Latvian Choral Classics

1. Emils Darzins • Long Ago • 3:29 Rainis
2. Emils Darzins • Moonbeams • 3:23 Aspazija
3. Emils Darzins • The Broken Pines • 3:12 Rainis
4. Emilis Melngailis • Nature and the Soul • 3:53 Vilis Plūdons
5. Emilis Melngailis • Latvian Requiem – Move Gently and Quietly • 5:29 Vilis Plūdons
6. Emilis Melngailis • Latvian Requiem – Gently, Slowly • 1:10 Vilis Plūdons
7. Emilis Melngailis • Latvian Requiem – The Sun is Setting • 2:04 Vilis Plūdons
8. Emilis Melngailis • Latvian Requiem – Doomsday • 2:48 Rainis
9. Jānis Zālītis • The Goblet on the Isle of the Dead • 4:46 Jānis Poruks
10. Jēkabs Graubiņš • Night Has Entered the Forest • 3:01 Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš
11. Jazeps Vitols • The Day is Ending • 1:40 Anna Brigadere
12. Jazeps Vitols • The Moon Lied • 1:19 Aspazija
13. Jazeps Vitols • The Enchanted Forest • 3:43 Vilis Plūdons
14. Jazeps Vitols • The Dwarves and the Old Man of the Forest • 4:05 Vilis Plūdons
15. Jazeps Vitols • The King and the Mushroom • 02:32 Fricis Bārda
16. Jazeps Vitols • David Before Saul • 08:05 Fricis Bārda
17. Jazeps Vitols • The Sun’s Revelry • 03:23 Fricis Bārda

The wonderful works chosen for this album – each one with its own story and distinct character – collectively create something similar to a dear childhood home to which we need to return from time to time.

The majority of Latvia’s choir conductors have probably grown up with these songs whose imagery, sound and colour are deeply encoded in our consciousness, perhaps to a much greater extent than we realise.

The subdued northern nature that bursts into a lavish display at the height of summer and the “various emotional states of the soul”, as Emīls Dārziņš described the subjects that interested him in music – these two themes, their refined interrelations and the resultant imagery are to my mind the most important features of our choral music.

It is very important for me to feel how the fantastic world of these songs comes to life again in our consciousness and imagination at a time when life is changing all around us and individual experience has once again added something new and come full circle. It is important to return home to meet one’s self.

Working on this album, I have felt as if I am writing a love letter. On your one hundredth birthday I wish you many returns of the day, dear Latvia!

Kaspars Putniņš