Choirs honour Andrejs Jurjāns at 170th anniversary

More than 2,000 singers from 70 choirs gathered at the Meņģeļi memorial museum, the Jurjānu brothers’ family home in the Ērgļi area, to honour composer Andrejs Jurjāns on his 170th anniversary, LSM reported.

The singers said the event was an opportunity to meet, sing together and preserve Latvian traditions. Carrying their choir banners, they entered the courtyard of Jurjāns’ childhood home, where the choir gathering was held.

For many participants, the event marked the start of a new singing season after the summer. Karīna Laura Grosa, a singer with the Cesvaine mixed choir, said Jurjāns’ songs had been part of her childhood and that the gathering was the choir’s first concert of the season.

“This is certainly a composer whose songs have stood the test of time,” said Aija Bērziņa, a singer with the Līgo mixed choir. She named “Nevis slinkojot un pūstot” as one of her favourite Jurjāns songs.

Ilze Kalniņa, conductor of Stradiņi, the women’s choir of Paula Stradiņa Clinical University Hospital, said Latvian culture should be cherished and that people should attend such events more often without forgetting their roots.

The first choir gathering at Meņģeļi was held in 1996. This year’s event was the 17th, marking 30 years since the first gathering, said Laine Konošonoka, director of the Brothers Jurjāns Memorial Museum Meņģeļi.

Jurjāns had close ties to choirs. He was among the first chief conductors and organisers of the General Song Festival, and wrote choral songs and arrangements of folk songs. Konošonoka said it was symbolically important for the event to return to his family home.

Choirs from across Latvia took part in the gathering, joined by wind orchestras and dancers. The concert focused on Jurjāns’ best-known choral works, including “Lūk, rozes zied”, a song traditionally used by men’s choirs to greet women and now regarded as one of the most popular pieces in the mixed choir repertoire, said artistic director and conductor Ārijs Šķepasts.