| Summary: | Organ music in Latvia has a long history spanning over seven centuries of organ building and organ music making; however, national music traditions were not established until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
The scope of this dissertation is to provide an overview of Latvian organ music, to define what features of the musical and social-historical contexts of the Republic of Latvia have contributed to the development of organ music in the country, and to provide practical information for organists and anyone interested in Latvian organ music.
The research divides into four chapters. In Chapter One, “Latvian Organ Studies”, the existing sources of information on Latvian organ music such as books, research papers and scores are reviewed. Other sources of information such as library collections, Internet resources and organizations are listed.
The second chapter, “The ‘Language’ of Latvian Organ”, explores the two key components of the voice of Latvian organ – Latvian organ music, both solo and collaborative literature, and Latvian organs.
The third chapter is entitled ”A Performer’s Analysis of Selected Organ Compositions”. In order to establish the voice of Latvian organ music three major organ works are examined: Fantasia in g (1902) by Alfrēds Kalniņš (1879-1951), Variations on the Name B-A-C-H (1969) by Marģeris Zariņš (1910-1993) and Te Deum (1991) by Pēteris Vasks (1946). Each analysis begins with the composer’s biography, followed by information on the composer’s organ oeuvre and the piece. Structural and harmonic analysis, as well as performance suggestions that include registration, tempo and articulation issues are provided.
Chapter Four, “Summary and Recommendations”, concludes the dissertation.
Four appendices contain comprehensive lists of Latvian organ works, both solo and collaborative literature, and list additional resources.
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