes were used to calm the herd or to direct its movement.
The style of the
known flute or pipe tunes is purely instrumental - it is not an instrumental
version of vocal or dance music. In some cases short tetrahordic or pentatonic
motifs are repeated with variations. Bark whistles, about 50-70 cm long and
without fingerholes, were used as overtone instrument; playing techniques
involved overblowing combined with the stopping and opening of the end hole
with a finger.
Horns, with metal
mouthpiece and bronze or silver fittings, as well as trumpets were used for
signalling, particularly to announce about the forthcoming wedding and to
signal in important moments of the wedding ritual. Goat-horns, usually with
three finger-holes, were played during mēslu talka "joint field works
of spreading/scattering manure on the fields" or within matchmaking
ceremonies; thanks to the role as a messenger about the initiation of sexual
relations, goat-horn has obtained a kind of phallic symbolism in folklore
texts. There are a few melodies of two goat-horns playing antiphonically, but
usually the music is solo variations within a range of a tetrachord.
A curious situation
of several goat-horns playing together with bagpipes is documented in 1892:
musicians from suiti region played, as the Russian emperor Alexander II visited
Liepāja - seven with bagpipes and eight with goat-horns.
Making and playing
of instruments, except that of the shepherds' instruments, was basically men's
business. However, there is a group of rattle-sticks, which are used mostly by
women: trīdeksnis "a wooden stick with hanging bells and
jingles", eglīte "a fir-tree top decorated with coloured
feathers and with hanging bells and jingles", puškaitis "a
wooden stick heavily decorated with coloured feathers, strips of cloth, and
with bells". They were used to accompany singing of godu balss in wedding
or winter solstice rituals: the rhythm was marked by hitting table surface with
the stick.
The most
characteristic and significant instrument in Latvian traditional music is
kokles - a board zither with 5-12 strings. It is related to similar instruments
in the lands east and north of Baltic sea: Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian
kannel, north-western Russian gusli, Karelian kandeleh and Finnish kantele.
Traditional instruments were carved from a single wooden plank, to which an
ornamented sound board was added. Strings were made of steel, bronze or,
possibly, of natural fibers, and tuned with the help of wooden pegs. An
instrumental drone was characteristic in the case of 5-9 string instruments:
the longest string was tuned one fourth below tonic and was often plucked or
touched during play; therefore it was named dziedātāja "the
singer". The tuning was a diatonic scale, thus, for 7-string kokles it
would be a1, g1, f1, e1, d1, c1, g. When played, the instrument is placed on a
table or on the player's knees. A special damping technique is used: some
strings are damped with the fingers of the left hand; when the strings are
plucked with the right hand, only undamped strings produce tone, while some
slight-beat notes are picked up with the left hand fingers.
Though kokles'
repertoire is mostly dance tunes and in a few cases song melodies, the
instrument was never used for dance accompaniment and only seldom - for song
accompaniment.
The Apollonic,
heavenly aura and the fine, deeply touching tone quality have made kokles a
symbol of national music for Latvians. The kokles' playing traditions
diminished by the beginning of the 20th century, and 5-12 string instruments
were in use only in some places in Kurzeme, particularly in suiti region, and
in Latgale. Simultaneously, new hibrid forms, influenced by a variety of
zithers, developed, usually with 17-50 or even more strings. <CAP>4.
Historical sources
bear witness to the special role of bagpipes in peasants' life in the 16th-19th
century: it was often the only instrument played at wedding, and was used in
other ceremonies and dancing. Folklore texts mention bagpipes with drums in
wedding; this might be the result caused by a specific Livonian law, stating
that "non-Germans" - Latvians, Livs and Estonians could have only
(bag)pipes and drums as their wedding instruments. Latvian bagpipes have a
chanter with 4-7 finger-holes and one or two drones, all with a single reed.
The bag is made of a sheep or dog skin or seal stomach, and bellows could be
attached. One can distinguish between two kinds of bagpipe tunes: uzsaukums
"call" or "air" - slow tempo variations, and dancis
"dance".
The oldest evidence
of an ensemble with bagpipes is the engraving in Münster's
"Cosmographey", published in 1598 (the engraving is made possibly in
1549): it shows devils and witches dancing and three musicians playing - a kind
of lute, hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes. <CAP>5.
The spread of
violin in Livonian lands started probably in the second half of the 17th
century. Gradually replacing the old instruments, especially bagpipes, and
partly overtaking their repertoire, violin became the most popular folk music
instrument in the 19th century and later. Violin solo playing was the most
characteristic, and not by chance the basic meaning of the Latvian term
spēlmanis "player", but mostly "violin player /
fiddler" points towards the Swedish spelman - traditionally "solo
violinist".
In the second half
of the 19th century and in the 20th century rural violinists used to play in
ensemble with other instruments - zither, accordion, mandolina, guitar, hammer
dulcimer, double bass and percussion. Frequently it was 1-2 violins, zither and
drums or violin, zither and accordion. The domination of accordion increased in
the 2nd half of this century, and it is still the main dance music instrument.
A favourite dance
for four couples was četrpāru dancis. It used to be in four or more
parts, with figurative walking and rondo-type repeating of certain parts. The
third part usually was sudmaliņas "mill", which could be a
separate dance as well. Walking was the most characteristic part of several
other dances, among which diždancis "solemn couple dance, performed
in the beginning of wedding feast", is the most important. Krusta dancis
"dancing and jumping over crossed poles or swords" was a possibility
for solo dancers to demonstrate their skill or to contest with others: the
steps of the first part had to be repeated two times faster in the second part.
Some couple dances became very popular in the 19th and 20th century: polka
"dance with figurative walking in the first and whirling with polka-step
in the second part", kadriļa "dance in 5-6 turns, a kind of
četrpāru dancis", and others.
A claim for the
existance of Latvian music was made by Johann Gottfried Herder in his
"Volkslieder" in 1778-1779. Though at that time Latvian music was, in
fact, mostly peasants' music, various kinds of popular music were developing.
Different popular
music styles, which existed in Livonian towns and estates, were mostly of
German origin. After the dissolution of Livonia, German musical domination
preserved in Kurzeme and Vidzeme, while Latgale experienced Polish influence.
Oral tradition of
Latvian popular music was to a great extent created with a help of printed
sources. The first collections of ziņģes "Latvian popular songs
of the 18th-19th century" were published by Lutheran priest Gothard
Friedrich Stender - "Jaunās ziņģes" ("The new
ziņģes"; 1774) and "Ziņģu lustes" ("The
joy of singing ziņģes"; 1783). Intended to replace Latvian
peasants' traditional repertoire with translations of popular German songs and
thus "to enlighten peasants in a more gentle sentimental mood", "Ziņģu
lustes" remained the most popular secular songs collection until the
middle of the 19th century. This collection significantly influenced the spread
of the new musical style, which was close to that of Flugblattlieder
"flying sheets". Only texts with references to well-known German
melodies of that time - lyrical songs and music of Singspiel - were published,
whereas some advices on how to improvise one's own melody were added in later
publications.
Another important
contributors to Latvian popular music repertoire in the 19th century were Ernests
Dinsberģis with his books, published in 50s and 60s, and Jānis
Kaktiņš and Juris Caunītis with their "100 dziesmas un
ziņģes" ("100 songs and ziņģes"; 1858).
The popularity of
the ziņģes style declined by the end of the 19th century, giving
place to romances, student songs, theatre music etc. in cities and towns,
whereas pub dancing and vocal and instrumental music-making in culture
societies dominated rural musical life.
After the
abolishing of serfdom, social life of Latvians experienced unseen
intensification in the middle of the 19th century. Among a variety of joyous
gatherings, meetings, the greatest significance earned singing societies, that
emerged all over the country. Having practised a kind of Liedertafel
"singing society, literally - song table" singing in the early stage
of their development, those societies searched for choral works, sharing a
spirit of the emerging feeling of unity and Latvianness. Four-part
harmonizations of the Latvian folk songs served this purpose well, so more and
more composers used folklore materials as a source for their arrangements.
Jānis Cimze
was the first whose efforts were recognizable in this field. Yet the style of
his "Dziesmu rota" ("Garland of Songs") was more
reminiscent of Protestant chorals. Andrejs Jurjāns’ activities as a
composer were of great significance, as his choral works finally created and
defined the so-called national style. Later this style of professional music
was developed and perfected by Emilis Melngailis.
Choral singing,
increasing in its scope, developed into a social process, that from time to
time culminated in a broad musical event - Dziesmu svētki "choral
song festival". The first Latvian Song Festival, held in 1873, became
political event of the first importance, symbolising the reawakening and unity
of the new nation. The next festivals, dramatically concentrating national
aspirations and involving thousands of participants, won the status of central
national musical event.
Development of
musical culture after World War II was heavily influenced by the Soviet
totalitarism and ideology of communism, which supposed disappearance of
national essence. Yet a formal development of national musical culture was
planned as the "improvement" of "folk music" (mixture of
traditional and popular music, viewed through the prism of art music) to reach
amateur (artistic activity of masses) or professional level. Choral singing fit
well in this scheme as amateur art, as it involved broad masses, and, besides,
its "folkishness" could be ensured by including arrangements of
traditional music in repertoire. The Song Festival, being one of the most
important symbols of the definition of national culture, was reinterpreted in
the terms of the Soviet ideology and successfully included into the
regime’s supported musical life. Having been of a mass character since
the beginning and with some totalitarian taste during all the time of its
existence, the Song Festival developed into a huge manifestation within the
Soviets, just to think about a people of 2.5 million and a good 30 till 100
thousand participants of the Festival, that constitutes up to 4% of the
population. Yet certain charm was added by sincere greeting and summoning of
conductors, and, besides, an informal collective identity and nationalism was
cultivated.
In the period
between both world wars musical life in cities and countryside experienced a
full-bodied life in its professional and popular forms. Traditional music had
lost its significance in most of the country, and continued to exist in remote
districts, especially in Latgale and western Kurzeme. Thus the need for the
national identification of music intensified, and apart from choral activities,
a variety of other phenomena developed on the basis of traditional culture in
pre-war time, and in the following Soviet and renewed independance periods.
4.3.1. Folk
music instrument orchestra and kokles ensemble
Though national
style in Latvian art music, both vocal and instrumental, was established, some
attempts to practice "more Latvian" music were undertaken. Dievturi,
adepts of dievturība, which is a religious and cultural movement of the
20th century, having its aim the renovation of the Latvian pre-Christian or
pagan religion and lore, for the needs of the ceremonial and social life used
folklore materials in a special choral arrangement, which they labelled
themselves as "the Latvian style". Avoiding of chromatisms, frequent
use of drones and antiphonal singing, special musical functions of soloists or
groups of soloists are some characteristics of this style. Dievturi tried to
"improve" the old, forgotten instruments, especially kokles, to adapt
them for the needs of harmonic style. Soviet occupation in 1940 and the
following war stopped their activities.
Those efforts of
"modernisation" of instruments were continued in post-war period and
resulted in soprano, alto, tenor and bass modifications of kokles, hornpipes
and box-shaped fiddles. Following Soviet pattern, numerous kokles ensembles,
alongside with folk song and dance ensembles, emerged, and State folk music
instrument orchestra existed from 1947 until 1961. Though it never gained such
public support as in Soviet Slavonic republics, some attempts to revive an
orchestra of this kind were done in mid 80s. On the contrary, kokles ensembles,
just like folk song and dance ensembles, established in numerous Culture
houses, Pioneer houses, music schools and conservatoire. Though their
activities did not transcend the regime's supported cultural sphere, they were
quite well accepted, and even in 90s those ensembles are recognized by broad audience
as an expression of "national music" or "national dance".
4.3.2. Folklore
movement
The earliest
performances with "ethnographic singing" took place during the first
Latvian ethnographic exhibition in 1896. Singers and musicians from Alsunga and
from other Kurzeme regions came to perform to Riga in 20s and 30s. A few
traditional singers' ensembles were organized in Latvia in 50s. Nevertheless
folklore movement as socially significant body of activities, which was aimed
at preservation and dissemination of treasures of Latvian folklore, started
only from the late 70s, that is much later than in other Baltic countries.
In opposition to
the latest strata of folklore, partly degraded by the folk music instrument
orchestras and by the kokles ensembles, folklore movement concentrated on
traditional music, and especially on its archaic forms. Numerous folklore
ensembles emerged in the beginning of 80s, trying to practice local styles in
an authentic manner.
Deliberate attempts
were made to revive the old, forgotten instruments. As a result, 5-12 string
kokles, bagpipes, zithers, pipes, reeds, and other instruments were made by
enthusiasts and by just a few skilled masters, and were played in different
occasions: calendar festivities, folklore festivals and concerts.
The process of
dissemination of folklore became as important as the disseminated materials
themselves. Folklorists arranged dance parties, singing, instrument playing and
dancing workshops, clubs etc. An opinion, that everyone can participate in folkloric
music-making, was cultivated. On the whole, new forms of music-making and new
kinds of social relations emerged in the realm of modern folklorism
The attention of
folklorists was aimed towards music as a part of celebration or ritual,
therefore certain efforts were undertaken to preserve or to renew the ritual
itself, or the traditional function. Folklore groups tried to create or mark
symbolically this traditional context. Some of them, abandoning performance as
a way of reproduction of the traditional function, came to real celebration of
calendar or family festivities.
Thus the
cultivation of the renewed ethnic music traditions in the 80s obtained a
dimension of national resistance movement, as opposition to the Soviet
totalitarism and russification. The most striking expression of this movement
was the folklore festival "Baltica '88", during which the symbolics
of the pre-war Latvia - national flag - was restored. Nevertheless, ethnic
music did not become a symbol of the restored identity of national music, and
in 90s its sphere narrowed more and more. <CAP>6.
5. History of
scholarship
Extensive
systematic collection of Latvian folksongs and instrumental melodies started in
1870s and resulted in the notation of a large number of tunes. The most outstanding
collector was Andrejs Jurjāns. The result of his activities is the six
volumes entitled "Latvju tautas mūzikas materiāli"
("Materials of Latvian Folk Music"), published in 1894-1926, which
contain more than 1,100 items. Provided with descriptions of customs and
traditional contexts together with field observations and comments,
"Materials" remain up to the present one of the most significant
sources of Latvian folk music. Almost simultaneously with "Materials"
the fundamental six-volume collection of Latvian folk song texts "Latvju
dainas" ("Latvian Dainas") was prepared by Krišjānis
Barons and published in 1895-1914.
After the
establishment of the independent Latvian State, an important event was the
foundation of the Latvian Folklore Repository (Latviešu folkloras
krātuve) in 1925. It organized the collection of folklore materials,
basically folksong texts, beliefs, riddles, and similar verbal lore. Folk music
was not counted among these priorities, although 155 wax cylinders and a number
of discs were recorded from 1926.
Another important
collector and publisher of Latvian folk music was Emilis Melngailis. His most
active period of collecting was the 1920s and 1930s, but he continued
collecting until 1941, by which time he had about 4500 tunes at his disposal.
Later, from 1951 to 1953 three large volumes of Melngailis' "Latviešu
mūzikas folkloras materiāli" ("Folklore Materials of
Latvian Music"), containing thousands of items, were published.
After World War II
Latvian Folklore Repository was gradually transformed into the Department of
Folklore of the Institute of Language and Literature within the Academy of
Sciences of Latvian SSR. It instigated systematic folklore collection field
work. Though in 1940s and 1950s a special support was aimed at the collection
of something that did not exist: so-called "Soviet folklore", namely,
the "folk songs" about Stalin and Lenin, communism, revolution, one's
happy life under communism, etc., between May 1945 and 1990 about 14,000 newly
transcribed musical items were archived, the total number of transcriptions
reaching more than 30,000. A large collection of recordings has also been built
up by the Department.
From the early
1950s until 1977 the foremost authority in the field of folk music scholarship
was Jēkabs Vītoliņš. A series "Latviešu tautas
mūzika" ("Latvian Folk Music") was compiled under his
guidance; until present (1997) five volumes have been published and the sixth
is being prepared for publishing. Together, these volumes represent the largest
edition of Latvian folk music.
The number of
institutions dealing with folk music has increased considerably since the end
of the 1980s. The collection of folk music audio recordings at the Music
Department of Latvian Radio was developed by the ethnomusicologist and music
editor Gita Lancere. The archives of folk music recordings of the Latvian
Academy of Music was founded in 1990 and was led until 1993 by
Mārtinš Boiko. The Center for Ethnic Studies of the University of
Latvia, founded in 1992 by Māra Mellēna, Valdis Muktupāvels and
Ernests Spīčs, developed an approach towards traditional culture in
modern education, integrating music, choreography, narrative genres,
ceremonies, ornaments and symbols. An independant Folk Music Center, led by Māris
Jansons, concentrates on collecting and disseminating good quality audio and
video recordings. The Baltic Institute of Folklore has been founded in 1994
with the aim to co-ordinate and promote folklore studies and research in all
three Baltic States - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
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<CAP>1. A
tune of midsummer solstice celebration and joint field-works with
characteristic change of 2/4 and 3/4 metres, from Liepna, Latgale; transcribed
by Valdis Muktupāvels.
<CAP>2.
"Godu balss", tune of funeral rituals from suiti region, sung in
vocal drone style; transcribed by Emilis Melngailis.
<CAP>3.
Singing at Jāņi - midsummer solstice celebration.
<CAP>4.
Jānis Poriķis, the last surviving kokles player.
<CAP>5. The
oldest known picture of Livonian dance music ensemble with bagpipe, lute and
hurdy-gurdy. Engraving from S. Münster's "Cosmographey".
<CAP>6. A
street procession during folklore festival "Baltica '88" with old
national flags publicly displayed for the first time under Soviet rule.