Folk Music Quotations and Allusions in Latvian Composers’ Neo-romantic Symphonic Music in the Last Decade of the 20th Century and Еarly 21st Century

Abstract

This article focuses on the one specific question about folk music quotations and allusions in the symphonic music of Latvian composers in the last third of the 20th century (from the 70s) and the early 21st century. Several Latvian composers (e. g. Romualds Kalsons, Pēteris Butāns, Pēteris Vasks, Pēteris Plakidis, Juris Karlsons) in their neo-romantic symphonic works reflects interesting cases of Latvian folk music quotation, quasi quotation or allusion. Overall these are cases that show the composer's ability to actively use and create a similarity with Latvian folk music. However, this aspect  raises the following questions. What kind of local (Latvian) traditions regarding folk music use (in general) are represented by Latvian composers? Why, at the end of the 20th century and the early 21st century, have several composers continued to use folk music quotations or create folk music allusions? What symbolizes the folk music quotations and allusions in the context of the postmodern period’s characteristic musical aesthetic and stylistics? It is hoped that this analysis will provoke a fruitful exchange of views on this question from different aspects.