Three Latvian Folk Songs
baritone and piano
(2015)

Text: Traditional Latvian songs
Language: Latvian
Duration: 14 minutes

Premiered November 2015
Mathew Lake, baritone
Amy Briggs, piano
Chicago, IL

Composer’s Note

My paternal grandmother left Latvia in the autumn of 1944 with her two-year-old daughter Inese. My grandfather went in a different direction, simultaneously fighting in and dodging the ends of the Second World War. My father was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany in 1948, and his younger brother was born in the United States in 1957. In the 1980s and 1990s, my parents sang “Aijā žūžū” to me every night before I went to bed, and we still sing “Daudz baltu dieniņu” to one another on birthdays. We used to bake piparkukas, Latvian gingerbread cookies, in the reception hall in the basement of the Latvian church that my grandfather built in Willimantic, Connecticut. I grew up hearing my older family members speak Latvian, but developed an interest in my heritage only after my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Many of her life’s stories passed with her in 2010.

These three folk songs have been a work in progress, going through iterations and editions dating back as far as 2008. They take on very distinct characters, hoping to capture the essences of a raucous and joyful celebration teetering on the edge between control and chaos, a heavy and cold memory slowly fragmenting over time, and the comfort of nighttime’s whimsy and fast-approaching dreams.

Text

I. Daudz baltu dieniņu
Daudz baltu dieniņu Laimiņa lemi,    May many white days of fortune be granted to you,    
Diženi, raženi dzīvojoti!             Enthusiastically, abundantly living!
Diženi, raženi dzīvojoti!

Daudz baltu dieniņu Laimiņa, lemi,        May many white days of fortune be granted to you,
Diženi, raženi strādājoti!             Enthusiastically, abundantly working!
Diženi, raženi strādājoti!

Daudz baltu dieniņu Laimiņa, lemi,         May many white days of fortune be granted to you,
Diženi, raženi mīlējoti!                 Enthusiastically, abundantly loving!
Diženi, raženi mīlējoti!

II. Kas Tie Tadi
Kas tie tādi, kas dziedāja              Who are they who were singing
Bez saulītes vakara?                 Without the sun in the night?
Tie ir visi bāŗa bērni, They are the young slave children
Bargu kungu klausītāj'.             Obeying their harsh masters.
 
Kur ugun, silda gaisu, Building a fire to warm the air,
Slauka gaužas asariņ's.            Wiping away bitter tears.  
Krimta cietu pelavmaizi, Chewing on hard, moldy bread,
Avotāi mērcēdam'.                 They dip it in the brook.
 
Saulit lasa uziekdama                The little sun gathers up
Zelta rasas lasites:                The rising golden dew drops:
Ta nebija zelta rasa,                That was not golden dew,
tas barinu asarin’s.                Those are the orphan’s tears. 

III. Aijā žūžū lāča bērni
Aijā žū žū* lāča bērni, aijā žū žū Aijā žū žū* little bear cubs, aijā žū žū
Pekainam'i kājiņām'i, žū žū žū With your little paws, žū žū žū

Tēvs aizgāja medu vākt'i, aijā žū žū   Father went to get the honey, aijā žūžū
Māte ogas palasīt'i, žū žū žū  Mother to pick the berries, žū žū žū

Tēvs parnesa medus podu, aijā žū žū Father brought the honey pot, aijā žū žū
Māte ogu vācelīti, žū žū žū  Mother the berry basket, žū žū žū

Tas mazam'i bērniņām'i aijā žū žū Those will be for the small child, aijā žū žū
Par mierīgu gulēšanu, žū žū žū  For peaceful sleeping, žū žū žū