In Latvia, we have a strong choral music tradition and a very important traditional choir festival. It started in 1873 and it happens every four years. For Latvians it is a special event, because we are a small nation and this festival is one of the only things that unites us. In the video is a 1985 festival final concert. Those were the Soviet occupation times, when the name of Latvia was forbidden and the song ‘’Gaismas pils’’ which is like our second hymn, was forbidden, too, but the choir wanted to sing it because it is the most powerful song for us. Haralds Mednis started conducting and she didn’t had anything to loose, that’s why he started. If someone with good job and good choirs would have started to conduct the song, they would lose their job and singers. In the comments of the video you can find the English translation of the song and other informations.
This is where my love to conducting starts. It’s in my blood. The conductor is controlling the choir very well, there are around 25 000 singers in the ensemble, most of them are not professional musicians. Everyone knows the song by heart, so Mednis didn’t have much work to do with the phrase, legato or dynamics, but he worked with emotions: his arms guided the emotion, the energy, strength and power.
Elīza Ķirse - @spookystringendo
