Saucējas
Saucejas, photo: Janis Romanovskis
Saucejas, photo: Janis Romanovskis
Saucejas, photo: Janis Romanovskis

Songs

war song
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Line up

  • Anna Paula Pujēna  (vocals)
  • Elīna Ellere  (vocals)
  • Indra Mētra  (vocals)
  • Iveta Tāle  (vocals)
  • Janta Meža  (vocals)
  • Justīne Jaudzema  (vocals)
  • Kristīne Jansone  (vocals)
  • Saucējas
  • Signe Pujāte  (vocals)
  • Vija Babre  (vocals)
  • Vineta Romāne  (vocals)

Links

Ancient polyphonic singing traditions are brought to life by Saucējas, the female singing group of the Latvian Academy of Culture, in a wide repertoire gleaned from archival recordings and surviving custodians of the art.

The group is bringing songs from the ancient times with amazing, full and powerful singing with clashing and intricate intervals, enthralling contemporary listeners with a vibrant and inspired performance.

The singers of Saucējas, the traditional singing group of the Latvian Academy of Culture, have been united by a common goal for the past 15 years - to learn and promote styles and techniques of Latvian ethnographic singing, with special emphasis on local multipart singing traditions. The repertoire of the group contains various types of Latvian traditional singing, as they have been documented in three Latvian regions. This includes examples of both archaic drone singing, and the most spectacular songs in the Saucējas repertoire: rotāšanas from the Selonian region which unique, archaic sound is created by tense second intervals combined with a drone. Archival audio recordings of traditional singing and personal contact with the traditional singers during research in the field have also shaped the Saucējas repertoire.

Currently the group is working on their project “Traditional singing in a natural acousting setting” where the group is recording songs in the natural environment – on hills, near the lakes and forests.

In 2012, the Saucējas received the Latvian Music Records Award for the best traditional music album Dziediet, meitas, vokorā, a compilation of traditional songs from Selonia, and in 2017 the group was presented with the Latgalian Culture Award Boņuks for the album Trīci, munu ustabeņi!.

Performance: Womex 2019, offWOMEX stage, Klubi, Tullikamari, 26th of October, 22:30. Introduction by Andrew Cronshaw.

Article posted by: Vineta Romane, Latvian Music Information Centre

Concerts

Saucējas