Song Festival (Latvia)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Latvian Song Festival ( Latvian Vispārējie latviešu Dziesmu un Deju svētki - General Latvian Song and Dance Festival ; alternatively: General Latvian Song and Dance Festival or General Latvian Song and Dance Festival ) is a major cultural event that usually takes place every five years in Latvia and part of the Latvian identity. It fits in with the tradition of song festivals in the Baltic countries of Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania . At these mass singing events, the stories and myths, but also the national consciousness, are expressed in songs.

The 25th song festival with around 40,000 participants was held from June 30th to July 7th, 2013.

Emergence

For centuries, the peoples of the Baltic States were politically and culturally dominated by foreign powers. In the course of the awakening of national consciousness in the 19th century, there was a return to one's own culture and language; the traditional legends, fairy tales and songs played an important role. In 1869, the first Estonian song festival in the Baltic States took place in Dorpat ( Estonian Tartu ) .

history

At the 2008 song festival

From July 8th to 11th (Julian: June 26th to 29th) 1873 the great national song festival was held in Latvia for the first time. 45 choirs took part. The chief conductors were Jānis Bētiņš and Indriķis Zīle.

The Latvian song festivals took place in the Russian Empire (until 1917) as well as in independent Latvia (1918–1940 and since 1991) and during the Soviet occupation period (1945–1991); There were only interruptions during the two world wars. Up until 2008, 24 general Latvian song festivals were held. Dance groups have also participated in the event since 1948.

To the XXIII. Song Festival 2003 319 choirs , 538 dance and folklore groups , 57 brass bands, several groups of Kokles players , three symphony orchestras and one chamber orchestra came together from all over Latvia and abroad ; The XXIV Song Festival 2008 had similar dimensions. The last general Latvian Song Festival took place from June 29 to July 9, 2018.

In addition to the general song festival, Latgallian song festivals also took place. In addition, a dance and song festival for young people (Latvijas Skolu jaunatnes dziesmu un deju svētki) has been held since 1960.

course

Final parade of the song festival 2013

The repertoire is prepared and checked years before the main event. The choirs have to qualify for the song festival through many competitions; The main goal is to take part in the closing event on the open-air stage in the Mežaparks district of Riga with around 30,000 choristers.

The focus of the events is on the choirs and dance groups, but bands for brass music, folklore groups, folk musicians, visual artists, amateur theater, etc. also take part. Usually there is a parade with all participants on the last day of the song festival in the morning.

National anthem of the Republic of Latvia

Dievs, svētī Latviju (German:God, bless Latvia) waswritten and composedbyKārlis Baumanisas the hymn of theLatviansaround 1870. The song was first sung during the first song festival in June 1873 in Riga. The term "Latvija" (Latvia) used by Baumanis and borrowed from Lithuanian came up in the middle of the 19th century and was used to denote all areas inhabited by Latvians. On the part of the Russian rulers, the word "Latvija" was interpreted and banned as a demand for national independence; it had to be replaced by the more general term "Baltija" (Baltic States). On November 18, 1918 (Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia)Dievs, svētī Latviju was declaredthe Latvian national anthem.

heritage Site

Web links

Commons : Song Festival (Latvia)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Latvian Song Festival Act: Dziesmu un Deju svētku likums
  2. ↑ http://www.delfi.lv/kultura/news/culturenvironment/oficiali-atklati-dziesmu-un-deju-svetki.d?id=43446009
  3. ↑ Where did the Latvians get their name from? . In: "Das Inland" from November 3, 1837, p. 3.
  4. ↑ The Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations at unesco.org (English)