In 2005, the first folk music album Sviests was released. It collected compositions by 18 groups that at that time characterized the sound of Latvian folk music in a wide variety of interpretations. This was the beginning of a long-term project by the music publishing label “Lauska”. After 20 years, the eleventh album of this kind, Sviests, has been published. The idea has remained the same – to show how diverse, surprising and magnificent the heritage of traditional music is expressed in the interpretations of various performers. Folk music traditions are still one of the cornerstones of Latvian musical identity and practically any genre of music performers can find inspiration in them. Moreover, melodies, performances, folk song lyrics, and traditional musical instruments, which are gaining increasingly wider use, can be addressed.
After 20 years, we will also find in this publication some groups that participated in the creation of the very first Sviests. These are the excellent “Rīsa zvejnieki” and also the youth folklore group “Kokle”, in which the members have changed during this time, but the joy of playing has certainly not diminished.
Sviests 11 shows a particularly wide spectrum of influences and interactions. It can be a connection across time, when foxtrots and songs that sounded a hundred years ago are performed anew. It is also a cross-border influence, when musicians intertwine several traditions and musical experiences of different countries. All this once again confirms the musicians’ openness to new trends and the ability to creatively combine them with our musical heritage and personal sense of the world. Therefore, we can once again listen to 19 powerful and sonorous new compositions, the roots of which go back to folk tradition.
Thanks to the State Cultural Capital Foundation.
Latvīte Cirse: “Sviests 11. This time I will mix electric with acoustic…”
Ēriks Zeps (TKP/Tā kā pērn): “That was three years ago. It was the 50th or 100th anniversary of playing this dance. The feeling came to my mind that I could try a slightly more fluid “Eņģelītis” someday. And the feeling did not go away – at first somewhere in myself, then in the apartment, playing for a couple of hours, until I found myself listening to what I had played in my headphones at the bus stop, smiling and so imperceptibly, but fluidly with my feet: “Papēd’s, pirtsgals, viens, div’, trīs…”. This spring was born. And today I am listening to the latest “Sviests” in my headphones with such a nice festive feeling and so imperceptibly, but fluidly with my feet: “Papēd’s, pirtsgals, viens, div’, trīs…”
Aptiekas bēru ansamblis: “Sviests 11 is released! We are happy to be on a joint album with many cool musicians. Zane Šmite – hi, mum!!!!”
Rāmi riti: “Such beautiful news has rolled down the Sun! Where is our Key to Happiness? Where can we get it? And once we have it in our hands, what should we do with it? Listen, listen (in something more serious than a telephone) and who knows, maybe the Key to Happiness will open up new horizons!”