Sun, Thunder, Daugava: Accessible Choral Music from the Latvian Choral Tradition

I have been fortunate enough to visit Latvia twice, once in 2009 and again in 2023. With connections made through the global outreach arm of the Lutheran Church Missouri–Synod, I was able to incorporate myself into Latvian culture in ways that may not have been possible had I been a standard tourist. I am grateful to have been invited into the homes of Latvian friends, to have studied in the Jāzeps Vītols Music Academy Library, and to have celebrated both the Jāņi midsummer festival in the Latvian countryside and my twenty-second birthday on the shores of the mighty Daugava River. Upon observing and participating in these events, one truth becomes abundantly clear: choral music and group singing are inherently woven into the fabric of the Latvian people. Despite a rich history of choral music, repertoire from the Latvian choral tradition has yet to become ubiquitous among high school, college, and community choirs across the United States. While there could be many reasons for this, I believe two main barriers exist: 1) the inherent level of complexity found in Latvian choral music, including large amounts of divisi singing as well as extended choral techniques, and 2) American’s general unfamiliarity with the Latvian language. Having taught choral music at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels, I have sympathy and appreciation for the thousands of decisions that go into choosing repertoire each semester. While we strive to be as inclusive as possible, repertoire that is too difficult is (rightfully) stashed away, and the time to execute deep-dive searches for appropriate foreign repertoire is a luxury often not afforded. The purpose of this study is to make known a handful of accessible pieces from the Latvian choral tradition that can be learned in a reasonable amount of time by the average high school, collegiate, church, or community chorus. By highlighting pieces that fit my personal parameters for the term “accessible” I hope to remove any barriers that may exist which prevent programming more of this often-overlooked segment of choral repertoire.