Latvian music

[Latvian]

"Rodney Trotter" was a character in a long-running British TV comedy series called "Only Fools and Horses"-a young, very naive South Londoner-although at this early part of the day(for me!) I cannot quite work out the significance of Alan's allusion

Ahh! Thanks, Colin.

[Latvian]

My contributions to the Ādolfs Skulte project are at an end -- I have no more to offer at this time. I would be delighted if anyone has any additional uploadable gems lurking on their shelves to contribute!

Now, on to other names. Coming in the near future:
Jāzeps Vītols
Alfrēds Kalniņš
the Mediņš brothers
Ādolfs' brother Bruno Skulte

...among many others.

[Dundonnell]

Many thanks for two more Skulte symphonies, Latvian

"Rodney Trotter" was a character in a long-running British TV comedy series called "Only Fools and Horses"-a young, very naive South Londoner-although at this early part of the day(for me!) I cannot quite work out the significance of Alan's allusion

Make that four more Skulte symphonies

[eschiss1]

I'm sure it has cosmic significance, in any case.
(Ooh, Vitols. BTW Does anyone have any of Kenins' symphonies not offered- that is, at least in recordings not offered- on CMC CDs? Apologies, that belongs in the requests forum, true.)

[dschfan]

Thanks Latvian for the Skulte Symphonies. I downloaded no.3 and appears to be missing the 2nd movement. There are skulte-a-sym3-1, 3-3 and 3-4 for movements.

[Latvian]

Thanks Latvian for the Skulte Symphonies. I downloaded no.3 and appears to be missing the 2nd movement. There are skulte-a-sym3-1, 3-3 and 3-4 for movements.

The file skulte-a-sym3-1 contains both the first and second movements, played without a break.

[Latvian]

Does anyone have any of Kenins' symphonies not offered- that is, at least in recordings not offered- on CMC CDs?

I have #8 from a Latvian Radio broadcast -- much better than the distant, dim CMC recording -- as well as some other things. A future upload!

[dschfan]

Thank you for clearing that up on the Skulte.

[Latvian]

I've uploaded three zipped files of Jāzeps Vītols' orchestral works. Some additional information about the music and recordings:

Symphony No. 1 is identified as such only because his Second Symphony was written but never orchestrated, and to the best of my knowledge has never been performed, either in its original state or in any orchestration ever undertaken by others. I assume the manuscript is somewhere in Riga, but since it has never seen the light of day in performance, I can only conclude that it was deemed not worth resurrecting or there are severe problems with the manuscript (or perhaps it's lost). If there were any hope of making it a viable concert piece I'm sure someone would have done it in the past century, given the level of esteem and popular interest in Vitols' music.

The word Līgo is not easily translatable into English. It refers specifically to the festivities surrounding the celebration of St. John's Eve among Latvians (which actually have more to do with the celebration of the Summer Solstice, and ancient traditions, rites, and myths associated with pagan traditions). In general, the word is often used to characterize a festive celebration.

The recording of the Dramatic Overture is from a concert in Symphony Hall in Boston during a Latvian Song Festival held there in 1978. Yes, I was there! The orchestra is called Boston Festival Orchestra, but the musicians (hired through the local union) are actually all members of a famous group that regularly plays in that venue, but must not be named for legal reasons.

Beverīnas dziedonis, Dziesma, and Ziemeļblāzma are three magnificent examples of Vītols' choral-orchestral writing.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series, Latvian Music was a record label that was founded in Sweden in the early 1950s, and issued 50+ LP releases (mostly on 10-inch discs, and the very earliest ones also on 78 RPM, and about twenty 45 RPM discs), until the late 1970s. Their earlier recordings were all original productions, with major emigre Latvian performers of the day, such as Teodors Reiters. Later releases were primarily a mix of pirated Soviet Latvian broadcasts and archival recordings from 1930s independent Latvia, including a number of releases of lighter music.

Fantasy on Latvian Folksongs features the same violinist as the Marco Polo recording, but with a different orchestra and conductor.

The Wedding Music from Vitols' incidental music to Karālis Brusubārdis un Princese Gundega is a tremendous rarity. Issued as one side of a 78 RPM release from a series of Latvian recordings licensed to HMV in the 1930s, it has never been reissued in any subsequent format. What you have here is a dub recorded directly from the original disc, by a friend with excellent audio equipment. Enjoy this little treat!

The remaining works, Dārgakmeņi and Latvian Rural Serenade, are later works by Vītols, with a bit less lush Romanticism but still in his characteristic style.

[Dundonnell]

Your efforts on behalf of Latvian music should win you some kind of award

Does the Latvian Ministry of Culture or its equivalent hand out medals......or money

The only Vitols I know are the five works on the old Marco Polo disc.

[eschiss1]

I haven't heard the Vitols works on the Marco Polo disc, but I have heard his string quartet (@IMSLP).
Of the two recordings of Skulte's symphony no.1 now uploaded, one has 3 movements, one has four, of which the three seem to match up with three movements of the four- I assume that was one of the things being cleared up... will check into it later though, need to dash unfortunately Thanks much!!

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks so much for the Vitols-Fest, Latvian. An award is definitely what you deserve!

[Latvian]

Thanks so much for the Vitols-Fest, Latvian. An award is definitely what you deserve!

You're very welcome, Colin and Mark! No award necessary -- just spreading the "gospel."

[jerfilm]

just spreading the "gospel."

Perhaps we should henceforth refer to him as Father Latvian......

Jerry

[Holger]

Latvian, thanks for the Vītols recordings. As said before you are doing a magnificent job promoting Latvian composers here. Your annotations are very helpful as well.

As for the symphonies, I just consulted the Latvian MIC because I somehow had in mind there was something with the score of No. 1 as well. Indeed, they state "Original score lost; renewed based upon the piano reduction by Ādolfs Skulte, 1943" - quite remarkable because at that time Vītols was still alive. It seems only a piano reduction has survived, while the orchestration of the piece was done by Skulte.

In case of No. 2 (composed in 1901), the Latvian MIC just notes "Lost".