BEGIN WITH THE JOURNEY OF A SONG

Think of a song that you first learned not from sheet music but by listening to another person. Perhaps it was sung by a family member, a teacher, friends at a camp or an entire choir. Consider what changed when you performed the same song in another setting: when sung alone, it may have felt personal; in the classroom, it may have served as a learning tool; and at a large event, it may have become a symbol of togetherness. The song remained recognisable, but its purpose and the scale of its sound changed.

This transformation helps us understand the journey of Latvian song. It did not begin in the concert hall. Its oldest layer is the singing that lived in everyday environments – at home, in the fields, during work, weddings, funerals and seasonal celebrations. Song helped maintain the rhythm of work, accompany a person through the most important stages of life, transmit experience and express values important to the community.

FOLK SONG – LIVING, CHANGING MEMORY

Latvian folk songs are often short and concise. A small amount of text may contain an image of nature, an experience of everyday work, family relationships or an important event in life. Songs were transmitted through oral tradition, which meant that people initially learned them by listening and repeating rather than by reading a written version.

Such transmission does not mean that a song always sounded the same. In one region, a word might be changed; elsewhere, a melodic turn, rhythm or manner of singing could be different. The same text could be sung to several melodies, while a single melody could be adapted to different texts. Variants are not merely inaccurate repetitions of an original. They demonstrate that the tradition was alive and that each community adapted the song to its own environment.

The authorship of folk songs is also understood differently from that of professional compositions. In most cases, we do not know a single person who created the final text and melody. A song was shaped by many singers: one person remembered it, another changed it, and a third passed it on to their children. It therefore belongs not only to an individual creator but also to the community that preserved it. Later, the collection systematised by Krišjānis Barons in the Cabinet of Folksongs – Dainu skapis – demonstrated just how extensive and diverse this textual tradition was. The archive helped preserve the sources, but only a singing person could turn the text back into sound.

The performance situation was also important. A work song required a clear rhythm, a lullaby required calm repetition, while a wedding song became part of a ritual. When people sang together, the song fulfilled not only an artistic but also a social function: it helped coordinate actions, express shared emotions and transmit norms of behaviour. Folk song was therefore not a concert work separated from everyday life but part of life itself.

WHEN A SONG IS WRITTEN DOWN AND ARRANGED

In the nineteenth century, song collectors began to record texts and melodies more systematically. Writing them down helped preserve the material, compare different variants and publish them in collections. A song fixed on paper, however, is not the entire tradition: notation cannot always convey vocal timbre, pronunciation, flexibility of tempo, the context of a custom or the relationships between singers.

The next step is arrangement. A composer may select a folk melody, create harmony, distribute it among several voice parts and determine the form of the work. In this way, the song becomes suitable for a mixed, male, female or children’s choir. An arrangement does not erase the song’s folk origins but adds a new authorial layer. When listening, it is important to distinguish what comes from tradition and what was created by the arranger.

A written and arranged song can travel differently from a version transmitted solely by ear. Printed sheet music can reach choirs in different towns, allowing them to learn the same vocal structure. A score, however, does not guarantee an identical performance: one conductor may choose a slower tempo, another stronger dynamics or different phrasing.

Thus, even a precisely notated work becomes alive again with every performance. This process also changed the way music was performed. A song belonging to oral tradition can be learned from someone close to you, whereas a polyphonic choral version requires sheet music, a conductor, rehearsals and coordinated voices. The folk song’s journey into the choir is therefore also a journey towards organised music education.

FROM THE LOCAL CHOIR TO THE DIKĻI FESTIVAL

During the nineteenth century, the number of schools, societies and choirs increased in the territory of present-day Latvia. Collective singing provided an opportunity to learn music and to use the Latvian language publicly. Choir singers developed intonation, rhythm, musical memory and the ability to listen to others, while teachers and conductors created centres of local musical life.

An important turning point came in 1864 in Dikļi. Juris Neikens, a clergyman, teacher and writer, organised the first gathering of Latvian male choirs. Six choirs and approximately 120 singers and students took part. This was not yet a nationwide Latvian Song Festival, but the event demonstrated that choirs from several areas could meet, prepare repertoire and turn singing into a public community event.

After Dikļi, similar gatherings were organised elsewhere. They developed organisational experience: programmes had to be agreed upon, works learned in advance, and performers and audiences brought together. Local events became a laboratory for the future nationwide festival.

1873 – SINGING BECOMES A PUBLIC EXPRESSION OF THE NATION

The first nationwide Latvian Song Festival was held in Riga in 1873. Around one thousand singers participated. Ensembles from different regions gathered in one urban space and performed a shared repertoire. The festival therefore meant more than a large concert: it allowed the Latvian language and choral music to sound publicly, demonstrated the growing network of organised choirs and strengthened a sense of shared cultural identity.

Public singing was also important because of the political situation of the territory of present-day Latvia within the Russian Empire and the long-standing influence of German culture in cities and institutions. Choirs created a space for Latvian texts, local composers and a shared repertoire. A person arriving at the festival could see that the musical activity of an individual town was part of a larger movement. Such an experience helped build not only a concert-going community but also a civic one.

It is important not to confuse two dates. In 1864, the first gathering of Latvian male choirs took place in Dikļi and became a precursor to the tradition. In 1873, the first nationwide Latvian Song Festival was held in Riga. The change in scale between these two events is clear: local and regional cooperation developed into a nationwide cultural phenomenon.

The Song Festival tradition survived the periods of the Russian Empire, independent Latvia, Soviet occupation and restored independence. Repertoire, institutions and political circumstances changed. Some songs were restricted, while official programmes could be used for ideological purposes. Nevertheless, choirs preserved the skills of collective singing and the memory of repertoire. At times, a familiar song acquired a subtext that did not need to be explained in words.

After the Second World War, Latvian communities living abroad also continued to develop the singing tradition. For diaspora choirs, a shared repertoire helped preserve the language and maintain a connection with Latvia. After the restoration of independence, ensembles active in different countries were able to participate even more clearly in the common network of the festival tradition.

THE SONG FESTIVAL – A FIVE-YEAR CULTURAL PROCESS

The Latvian Song and Dance Celebration is generally held every five years, but it cannot be equated solely with the final concert. Preparation takes place throughout the entire cycle.
Local choirs rehearse regularly, learn works from different periods and participate in assessments, competitions and joint rehearsals. Conductors must coordinate the interpretation of thousands of singers: tempo, pronunciation, dynamics, phrasing and the overall dramaturgy of a work. The festival therefore functions as a nationwide system of informal music education.

Most participating ensembles are amateur groups, but their work is supported by professional conductors, educators, composers and cultural institutions. A singer from a small town learns the same score as a choir in Riga or in a Latvian community abroad. When they meet on the festival stage, they already share a common musical language.

Selection processes and assessments help determine whether an ensemble is prepared for the demanding shared repertoire. During regional rehearsals, choirs learn to respond to the gestures of the chief conductor and coordinate pronunciation and interpretation. At the final concert, a single gesture from the conductor must reach thousands of performers, which makes long-term preparation essential. The audience sees a concert lasting several hours but hears the result of many years of everyday work.

The festival week also includes parades, dance events, competitions, folklore and wind orchestra programmes, exhibitions and other activities. In 2003, UNESCO proclaimed the Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and in 2008 it was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This international recognition emphasises that the value lies not only in the impressive final spectacle but also in the system of participation transmitted from generation to generation.

“PŪT, VĒJIŅI!” – A FOLK MELODY IN THE MASSED CHOIR

“Pūt, vējiņi!” demonstrates how a folk song enters professionally prepared choral repertoire. Composer and folklore researcher Andrejs Jurjāns arranged a song of Daugava boatmen. In 1884, the melody was published for mixed choir with piano accompaniment, and a four-part a cappella version was later created. It became widely known at the Fifth Song Festival in 1910, when the massed choir was conducted by the arranger himself.

The recognisable core of the folk melody remains in the work, while harmony and separate vocal parts expand its sound. A melody sung by thousands of people becomes part of the community’s memory. “Pūt, vējiņi!” was performed at events in Latvia and among the diaspora, and during the years of occupation it was at times perceived as a symbolic substitute for the banned national anthem. Its significance was therefore created not only by the melody itself but also by numerous historical performance situations.

“GAISMAS PILS” – THE MATURITY OF CHORAL CULTURE

In 1899, Jāzeps Vītols composed the choral ballad “Gaismas pils” to a poem by Auseklis. In the narrative, the sunken Castle of Light is destined to rise again, and it therefore became a symbol of lost memory, renewal and hope. The music, written for five voice parts, develops from restrained narration towards a powerful climax. The work became particularly popular at the 1910 Song Festival.

Unlike “Pūt, vējiņi!”, this is not an arrangement of a folk song but an original composition based on a poet’s text. Nevertheless, both works became part of the shared repertoire. The political context further strengthened the significance of “Gaismas pils”.

During the Soviet period, it was not always permitted in festival programmes. In 1985, singers demanded that Haralds Mednis conduct the work. This performance is remembered as a sign of cultural self-determination and the approaching National Awakening.

“SAULE, PĒRKONS, DAUGAVA” – A SONG OF HISTORICAL CHANGE AND UNITY

The third stage in the journey of song is Mārtiņš Brauns’s “Saule, Pērkons, Daugava”. The work was composed in 1988 to words from Rainis’s poem “Daugava”. In it, the sun, thunder and the Daugava function not only as images of nature but also as symbols of history, statehood and the continuity of the nation. The song emerged in the context of Latvia’s National Awakening and the Singing Revolution, and at the 1990 Song Festival it acquired a particular meaning of unity.

It is an original twentieth-century composition rather than an old folk song. For listeners, however, it connects poetry, choral sound and a shared historical experience. Regular performances at Song Festivals transformed it into a contemporary cultural symbol.
This example demonstrates that tradition is not a closed collection of old works: it can incorporate a new song when a community recognises it as meaningful and continues to pass it on.

ONE TRADITION – DIFFERENT LAYERS OF SONG

“Pūt, vējiņi!”, “Gaismas pils” and “Saule, Pērkons, Daugava” reveal three interconnected layers. The first song originates in folklore and enters the massed choir through arrangement. The second represents the maturity of professional choral composition and the symbolism of national awakening. The third demonstrates how a new original composition can become a symbol of historical transformation and contemporary unity.

When comparing these works, it is worth listening not only to the melody. Attention should also be paid to the number of voices, harmony, the author of the text, instrumental accompaniment and the occasion of performance. The same song performed by a small choir and by thousands of singers on a festival stage can create a very different experience. A work becomes a cultural symbol when its musical characteristics become intertwined with people’s memories, history and repeated performances.

The journey of Latvian song therefore has no final destination. It continues in the family, at school, in the local choir, at rehearsals, in archives, at diaspora events and on the Song Festival stage. Each generation inherits the repertoire but also decides what and how it will sing.

Tradition remains alive not because it never changes, but because people continually renew it and give it meaning in their own time.

STUDENT VIDEOS | LISTEN AND FILL IN THE MISSING WORDS

VIDEO 1 | IZABELĖ ŠARAPOVAITĖ: THE ROOTS OF FOLK SINGING

VIDEO 2 | IZABELĖ ŠARAPOVAITĖ: FROM DIKĻI TO RIGA

VIDEO 3 | RUGILĖ PETRULYTĖ: A FIVE-YEAR PROCESS

VIDEO 4 | RUGILĖ PETRULYTĖ: THREE SYMBOLIC SONGS

ADDITIONAL INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1 | CROSSWORD “THE JOURNEY OF LATVIAN SONG”

ACTIVITY 2 | ESSAY “HOW DOES A SONG BECOME THE VOICE OF A NATION?”

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED TODAY?

• The roots of the Latvian singing tradition lie in the everyday life of families and communities.
• In oral tradition, a song can change and develop different variants.
• Writing a song down helps preserve it, while arrangement adapts it for new performing forces.
• The first gathering of Latvian male choirs took place in Dikļi in 1864.
• The first nationwide Latvian Song Festival was held in Riga in 1873.
• The Song Festival is a five-year cultural and educational process.
• “Pūt, vējiņi!” illustrates the journey of a folk song into the massed choir.
• “Gaismas pils” is a symbol of professional Latvian choral culture and national awakening.
• “Saule, Pērkons, Daugava” became a symbol of historical transformation and contemporary unity.
• Tradition remains alive because every generation performs, interprets and passes it on.

END-OF-LESSON REFLECTION

Complete the two sentences:

• Before this lesson, I thought that the Song Festival was…
• Now I understand that a folk song can become a symbol of a nation’s culture when…

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